September 14, 2016

Discovery Park invites campus, community to open house, series of TED-style research talks

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Discovery Park at Purdue University is hosting an Open House and Convergence Conference on Sept. 23, showcasing Discovery Park's interdisciplinary research successes and opportunities through laboratory tours, TED-style talks and presentations by center directors on how their research is addressing grand challenges.

The free public event starts at noon at the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship and runs until 5:30 p.m., with tours of the buildings throughout the research facilities in Discovery Park, student posters and demonstrations.

"This open house will celebrate the Discovery Park's research with a special emphasis on how we can foster and build new faculty partnerships across the Purdue campus," said Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, chief scientist and executive director of Discovery Park. "But most importantly, this event will give the entire community a chance to better understand and get a firsthand glance at how Discovery Park is tackling the grand challenges of our world in the areas of energy, the life sciences, health care and the environment."

Guests can attend various events throughout the day that provide different insights into Discovery Park.

Díaz de la Rubia will kick off the event at 12:30 p.m., followed by a lineup of Voss Talks (TED-style talks) from 12:40-2 p.m. with Purdue researchers Pedro Irazoqui, a professor of biomedical engineering; Greg Deason, senior vice president and director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship; and Gerhard Klimeck, a professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Marietta Harrison, interim director of the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering and director of the Center for Oncological Sciences, will host a fireside chat with Alexandra Boltasseva, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Center researcher.

Guests also can participate in 15-minute quick chats with Discovery Park center directors, tour research facilities, experience nano-ice cream and listen to a demonstration of Soundscapes, a project focused on capturing the vanishing sounds of nature. Refreshments with an international flavor will be served, and research posters will be displayed throughout buildings.

A parade of future scientists, including students from the Early Care and Education Centers, is scheduled to begin at 3:15 p.m. A special musical performance featuring members from the Purdue Student Jazz Band on the grounds will wrap up the day starting around 4 p.m. The Boilermaker Special will run all afternoon between main campus and Discovery Park. Go online to http://purdue.edu/discoverypark/open-house/ for more details and a complete agenda.

Discovery Park is a place where Purdue researchers move beyond traditional boundaries, collaborating across disciplines and with policy makers and business leaders to create solutions for a better world. Grand challenges of global health, global conflict and security, and those that lie at the nexus of sustainable energy, world food supply, water and the environment are the focus of researchers in Discovery Park.

Media Contacts: Phillip Fiorini, 765-427-3009, pfiorini@purdue.edu

Paige Pope, 219-363-2599, popep@purdue.edu

Source: Tomás Diaz de la Rubia, 765-496-6625, tddlr@purdue.edu

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