An evening showcasing Chicagoland’s support for Science and Technology.

The Evening’s Events include:
Celebrity guests, dinner, cocktails, silent auction, museum exhibits and more!

Join us for a night of celebration and discover how C2ST is shaping the science and technology landscape for Chicago.

DATE: June 14, 2012

TIME: 6:30 pm – 10:00 pm

LOCATION: Adler Planetarium

For more details, click here.

The Chicago Council on Science and Technology presents:

What: CERN: What’s it all about?

When: Tuesday, May 1st, 2012
5:00pm Reception & Registration
6:00pm Presentation

Where: Chicago Club
Mezzanine level
81 E. Van Buren Street
Chicago, IL 60605

Non member fees: $10 Advance Reg / $15 Door / $5 Student

Abstract:
Some scientists believe that the Higgs boson, a never-before-seen subatomic particle, is the fundamental building block of the universe that gives mass to matter. Recent high-energy particle experiments at CERN and Fermilab have hinted at the existence of this particle. But what exactly is the Higgs boson and why do some people call it the ‘god particle’? The program will highlight the importance of this subatomic particle and discuss what would its discovery mean for physics and society. The program will also present recent advances of the Higgs boson research and future directions of high-energy particle experiment in Europe and the USA.

Speaker: Young-Kee Kim, Deputy Director, Fermilab and Professor of Physics, the University of Chicago

Parking will be available at the following at the following locations:
Area Parking

Topic Resources:
The Higgs Boson: Have Scientists Found the Mystery Particle?

Not just the Higgs boson

Boost for Higgs from Tevatron data

Fermilab physicist talks about finding the “God” Particle

Data Hint at Hypothetical Particle, Key to Mass in the Universe

The Chicago Council on Science and Technology
and the John G. Shedd Aquarium present:

What: Oceans’ Health: An Ecosystem on the Brink

When: Thursday, April 19th, 2012
5:00pm Reception & Registration
6:00pm Presentation

Non member fees: $10 Advance Reg / $15 Door / $5 Student

Abstract:
There are many serious threats facing our oceans today. Oceans’ Health: An Ecosystem on the Brink will explore two of these merging issues. First, ocean acidification: over the last decade scientists have shown that human-caused increases in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are affecting the chemistry of our oceans, altering the main food web and proving harmful for many forms of marine life. Second, commercial fishing: in recent years scientists have also estimated that the global supply of wild-caught seafood will run out by the year of 2048 unless stronger fishery management practices are implemented. Join C²ST and leading area marine scientists as they discuss these two ocean issues and what we as consumers can do to have a positive impact in addressing them.

Moderator:
Lance Grande, Ph.D., Vice President and Head of Collections and Research at the Field Museum

Speakers:
Allen LaPointe, Vice President of Environmental Quality, John G. Shedd Aquarium
Kassia Perpich, Sustainable Seafood Manager, John G. Shedd Aquarium

Discounted parking will be made available at the 222 E. Huron St. garage: Parking Map

Topic Resources:
Could acidification threaten Great Lakes?
Changing the Chemistry of Earths Oceans
Oceans Warming
Eating Sustainable Seafood in Chicago
Fishing for sustainable seafood on menus

Women in Science 2012: Big Ideas Big Impact, builds on the successful 2010 Women in Science: Building an Identity, during which more than 200 women scientists attended an exciting day of plenary talks,
panel discussions and breakout sessions.

Specifically the Women in Science Symposium 2012 will focus on:
    • Highlighting innovative, game-changing women in diverse science and engineering fields
    • Discussing modern approaches to research practice, work-life balance, entrepreneurship and        administration
    • Providing meaningful opportunities for discourse and networking

Who should attend? This event will convene women scientists and engineers interested in sharing ideas and learning from leading women in –
academia, industry, government, business and the nonprofit sectors – to share ideas and experiences critical for the 21st century.

Sponsors

PLATINUM

GOLD

SILVER

TITANIUM

Honorable Mention

What: Nanotechnology: Small is Beautiful

When: Thursday, February 23, 2012
5:00pm Reception & Registration
6:00pm Presentation

Non member fees: $10 Advance Reg / $15 Door / $5 Student

Abstract:
Nanoscale materials have a great potential for positive societal impact. For example synthesized nanoscale materials and systems can be used to create innovative applications and technologies that solve problems in the biological and medical sciences. This program will highlight the essentials of nanoscale science, engineering, and technology including its history, societal importance and future implications and will discuss the interplay between nanoscale structures, properties and functions.

Speakers:
Mark A. Ratner, PhD., Professor and Chair, Department of Chemistry and CoDirector, Initiative for Sustainability and Energy, Northwestern University;
Milan Mrksich, PhD., Henry Wade Rogers Professor, Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University

Discounted parking will be made available at the 222 E. Huron St. garage: Parking Map

Topic Resources:
Using DNA to shape Nanostructures
Electrons, Molecules and The Bigger Picture
How Tiny Nanoparticules are transforming technology

What: About Time: Cosmology and Culture at the Twilight of the Big Bang

Fees: $20 with Boxed Lunch (limited supply) / Free General Admission without lunch

Abstract:
Times change, literally, for human culture and the Cosmos as a whole.

According to astrophysicist Adam Frank, specific human conceptions of time don’t last forever and our “modern” version is already in the midst of a radical change. In his new book, About Time, Dr. Frank argues that new ideas in cosmology are pushing the revolution in time to its final stage.

Just as a “clockwork universe” followed the invention of the clock 500 years ago, scientists are now moving beyond the Big Bang to talk about universes built from information pushing time into mind-boggling new territory. Imagine: An eternal “multi-verse” made of infinite, parallel universes with infinite versions of you, lots of little bangs but no big bang beginning, a string theory universe in 10 dimensions of ever-repeating cycles, or a universe where time doesn’t exist at all. It’s impossible to say which of these new ideas will become the foundation for a new time because the science is still in flux. We do know we’re living at the twilight of the Big Bang. It’s the end of time as we know it now and as we live it now.

Speaker:
University of Rochester Professor & Author Adam Frank

Topic Resources

Kirkus Book Review

npr.org Blogs: Adam Frank

History Channel’s Universe show

TEDxRochester talk

Washington Post book synopsis

New Scientist book synopsis

Adam Frank’s faculty page

What: China’s Clean Energy: Current Research, Development & Cooperation

Non member Fees: $10 Advance Reg / $15 Door / $5 Student

Abstract:
Diplomats of the Chinese Consulate General in Chicago will discuss China’s current research and development program to produce energy in an environmentally benign fashion. The discussion will cover Chinese activities in the alternative energy arena including hydro, nuclear, wind, solar, clean coal and other green energy production endeavors. The program will also highlight China’s objectives and efforts to reduce CO2 emissions by 2020 as well as China – US intergovernmental cooperation in clean energy production, particular attention paid to collaborative activities in the Greater Chicago area.

Speakers: Mr. Jianye Cao (Consul and Director of Science & Technology Office) and Mr. Qingqing Zhao (Consul) , Chinese Consulate General in Chicago

Discounted parking will be made available at the 222 E. Huron St. garage: Parking Map

Topic Resources:
U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center (CERC)
Low-Carbon Development in the United States and China
How excited should we be about China’s Green Energy?
China surpasses US as world’s top energy consumer
China could create 9.5 Million green jobs with clean energy push
China leads world in green energy investment

When:Saturday, February 11, 2012
11:00am Registration
12:00pm Screening

Where: Gene Siskel Film Center
164 North State Street Chicago, IL

Fees: $15.00 non-members / $5.00 Students

RSVP REQUIRED

137 Films in association with The Chicago council on Science and Technology Present “a-work-in-progress’ screening of The Believers.

The Believers tells the strange story of Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, chronologically documenting the summer of 1989 as well as new developments today. The tale includes mystery, scandal, personal tragedy, and scientific wonder.

Understanding of events shifts depending on who is telling the story. A mixture of interviews, vérité footage, archival media, scientific animation, and reenactments will compliment interviews with scientists, journalists, politicians, and officials. Woven together, they paint a vivid, often contradicting account of what happened.

For more information on 137 Films click here

Watch the 4:00 minute trailer

Topic Resources:
Making Scientists Seem Human–Through Film!
What if Cold Fusion is Real?
2012: The Year of Cold Fusion?

Parking and transportation information

What: Sustainable Energy: Fact or Fiction

Fees: $10 Advance Reg / $15 Door / $5 Student

Parking is available for free at Lot A3 (31st and Wabash) with parking permit displayed on the dashboard of the vehicle. Click here for parking permit

C2ST Presents live streaming video of Sustainable Energy: Fact or Fiction

Click on the link below between 5:45pm-6:00pm on January 31st and enter the username and password for access to the live stream

Media IIT Online
username: webcast
password: c2stevent

Abstract:
The dependence on oil and other fossil fuels for over 80% of our energy and the continued emission of carbon dioxide threatening stable climate are captured in a single term: sustainability. Although we generally agree that sustainability is valuable, there is less agreement on how much sustainability is necessary or desirable. In this talk, three criteria describing increasingly strict features of sustainability will be presented and applied to evaluate the alternatives to oil and carbon dioxide emission, such as tapping unused energy flows in sunlight and wind, producing electricity without carbon emissions from clean coal and high efficiency nuclear power plants, and replacing oil with biofuel or electricity. The implementation of these more sustainable alternatives will require new cost effective nanoscale materials. The successful development of such materials will have a marked impact on the production of energy in a sustainable and environmentally benign fashion.

Speaker: George W. Crabtree, PhD., Senior Scientist and Distinguished Fellow in the Materials Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory and Distinguished Professor of Physics, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering at University of Illinois at Chicago.
He has won numerous awards for his research, most recently the Kammerlingh Onnes Prize in 2003 for his work on the physics of vortices in high temperature superconductors. This prestigious prize is awarded once every three years; Dr. Crabtree is its second recipient. He has won the University of Chicago Award for Distinguished Performance at Argonne twice, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Award for Outstanding Scientific Accomplishment in Solid State Physics four times, a notable accomplishment. He has an R&D 100 Award for his pioneering development of Magnetic Flux Imaging Systems. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a charter member of ISI’s Highly Cited Researchers in Physics, a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the American Association of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Crabtree has many credentials in science and energy. He has published more than 400 papers in leading scientific journals, has collected over 15,000 career citations, and has given over 100 invited talks at national and international scientific conferences. His research interests include materials science, sustainable energy, nanoscale superconductors and magnets, vortex matter in superconductors, and highly correlated electrons in metals. He has led workshops for the Department of Energy on hydrogen, solar energy, superconductivity, materials under extreme environments, basic science for energy technology, and computational materials and chemistry for economic competitiveness. He co-chaired the Undersecretary of Energy’s assessment of DOE’s Applied Energy Programs. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on the hydrogen economy and on meeting sustainable energy challenges.

Topic Resources:
Energy = Future
Controlling the Functionality of Materials for Sustainable Energy

What: FRACKING – the quest for energy independence

When: Thursday January 19th, 2012
11:30am Registration & Box Lunch
12:30 Presentation

Where: Northwestern University
Hughes Auditorium
303 E. Superior

Fees: $20 members / $30 non-members / $10 students

Abstract:
Fracking is a step in the production of gas and oil by the high pressure fragmentation of shale using water, sand and chemicals. Using fracking to produce shale oil and shale gas has the potential to make the United States largely independent of foreign sources of natural gas and significantly less dependent on foreign sources of oil. The major exploitation of shale oil and gas will depend on dealing with environmental concerns surrounding potential ground water contamination and water depletion that result from the fracking process.

Speakers:
Gerald D. Holder, PhD., US Steel Dean of Engineering and Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh;
Trevor Smith, Program Manager, Unconventional Gas Sustainability, Gas Technology Institute;
Jordan Ciezobka, Completions/Project Engineer, Gas Technology Institute; and
John Anderson, PhD., President, Illinois Institute of Technology (moderator)

Topic Resources:
Future of fracking holds promise for U.S. energy outlook
The Fracturing of Pennsylvania
Millions Spent in Albany Fight to Drill for Gas
Natural Gas
How America Can Escape the Energy Trap
Drilling Down