This virtual two-day event (March 3 & 4) will feature discussions and opportunities for collaboration with MIT faculty and industry leaders during multiple sessions. The demand for computing and wireless communications technologies is expected to increase significantly, resulting in a considerable impact on the planet. The MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium, MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, and MIT Schwarzman College of Computing are hosting a workshop to explore initiatives that could lower the climate impacts of the computing and communications (e.g. telecommunications) sectors.

Topics will include:

Algorithms and custom hardware for efficient computing
Wireless, networked, and distributed systems
Energy-efficient sources and delivery systems
Materials and hardware for new architectures

Confirmed speakers include:

Takashi Ando, Principal Research Staff Member, IBM Research
Ahmad Bahai, Chief Technology Officer, Texas Instruments
Bill Dally, Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President of Research, NVIDIA
Jeff Dean, Senior Vice President, Google Research and Google Health
Darío Gil, Senior Vice President and Director of Research, IBM
Evgeni Gousev, Senior Director, Qualcomm
Helen Greiner, CEO, Tertill; Co-Founder, iRobot
Heidi Hemmer, Senior Vice President of Engineering, Verizon
Sam Naffziger, Senior Vice President, Corporate Fellow, and Product Technology Architect, AMD
Heike Riel, IBM Fellow, Head Science & Technology, Lead IBM Research Quantum Europe, IBM Research
Mats Pellbäck Scharp, Head of Sustainability, Ericsson

MIT faculty participation includes:

Jesús del Alamo, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Joel Emer, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Song Han, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Muriel Medard, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
David Perreault, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Vivienne Sze, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Bilge Yildiz, Nuclear Science and Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering

EVENT AGENDA:

March 3 | Day 1 of Workshop

10:00 - 11:30: The climate impacts of computing and communications

Welcome: Anantha Chandrakasan, Dean of the MIT School of Engineering and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Moderator: Vivienne Sze, Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT
Speakers: Dario Gil, IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research & Jeff Dean, Senior Vice President of Google Research and Google Health

11:30 - 11:45: Break

11:45 - 12:45: Algorithms for efficient computing

Moderator: Song Han, Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT
Speakers: Helen Greiner, Co-Founder of iRobot and CEO of Tertill & Evgeni Gousev, Senior Director, Qualcomm

12:45 - 1:00: Break

1:00 - 2:00: Custom hardware for efficient computing

Moderator: Joel Emer, Professor of the Practice in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT
Speakers: Bill Dally, Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President of Research of NVIDIA & Ahmad Bahai, CTO of Texas Instruments

March 4 | Day 2 of Workshop

10:00 - 11:15: Wireless, networked, and distributed systems

Moderator: Muriel Medard, Cecil H. Green Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT
Speaker: Heidi Hemmer, Senior Vice President of Engineering, Verizon & Mats Pellbäck Scharp, Head of Sustainability at Ericsson

11:15 - 11:30: Break

11:30 - 12:30: Energy-efficient systems

Moderator: David Perreault, Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT
Speaker: Sam Naffziger, AMD Senior Vice President, Corporate Fellow, and Product Technology Architect

12:30 - 12:45: Break

12:45 - 2:00: Hardware for new architectures

Moderator: Bilge Yildiz, Breene M. Kerr (1951) Professor in the Departments of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at MIT
Panelists: Jesús del Alamo, Donner Professor and Professor of Electrical Engineering in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT; Takashi Ando, Principal Research Staff Member, IBM Research; and Heike Riel, IBM Fellow, Head Science & Technology, Lead IBM Research Quantum Europe, IBM Research

Climate Implications of Computing & Communications Workshop