2019 Erich Bloch Symposium in Davis Hall at University at Buffalo

2021 Erich Bloch Symposium

June 7-8, 2021 | Virtual Event

This annual symposium is dedicated to the late Erich Bloch, former director of the National Science Foundation who helped endow the Department of Materials Design and Innovation at UB.

Theme:

The World Through the Lens of Data: Accelerating knowledge discovery in the service of science and society

Overview Schedule Abstracts Posters About Erich Bloch

Event Schedule

June 7, 2021 | Virtual Event

9:00 - 9:30 a.m.	Welcome and Introductions	Krishna Rajan, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Erich Bloch Chair, Department of Materials Design and Innovation, University at Buffalo Kemper Lewis, Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University at Buffalo
9:30 - 11:00 a.m.	Session I: Using the Lens of Data for Discovery	Session Co-Chairs: Kris Reyes (Assistant Professor, Materials Design and Innovation, UB) and Krishna Rajan (Professor, Materials Design and Innovation, UB) Big Data and the Changing Landscape of Science: Alex Szalay, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor, Department of Computer Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy; Director, Institute for Data Intensive Science, Johns Hopkins University Our Human Planet: Why Population Data Are Vital for Science and Sustainability: Robert S. Chen, Director, Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University Physics Guided Machine Learning: A New Framework for Accelerating Scientific Discovery: Vipin Kumar, Regents Professor and William Norris Endowed Chair, Computer Science and Engineering, University at Minnesota
11:00 - 11:15 a.m.	Break
11:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.	Panel Discussion for Session I	Panelists: Mark Rossi (Executive Director, Clean Production Action), Cheri Peele (Program Manager, Clean Production Action), Andrew Crooks (Professor, Geography, UB), Prathima Nalam (Assistant Professor, Materials Design and Innovation, UB)
12:00 - 1:00 p.m.	Break
1:00 - 2:30 p.m.	Student Jamboree	Session Co-Chairs: Scott Broderick (Associate Research Professor, Materials Design and Innovation, UB), William Bauer (Assistant Research Professor, Materials Design and Innovation, UB) Posters and presentations by graduate students from the Department of Materials Design and Innovation View the list of posters >
2:30 - 2:45 p.m.	Break
2:45 - 4:00 p.m.	Session II: Engineering Solutions through Materials Science	Session Co-Chairs: Quanxi Jia (Professor, Materials Design and Innovation, UB) and Olga Wodo (Associate Professor, Materials Design and Innovation, UB) The Nexus of Data Science and Materials Processing - A New Vista for MSE: Diran Apelian, Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; Director, Advanced Casting Research Center (ACRC), University of California, Irvine; Provost Emeritus, Worcester Polytechnic Institute Creating an Organized, Searchable Data Repository On Next-generation Materials: L. Catherine Brinson, Sharon C. and Harold L. Yoh, III Distinguished Professor and Chair, Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Department, Duke University
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.	Panel Discussion for Session II	Panelists: Sheila Davis (Executive Director, Silicon Valley Toxic Coalition), Baishakhi Mazumder (Assistant Professor, Materials Design and Innovation, UB), Fei Yao (Assistant Professor, Materials Design and Innovation, UB) and Erik Einarsson (Associate Professor, Materials Design and Innovation and Electrical Engineering, UB)

June 8, 2021 | Virtual Event

9:00 - 10:50 a.m.

Session III: Closing the Misinformation Gap On Environmental and Climate Sciences

Session Co-Chairs: Bruce Pitman (Professor, Materials Design and Innovation, UB), Jung-Hun Seo (Assistant Professor, Materials Design and Innovation, UB).

Now You See Me, Now You Don’t: Understanding Chemical Tricks That Impact Environmental Regulations: Diana Aga, Henry M. Woodburn Chair Professor of Chemistry, University at Buffalo

Navigating Disinformation and the Mobile Truth in Science Communication: A Cervantine Approach: David Castillo, Professor of Spanish, Department of Romance Languages; Director, Humanities Institute, University at Buffalo

Bridging the Climate Chasm: Culture as Strategy in the Climate Crisis: John Fiege, Assistant Professor, Department of Media Study, University at Buffalo

Bridging the Climate Chasm: The Aesthetics of Accumulation and Waste: Matt Kenyon, Associate Professor, Department of Art, University at Buffalo

10:50 - 11:10 a.m.

Break

11:10 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Panel Discussion for Session III

Panelists: Robin Schulze (Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, UB), Alexandra McPherson (Principal, Niagara Share), and Ogonnaya Dotson-Newman (Senior Program Officer, The JPB Foundation)

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Overview

The 2021 Erich Bloch Symposium will be held as a free, virtual event on June 7 and 8, 2021. Renowned leaders and experts from a wide variety of areas will share their approach to developing data-driven discoveries and innovation in different disciplines, as well as explore the impact of how data and information are communicated to and perceived by the public.

About the Erich Bloch Symposium

Spurred by the endowment by UB alumnus Erich Bloch, former director of the National Science Foundation, vice president of IBM and Medal of Technology and Innovation holder, the Department of Materials Design and Innovation (MDI) was launched with the goal of establishing a new paradigm for research and education in 2015.

The inaugural Erich Bloch Symposium in 2017 helped launch MDI and since then, the annual Erich Bloch Symposium has served as a forum and has brought together renowned researchers, policymakers, industry and community leaders to explore the areas of sustainability with a focus on materials, technological innovation, and community health.

Event Start Date: June 7, 2021