2022 US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium

At-a-Glance

The Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering 2022 Symposium was hosted by Amazon September 21-23 at the Grand Hyatt Seattle. About 100 outstanding early career engineers met for an intensive 2-1/2 day symposium to discuss cutting-edge developments in four areas: Microbes - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly; Technology and Racial Justice and Equity; and Hydrogen: a New 'Universal' Energy Carrier for the Carbon-free Future; and Conversational AI. The goal of the Frontiers of Engineering program is to bring together engineers from all engineering disciplines and from industry, universities, and federal labs to facilitate cross-disciplinary exchange and promote the transfer of new techniques and approaches across fields in order to sustain and build US innovative capacity. 

LIST OF SESSIONS

Chair:  Timothy Lieuwen, Georgia Institute of Technology  

MICROBES: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
Session Co-chairs: Gabriel Kwong, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Anita Shukla, Brown University

Introduction

Emergent Metabolic Dynamics in Microbial Communities
Arthur Prindle, Northwestern University

Materials-based Approaches to Prevent Biofilm-associated Infections
Caitlin Howell, University of Maine

Precision Delivery of Probiotics to Enhance Nutrition
Aaron Anselmo, VitaKey

“Life . . .Finds a Way”: Discovering and Deploying Microbial Solutions to Emerging Global Challenges
Kevin Solomon, University of Delaware

TECHNOLOGY AND RACIAL JUSTICE & EQUITY
Session Co-chairs:  Brooke Coley, Arizona State University, and Khalid Kadir, University of California, Berkeley

Introduction

Engineering Solutions for Justice: A Case Study of Electric Vehicles
Regan Patterson, University of California, Los Angeles 

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Engineering and Making Whiteness Visible
James Holly, Jr., University of Michigan

Unpacking the Hidden Curriculum in Engineering
Idalis Villanueva Alarcon, University of Florida

Resilient Engineering Identity
Monique Ross, Ohio State University

HYDROGEN: A NEW ‘UNIVERSAL’ ENERGY CARRIER FOR THE CARBON-FREE FUTURE?
Session Co-chairs:  Jesse Jenkins, Princeton University, and Iryna Zenyuk, University of California, Irvine

Introduction

The Critical Role of Hydrogen in a Net-zero Emissions Energy System
Ryan Jones, Evolved Energy Research

Hydrogen Earthshot: DOE’s Efforts to Catalyze a Clean Hydrogen Industry
Neha Rustagi, US Department of Energy

The Cutting-edge in Clean Electrolysis
Xiong Peng, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 

The Power of Being Negative: Producing H2 and Sequestered Carbon from Biomass and Waste Resources
Josh Schaidle, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

CONVERSATIONAL AI
Session Co-chairs:  Suma Bhat, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Jing Huang, Amazon Alexa AI

Conversational AI Systems: Current Progress and Future Directions 
Maryam Fazel-Zarandi, Meta

Seamless Natural Communication between Humans and Machines
Zhou Yu, Columbia University

Augmenting Conversational Data with Generative Conversational Networks
Alexandros Papangelis, Amazon Alexa AI

Interaction and Language Grounding
Karthik Narasimhan, Princeton University

Post Meeting
Details
September
21
2022
to
September
23
2022
October 01, 2023 AT 06:56 AM
Seattle, Washington
Schedule
Tuesday, Sep 20, 2022
  • 07:30 PM To 07:30 PM
    Registration/welcome reception at the hotel
    Princessa and Foyer
Wednesday, Sep 21, 2022
  • 07:00 AM To 07:00 AM
    Breakfast
    Princessa
  • 08:30 AM To 08:30 AM
    Welcome and Opening Remarks
    Eliza Anderson
  • 09:00 AM To 09:00 AM
    Microbes: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
    Eliza Anderson
  • 10:30 AM To 10:30 AM
    Break
    Foyer
  • 11:00 AM To 11:00 AM
    Microbes: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (cont.)
    Eliza Anderson
  • 12:30 PM To 12:30 PM
    Lunch
    Princessa
  • 01:30 PM To 01:30 PM
    Meet and Connect Breakout Session
    Breakout Rooms
  • 03:00 PM To 03:00 PM
    Break
    Foyer
  • 03:30 PM To 03:30 PM
    Where are the Emerging Frontiers of Research and Innovation?
    Eliza Anderson
  • 03:45 PM To 03:45 PM
    Technology and Racial Justice & Equity
    Eliza Anderson
  • 05:15 PM To 05:15 PM
    Break
    Foyer
  • 06:00 PM To 06:00 PM
    Dinner
    Princessa
Thursday, Sep 22, 2022
  • 07:00 AM To 07:00 AM
    Breakfast
    Princessa
  • 08:30 AM To 08:30 AM
    Technology and Racial Justice & Equity (cont.)
    Eliza Anderson
  • 10:00 AM To 10:00 AM
    Break
    Foyer
  • 10:30 AM To 10:30 AM
    Hydrogen: a New 'Universal' Energy Carrier for the Carbon-free Future
    Eliza Anderson
  • 12:15 PM To 12:15 PM
    Lunch
    Princessa
  • 01:15 PM To 01:15 PM
    Hydrogen: a New 'Universal' Energy Carrier for the Carbon-free Future (cont.)
    Eliza Anderson
  • 02:30 PM To 02:30 PM
    Break
    Foyer
  • 03:00 PM To 03:00 PM
    Panel: How do engineers and scientists impact customers at Amazon?
    Eliza Anderson
  • 05:15 PM To 05:15 PM
    Meet in Grand Hyatt lobby to walk to Amazon campus
    Lobby
  • 05:30 PM To 05:30 PM
    Reception and Dinner
    Oscar 21st Floor Café – Amazon Campus
  • 07:00 PM To 07:00 PM
    Dinner Speech: The Power of Customer-Obsessed Science
    Oscar 21st Floor Café – Amazon Campus
Friday, Sep 23, 2022
  • 07:00 AM To 07:00 AM
    Breakfast
    Princessa
  • 08:30 AM To 08:30 AM
    Conversational AI
    Eliza Anderson
  • 10:00 AM To 10:00 AM
    Break
    Foyer
  • 10:30 AM To 10:30 AM
    Conversational AI (cont.)
    Eliza Anderson
  • 12:00 PM To 12:00 PM
    Meeting adjourns. Boxed lunch available.
    Princessa
  • 12:15 PM To 12:15 PM
    Buses depart for SEA