PLENARY SPEAKERS SNO 2017
Dr. Pedro J. J. Alvarez
is the George R. Brown Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University, where he also serves as Director of the NSF ERC on Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT). His research interests include environmental applications and implications of nanotechnology, bioremediation of toxic chemicals, water footprint of biofuels, water treatment and reuse, and antibiotic resistance control.
Dr. Alvarez received the B. Eng. Degree in Civil Engineering from McGill University and MS and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan. He is the 2012 Clarke Prize laureate and also won the 2014 AAEES Grand Prize for Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science. Past honors include President of AEESP, the AEESP Frontiers in Research Award, the WEF McKee Medal for Groundwater Protection, the SERDP cleanup project of the year award, and various best paper awards with his students.
Dr. Alvarez currently serves on the advisory board of NSF Engineering Directorate and as Associate Editor of Environmental Science and Technology. Additionally, he serves as honorary professor at Nankai University in Tianjin and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China, and as adjunct professor at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in Florianopolis, Brazil. He recently completed service on the EPA's Science Advisory Board.
Dr. Seth Coe-Sullivan is VP and Chief Technology Officer of Luminit LLC, where he is responsible for driving growth and new product introduction from both the research and development and business development directions. His team is currently introducing new products involving transparent holographic components and computer-generated holography, and collaborating with the US government on a variety of longer term research projects.
Before joining Luminit, Seth was co-founder, member of the Board of Directors, and Chief Technology Officer of QD Vision, which was recently acquired by Samsung. He also currently advises several start-up companies in their pre-funding or early technology development phases.
Coe-Sullivan received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005, and Sc.B from Brown University in 1999.
Miguel A. Garcia-Garibay
Department of Chemistry and Biochemstry
Miguel A. Garcia-Garibay received his B.S. degree (Chemistry, Pharmacy and Biology) from the University of Michoacan in Mexico and his Ph.D. degree from the University of British Columbia. He was a postdoctoral Fellow at Columbia University before joining the faculty at UCLA in 1992. He was promoted to full professor in 2001, served as Vice Chair for Education and Chair in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He is the currently the Dean of Physical Sciences in the UCLA College. Garcia-Garibay has achieved international reputation for his work in solid-state organic chemistry, solid state reaction mechanisms, dynamics in crystals, and crystalline molecular machines. His current research efforts are aimed at the development of chemical process that occur in the solid state with great efficiency under the effects solar energy, without harmful additives, and with no solvents. He also works on the development of fluids for application in solar-thermal energy capture and on the design and construction of collective amphidynamic crystals and molecular machines. Garcia-Garibay has authored over 200 articles published in peer-reviewed Journals, and 9 book chapters. He has also given over 350 invited and plenary lectures worldwide. He was Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society from 2009 to 2016, and he sits in the advisory boards of Crystal Growth and Design and Accounts of Chemical Research. He is a member of the Chemical Sciences Roundtable of the National Research Council. Garcia-Garibay has organized scientific workshops sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Chemical Society (ACS), the Inter-American Photochemical Society (I-APS) and the Chemical Sciences Roundtable. Among other honors, he is a fellow of the American Association of the Advancement of Science, and he has been awarded an NSF Career Award, the American Competitiveness and Innovation Fellowship, an NSF Creativity Award, the 2013 Inter-American Photochemical Society Award in Photochemistry, and the 2015 ACS Cope Scholar Award.
Charles L. Geraci, Jr., Ph.D., CIH, FAIHA
Associate Director for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Dr. Charles Geraci is the Associate Director for Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials at NIOSH. He provides overall strategic guidance to the Nanotechnology Research Center, which focuses on understand the potential human health implications of engineered nano and advanced materials; and developing effective strategies to manage any recognized risk. He is recognized internationally for his leadership in the field and for his effectiveness in creating collaborations between public and private parties. Dr. Geraci has over 40 years of Industrial Hygiene practice experience that has included the federal government and private industry, where he was an Associate Director for HS&E at Procter & Gamble. He earned a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the Michigan State University. Dr. Geraci is certified by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene in both the Comprehensive Practice and the Chemical Aspects of Industrial Hygiene and was elected as a Fellow of the American Industrial Hygiene Association in 1999. In recognition of his sustained, high-quality contributions to the profession, Dr. Geraci was recognized in 2017as a NIOSH Distinguished Career Scientist. Dr. Geraci has authored or co-authored many of the papers that have helped set the direction for proactive thinking in nanotechnology safety and health and manages the development and dissemination of workplace risk management guidelines, including the NIOSH document "Approaches to Safe Nanotechnology".
Dr. Geraci serves as a subject matter expert on various national and international panels and advisory boards, including representing NIOSH on the US National Nanotechnology Initiative and the Sub-Committee on Advanced Manufacturing. Dr. Geraci is also active on ISO Technical Committee 229 on Nanotechnology; and the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials, and serves on the Executive Committee of the AIAH Nanotechnology Working Group.
Mihail C. Roco, PhD
National Science Foundation and National Nanotechnology Initiative,
Mike Roco is the Senior Advisor for Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation and founding chair of the U.S. National Science and Technology Council's subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology (NSET). Prior to joining National Science Foundation, he was professor of mechanical and chemical engineering. Dr. Roco is credited with thirteen inventions, contributed over two hundred articles and twenty books on multiphase systems, computer simulations, laser measurements, nanoparticles and nanosystems, and trends in emerging technologies. Recent volumes include "Convergence of Knowledge, Technology and Society" and "Nanotechnology Research Directions for Societal Needs in 2020". He proposed the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) on March 11, 1999, at the White House, and is a key architect of the NNI. Dr. Roco is Correspondent Member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences, Honorary Member of the Romanian Academy, and Fellow of the ASME, IoPhysics and AIChE. Dr. Roco is editor-in-chief for the Journal of Nanoparticle Research. He was awarded the National Materials Advancement Award in 2007 "as the individual most responsible for support and investment in nanotechnology by government, industry, and academia worldwide", and received the IUMRS "Global Leadership and Service Award" at the EU Parliament in 2015 for "vision and dedicated leadership ...that has made major impact to all citizens around the world."
Omowunmi "Wunmi" Sadik, PhD
Omowunmi "Wunmi" Sadik is a Professor of Chemistry and founding Director of the Center for Research in Advanced sensing Technologies and Environmental Sustainability (CREATES) at the State University of New York at Binghamton (SUNY Binghamton). Sadik serves as the President and Co-Founder of the Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization (SNO). Her research areas are in surface chemistry, chemical sensors and biosensors, and in their application to solving real-life problems in biological systems, energy and the environment. She has held appointments at Harvard University, Cornell University and the Naval Research Laboratory. Her body of work includes over 170 scientific publications, and she has given over 400 invited lectures and conference contributions across the world.
Sadik is recognized for research innovation and sustainable nanotechnology. She holds five U.S. patents on biosensors and nanostructured membranes. Sadik is advancing sustainable nanotechnology through nanoscale control of synthesis and processing of matter without footprints that give rise to environmental degradation. She is a 2017-2018 Jefferson's Science Fellow. Sadik is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and a 2015-2017 Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer. In 2016, Sadik became only the fourth woman and the first female scientist to be conferred with the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) Award, Nigeria's highest national honor for academicians.
Joseph Wang is a Distinguished Professor, SAIC Endowed Professor and Chair of Nanogineering at University of California San Diego (UCSD), USA. After holding a Regents Professor and Manasse Chair positions at NMSU, he moved to ASU where he served as the Director of the Center for Bioelectronics and Biosensors (Biodesign Institute). He joined the UCSD NanoEngineering Dept. in 2008. Wang is also an Honorary Professor from 6 different universities and the recipient of 2 National American Chemical Society Awards for Electrochemistry and Instrumentation. He also serves as the Chief Editor of the Wiley journal Electroanalysis and is on the editorial board of 15 other journals.
The research interests of Dr. Wang include the development of nanomotors and nanoactuators, bioelectronics and biosensors, wearable sensor systems, and flexible materials. He has authored over 1000 research papers, 10 books, 20 patents, and 35 chapters (H Index 118). He was ranked as the most cited electrochemist in the world in 1995, the 'Most Cited Researcher in Engineering' during 1995- 2005.