The convergence in different technologies such as electronics, programmability, robotics, internet-of-things, computer vision, AI, and automation sets up a global stage for both new innovations and fierce competition. Economists cite the sluggish middle-skill job growth relative to both low and high-skill job growth as an indication of upcoming automation’s bigger impact. We will cover this theme in our panel discussion from an economic and social perspective.

Moderator: Karthik Ramani, Donald W. Feddersen Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering by courtesy
Panelist: Neil Gershenfeld
Panelist: David Roberts, Chief Innovation Officer, IEDC
Panelist: Todd Murray, President and CEO of Mursix

Biography
Prof. Neil Gershenfeld is the Director of MITs Center for Bits and Atoms. His unique laboratory is breaking down boundaries between the digital and physical worlds, from creating molecular quantum computers to virtuosic musical instruments. Technology from his lab has been seen and used in settings including New Yorks Museum of Modern Art and rural Indian villages, the White House and the World Economic Forum, inner-city community centers and automobile safety systems, Las Vegas shows and Sami herds. He is the author of numerous technical publications, patents, and books including Designing Reality, Fab, When Things Start To Think, The Nature of Mathematical Modeling, and The Physics of Information Technology, and has been featured in media such as The New York Times, The Economist, NPR, CNN, and PBS. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, has been named one of Scientific Americans 50 leaders in science and technology, as one of 40 Modern-Day Leonardos by the Museum of Science and Industry, one of Popular Mechanics 25 Makers, has been selected as a CNN/Time/Fortune Principal Voice, and by Prospect/Foreign Policy as one of the top 100 public intellectuals. He has been called the intellectual father of the maker movement, founding a global network of over 1000 fab labs that provide widespread access to prototype tools for personal fabrication, and leading the Fab Academy for distributed research and education in the principles and practices of digital fabrication. Dr. Gershenfeld has a BA in Physics with High Honors from Swarthmore College, a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Cornell University, honorary doctorates from Swarthmore College, Strathclyde University and the University of Antwerp, was a Junior Fellow of the Harvard University Society of Fellows, and a member of the research staff at Bell Labs.