Discovery Park to host convergence conference

Discovery Park will hold a conference on Convergence and the Future of Research on Oct. 6 in the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship.

The event, which will run from 1 to 5:30 p.m., is free and is open to the public. It will include a series of Voss Talks (TED-style talks) presented by leading experts, followed by a panel discussion on the future of research. A reception with the distinguished speakers will follow the conference.

Tomás Diáz de la Rubia, chief scientist and executive director of Discovery Park, notes that the conference topics align with Discovery Park’s emphasis on transdisciplinary problem-solving around its strategic themes of global health, global security and global sustainability. “Each of these exponential trends -- from big data and quantum computing to precision agriculture -- is transforming society in fundamental ways that we’re only now starting to understand,” he says. “We want to examine how the convergence of advanced technologies, policy and business can create real solutions with impact to society.”

The Voss Talks topics and speakers are:

* Big data and quantum computing: The future of computing -- Jason Matheny, director, Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency, Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

* The continuous technology offset: The future of defense and national security -- speaker TBD.

* Bionanotechnology: The future of healthcare -- Rashid Bashir, the Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering and head, Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

* Connected and autonomous vehicles: The future of mobility -- Scott Corwin, managing director, future of mobility leader, Deloitte Consulting, LLP.

* Precision agriculture: The future of agriculture -- Karen Plaut, interim dean, College of Agriculture, Purdue University.

More details will be released in the coming weeks. For more information, contact Maria Longoria-Littleton at 765-494-0015 or mlongori@purdue.edu, or visit www.purdue.edu/discoverypark/convergence.