From Isaac Asimov to Twilight Zone’s Bruce Sterling
“I have never seen a real robot and know nothing about robotics as a science or technology, even though I invented the word.”
As rejections go, this excerpted rejection from Isaac Asimov to longtime laboratory automation enthusiast Jeff Hurst is pretty interesting. Hurst had personally invited Asimov to be the plenary speaker at the very first conference and exhibition for laboratory automation back in 1997.
Coming full circle some 14 years later, famed Twilight Zone actor and film writer Bruce Sterling has accepted the opportunity to speak – and he is ready to entertain at LabAutomation2010, Jan. 23-27, at the Palm Springs Convention Center, Palm Springs, CA, USA.
Of course, the concept of laboratory automation is a bit more established nowadays with more than 4,000 participants from 40 countries gathering in the warm and sunny Palm Springs next month at LabAutomation2010.
Sterling will be joined by three other elite plenary speakers:
- Kei Koizumi, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
- R. Graham Cooks, Henry B. Haas Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry, Purdue University
- Hod Lipson, Associate Professor Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University
All four plenary speakers will be interesting, but I am actually looking forward to Hod Lipson’s presentation on self-aware robots. Check out this video of a robot learning how to walk posted on TED: http://www.ted.com/talks/hod_lipson_builds_self_aware_robots.html
Truth be told, the plenary speakers at LabAutomation2010 are really just the tip of the ice berg. The five-day event offers highly concentrated scientific sessions, short courses, breakfast panels, and posters not to mention the exhibition – which features more than 250 multi-national companies displaying the coolest technology and automation innovation for research and discovery.
The exhibition is free. To register for the scientific sessions, go to: https://www.labautomation.org/LA10/index.cfm.
Be sure to check-out all the smart-savers opportunities. There’s even a $200 flight discount program:
https://www.labautomation.org/LA10/discounts.cfm.
Regards,
Greg Dummer, CAE
ALA Executive Director
