November 9, 2012

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Purpose of the Conference:
This is the fourth in a series of annual conferences hosted by Louisiana Tech University in Shreveport.  Past conferences were on Energy Systems in 2009, Sustainable Infrastructure Systems in 2010, and Cyber-Engineering in 2011.  These conferences have two purposes:
    (a) to inform the public about current developments, investments, and societal impacts of the chosen theme for the conference, and
    (b) to inform the public about the research and development being done at Louisiana Tech in the thematic area.

Format:
To meet the stated purpose of the conferences, the morning session will feature presentations by representatives from state and local government, civic organizations, and industry while the afternoon session will feature presentations by Louisiana Tech researchers.  Presentations will not be of a highly technical nature but technical or non-technical discussions with the presenters are encouraged and facilitated.

Featured speakers:
Confirmed speakers at this time represent Louisiana Economic Development, NanoFex LLC (a New Orleans-based company), Radiance Technologies (an Alabama-based company with offices in North Louisiana, American Strategic Initiatives (a North Louisiana company), Jupiter Fuels LLC (a Louisiana Tech start-up), Cameron International (a Houston-based oil and gas exploration company), and Ford Motor Co.

Conference Agenda: to be posted

Registration: Non-academic/Academic: $50/$25 until mid-night November 5, 2012; $75/35 after that date and on-site*.
*On-site registration is limited to cash or check only.

Theme of this conference - Nanotechnology:
The National Nanotechnology Initiative website (www.nano.gov) defines nanotechnology as follows:  "Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter at the nanoscale, at the dimensions between approximately 1 and 100 nanometers ..."  The website also points out that "a nanometer is one billionth of a meter.  A sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick."

The US Government and industry have been making major investments in nanotechnology research and education for over a decade.  Many nanotechnology breakthroughs are benefiting society in the form of composite materials in sports equipment and luggage, scratch-resistant coatings on smart phones, wrinkle and stain-resistant fabrics, high-capacity batteries, and UV-resistant cosmetic products, just to name a few.  New nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems, flexible electronic displays, high-efficiency solar panels, self-healing paints, etc. are in various stages of development and will become available in the near future.