Being Everywhere

All Systems Green
September 24–25, 2008
St. Louis, Missouri

conference preview
MIKE HAWLEY previews the conference (MP3) and (pdf)

field trip
Washington University
Genome Sequencing Center
and The Consortium for Translational Research
in Advanced Imaging and Nanomedicine
September 26

conference overview
Green comes in infinite shades. Our focus on green might come down to a simple, counterintuitive concept: that IT can take the planet and our own organizations giant steps toward becoming truly green. Should we build more physical stores or a great, intuitive Web site? Can simulations with sophisticated tools accurately presage environmental damage?

However, IT does not exists in a vacuum: global political, economic, and social conditions will influence how we work and live. At this conference, we’ll look at the latest wrinkles, the innovators, and the systems that will soon deliver both incremental and paradigm-shifting environmental and economic benefits. If one of our challenges is to save valuable natural and physical resources everywhere in the chain of production, delivery, operation, and support, how might IT make this happen? Is nuclear the future of power? What steps do we need to take to preserve our forests? How can we ensure clean water for all our needs?

There'll be no shortage of technological advances. Batteries will function in temperatures up to 300°F. New thermoelectric materials will turn waste heat into electricity: one day, personal devices could be powered by body heat alone. Emerging methods for extracting hydrogen for fuel cells show real promise. Improved components will enable data centers to run without cooling equipment.  Light-emitting diodes will offer significant power savings, intelligent control, and a much-improved quality of light. The key will be to apply these developments thoughtfully in a variety of scenarios, like optimizing traffic flow, generating low-grade heat, and employing smart-enough appliances.
 
Novel infrastructures, innovations, and urban interfaces for the "city of tomorrow" will emerge as viable avenues for wisely leveraging breakthroughs in energy, communication, transportation, architecture, and community design. What is required is a thorough, organizational, holistic approach—deep, broad, thoughtful, and systematic over the long haul.

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Partial list of speakers

Dr. Paul Anastas, Director, Center for Green Chemisty and Green Engineering, Yale University
Dr. David Berry, Principal, Flagship Ventures
Dr. David Blaauw, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan
Mr. William Browning, Co-founder, Terrapin Bright Green
Mr. John Deal, CEO, Hyperion Power Generation
Mr. Steve Else, President and CEO, Broadstar Wind Systems
Dr. Gene Giacomelli, Director, Controlled Environment Agriculture Program
Dr. Supratik Guha, Senior Manager, Semiconductor Materials and Devices Department, IBM Watson Research Center
Mr. Jay Kipper, Associate Director, Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas
Dr. Robert Metcalfe, General Partner, Polaris Venture Partners
Professor William Mitchell, Director, MIT Design Laboratory
Mr. Steven Novack, Advisory Scientist, Idaho National Laboratory
Mr. John O'Donnell, Renewable Energy Consultant
Ms. Patricia Roberts, Senior Vice President, Jones Lang LaSalle
Mr. Scott Sklar, President, The Stella Group
Mr. Bill St. Arnaud, Senior Director Advanced Networks, CANARIE, Inc.
Mr. Andreas Vogel, Vice President, SAP Research
Ms. Nicole Yankelovich, Principal Investigator, Collaborative Environments Project, Sun Microsystems Laboratories

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