Fab Labs: A Conversation with Neil Gershenfeld

Friday, May 24, 2013 at 03:30 EDT (07:30 UTC)

MIT’s Neil Gershenfeld is redefining the boundaries between the digital and analog worlds.  “The digital revolution is over”, Gershenfeld says.  We won.  So what comes next?  His Center for Bits and Atoms has developed quite a few answers, including Internet 0, a tiny web server that fits into lightbulbs and doorknobs, networking the physical world in previously unimaginable ways.

But Gershenfeld is best known as a pioneer in personal fabrication—small-scale manufacturing enabled by digital technologies, which gives people the tools to build literally anything they can imagine.  His famous Fab Lab is immensely popular among students at MIT, who crowd Gershenfeld’s classes.  The concept is potentially life-altering in the developing world, where a Fab Lab with just $20,000 worth of laser cutters, milling machines, and soldering irons can transform a community, helping people harness their creativity to build tools, replacement parts, and essential products unavailable in the local market.  Join us on Friday, May 24^th for a 30-minute webchat, and hear about the digital fabrication revolution with Neil Gershenfeld!

Bio:  Neil Gershenfeld is a professor at MIT and the head of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, a sister lab spun out of the popular MIT Media Lab.  His research interests are mainly in interdisciplinary studies involving physics and computer science, in such fields as quantum computing, nanotechnology, personal fabrication, and other research areas.  His books include, “When Things Start to Think”, “The Nature of Mathematical Modeling”, “The Physics of Information Technology”, and “Fab, The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop –  From Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication.”  In 2004, Gershenfeld was named to the Scientific American 50.  The magazine has also named him Communications Research Leader of the Year.

Format:  This program will be a live video webchat in English.  Please click on the URL above to participate.

• Σχετικά με το άρθρο