Erich Bloch Symposium logo.

June 4 - 5, 2019 | Buffalo, NY

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.

2018 Erich Bloch Symposium.

2018 Erich Bloch Symposium at Jacobs School of Medicine 

2019 Erich Bloch Symposium

Discovering Pathways to Innovation

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Event Schedule

2019 Erich Bloch Symposium: Discovering Pathways to Innovation

Tuesday, June 4 | Davis Hall, North Campus, University at Buffalo

Student posters will be up all day for viewing in the Bansal Atrium

8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Breakfast and registration
9:00 - 9:05 a.m. Opening Remarks Krishna Rajan, Erich Bloch Chair, Department of Materials Design and Innovation
9:05 - 9:15 a.m. Introduction Grace Wang, Senior Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development, State University of New York; Professor, Department of Materials Design and Innovation, University at Buffalo.
9:15 - 10:00 a.m. Plenary Speaker James Kurose, Assistant Director, Computer Information Science and Engineering, National Science Foundation
10:00 - 10:30 a.m. Response Liesl Folks, Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University at Buffalo
10:30 - 11:00 a.m. Break  
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Session I

Water, Materials and the Environment

 

Session Coordinator: Prathima Nalam, Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Design and Innovation, University at Buffalo

  Keynote Speaker Yoram Cohen, Distinguished Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles
  Panel

Bob Shibley, Dean, School of Architecture and Planning, University at Buffalo

 

D. Scott MacKay, Professor, Department of Geography, University at Buffalo

 

Jill Jedlicka, Executive Director, Buffalo Waterkeepers

 

David Castillo, Professor, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures; Director, Humanities Institute, University at Buffalo

 

John Atkinson, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil, Structural, Environmental Engineering, University at Buffalo

12:15 - 1:30 p.m. Lunch and group photo  
1:45 - 3:00 p.m. Session II

AI, Materials and the Economy

 

Session Coordinator: Kristofer Reyes, Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Design and Innovation, University at Buffalo

  Keynote Speaker Peter Warrian, Senior Research Fellow, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto
  Panel

Joanne McLaughlin, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University at Buffalo

 

Sage Green, Community Energy Planning Specialist, PUSH Buffalo

 

Lauren Asplen, Director, Healthy Sustainability Program, BlueGreen Alliance

 

Alexandra McPherson, Principal, Niagara Share

3:00 - 4:15 p.m. Session III

Materials for Solar Technology

 

Session Coordinator: Fei Yao, Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Design and Innovation, University at Buffalo 

  Keynote Speaker Vikram Dalal, Thomas Whitney Professor and Anson Marston Distinguished Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Iowa State University
  Panel

Sheila Davis, Executive Director, Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition

 

Mark Rossi, Executive Director, Clean Production Action

 

Alexandra McPherson, Principal, Niagara Share

 

Olga Wodo, Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Design & Innovation, University at Buffalo

4:15 - 5:30 p.m. Reception  

Wednesday, June 5 | Davis Hall, North Campus, University at Buffalo

Student posters will be up all day for viewing in the Bansal Atrium

8:00 - 8:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:45 - 9:30 a.m.   "What's Next?" Enabling the 4th Industrial Economy in Erich Bloch's Legacy
  Introduction

Bill Harris, President and CEO, Science Foundation Arizona

 

Bryan Berry, Assistant Director of Technology and Business Innovation, New York State Energy Research and Development

9:30 - 11:00 a.m. Session IV

Materials and the 4th Industrial Economy

 

Session Coordinator: Baishakhi Mazumder, Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Design and Innovation, University at Buffalo

  Keynote Speakers

Paul Smith, Vice President and Center Director, Xerox Canada, Inc.

 

Matthew Hull, Associate Director for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Virginia Tech National Center for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology Infrastructure, Virginia Polytechnic Institute

  Panel

E. Frits Abell, Founder and Managing Director, Impact Industries

 

Christina Orsi, Associate Vice President for Economic Development, University at Buffalo

 

Nate Cady, Professor of Nanobioscience, SUNY Polytechnic Institute

 

Charles Ruffing, Director, New York State Pollution Prevention Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Session V

Workforce for the 4th Industrial Economy

 

Session Coordinator: Jung-Hun Seo, Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Design and Innovation, University at Buffalo

  Keynote Speakers

Ramesh Sitaraman, Professor, College of Information and Computer Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

 

Robin Schulze, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, University at Buffalo

  Panel

Erik Einarsson, Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Design and Innovation, University at Buffalo

 

Meera Sampath, Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, State University of New York

 

Tyra Johnson Hux, Founder and President, Blue Sky Design Supply

 

Abani Patra, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University at Buffalo

12:30 - 2:00 p.m.

Student Poster Presentations

(during lunch)

Molecules to Neighborhoods

 

Session Coordinator: Scott Broderick, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Design and Innovation, University at Buffalo 

MDI word cloud.
MDI Summer Institute logo.

The MDI Summer Institute is an extra-mural program of UB’s Department of Materials Design and Innovation that supports a broad range of outreach activities to promote research and education platforms in materials design. Its flagship event is the annual Erich Bloch Symposium.

The events

The Summer Institute includes additional events in conjunction with the Erich Bloch Symposium. Following the symposium, on June 5, 2019, the Collaboratory for a Regenerative Economy (CoRE) will host a workshop – the CoRE Solar Summit, and will continue through June 6th, 2019.  Attendance to this event is by invitation.

CoRE Summit logo.

Location

This year's symposium will be held at Davis Hall, University at Buffalo, North Campus.

Event Start Date: June 4, 2019 This content is archived.