IDEAS Boston
Who Should Attend:
The audience for IDEAS Boston is as diverse as the speakers. At IDEAS
Boston you'll find thought-leaders from business, medicine, science,
technology, non-profit organizations, education, and the arts. Business
executives and scientists, artists and students, young entrepreneurs
and seasoned academics - all come together in this brainstorm of new
ideas.
IDEAS Boston is specifically designed to promote networking and the
sharing of ideas. Attendance is kept intentionally limited to 400.
Schedule:
Tentative schedule for IDEAS Boston 2008:
Thursday, October 30
8:00 a.m. - 8:45 a.m.
Registration and continental breakfast
8:45 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
Opening Remarks
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Session One
10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Artistic Break
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Session Two
12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Lunch
1:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Session Three
3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.
Artistic Break
3:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Session Four
5:15 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Reception
IDEAS Boston 2008 Speaker List :
Susan Athey, Economic Theorist
Harvard Professor of Economics and the first woman to win the
prestigious American Economic Association’s John Bates Clark medal,
awarded to the most accomplished American economist under age 40, for
her contributions to industrial organization, econometrics,
microeconomic theory and auctions.
Joseph Ayers, Biomimetic Roboticist
Professor of Biology and former Director of Northeastern’s Marine
Science Center best known for his RoboLobster, whose recent research
using technology to mimic biological organisms and processes may
someday help rehabilitate people with traumatic brain injuries.
Robin Bowman, Photojournalist
A photojournalist devoted to documenting social and political issues at
home and abroad, whose 2007 book, “It’s Complicated: The American
Teenager” chronicles her 5 year journey across America to explore the
shape of this generation and the country that formed them.
David Edwards, Art/Science Innovator
Founder of Le Laboratoire, an artscience center in Paris dedicated to
experimental collaboration between artists and scientists, author and
Harvard Professor of Biomedical Engineering interested in developing
new cultural and educational environments for innovation.
Noah Feldman, Constitutional Law Scholar
Harvard Law professor, author and lecturer who specializes in
constitutional studies with particular emphasis on the relationship
between law and religion, constitutional design and history of legal
theory, whose book, “The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State” was
published in April 2008.
Paul Goodnight, African Cultural Artist
A world renowned painter, known for his colorful realism that captures
the extraordinary in the lives of ordinary people around the world,
whose recent commissions include a triathlon triptych for the 2008
Beijing Olympic Games.
Sheila Kennedy, Architect and Inventor
Principal of Kennedy & Violich Architecture, an inter-disciplinary
practice that explores relationships between architecture, technology
and emerging public needs. Kennedy creates design concepts and building
projects that accelerate the implementation of energy harvesting
nano-materials in architecture, textiles and building materials.
Vikram Sheel Kumar, Healthcare Technology Entrepreneur
Co-Founder of Dimagi, a healthcare informatics consultancy, and a
pioneer in the field of community-based chronic disease management, who
focuses on creating technologies specially customized for the
conditions encountered in the developing world.
John Lester, Pathfinder Linden – Second Life Avatar
Boston Operations Director for Linden Lab, creator of the online world,
Second Life, where he leads the company’s efforts supporting use of
Second Life as a platform for education and academic research, focusing
on strategies for success.
John Maeda, Designer, Creative Innovator and Academic
The President of the Rhode Island School of Design, and a
world-renowned designer, visual artist, computer scientist and author
known for his philosophy of humanizing technology.
Dava Newman, 21ST Century Space Suit Designer
MIT Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems,
whose BioSuit™ advanced spacesuit research was named by “Time” Magazine
as one of the Best Inventions of 2007, and was part of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art’s 2008 “Superheroes” exhibit.
David Rattner, Trailblazing Surgeon
David Rattner believes an innovative natural orifice approach to
surgery is imminent. Chief of General and GI Surgery at MGH, Dr.
Rattner serves as co-chair of the national organization, NOSCAR, a
research consortium of world-renowned surgeons and endoscopists who are
working together on perfecting surgical approaches that will hasten
recovery and be less painful for the patient.
Daniel Schrag, Climate Scientist
Harvard Professor and Geochemist who studies climate changes over the
Earth’s history, currently working with economists and engineers on
technological approaches to mitigating future climate change.
Sara Seager, Astrophysicist
MIT Associate Professor of Planetary Science and Physics is known for
her research on exoplanets – planets orbiting stars other than the sun.
Her research focuses on the search for Earth-like planets and signs of
life on them.
Paul Watanabe, Political Science/Race and Immigration Specialist
Director of the University of Mass Boston Institute for Asian American
Studies and Professor of political, cultural, and socioeconomic
implications of the nation’s growing diversity shaped largely by
immigration.
Martin Wattenberg, New Media Artist - Information Visualization
An IBM mathematician whose work focuses on information visualization
and its application to collaborative computing, journalism,
bioinformatics and art.
Quotes
What past participants have said about IDEAS Boston
"A barrel of new brain grist and a shot of euphoria."
-Tom Ashbrook, Host of NPR/WBUR’s “On Point”
IDEAS Boston is an amazing forum of creative thinkers. You come away
inspired and energized, and with new ideas you can use in any field.
-Keith Motley, Chancellor, University of Massachusetts, Boston
“The IDEAS Boston conference is a great experience – the Hub is
crawling with Big Thinkers, but they never have a chance to be in one
place at one time.”
- Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University and 2004 IDEAS Boston speak