2017 EU-US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium

The 2017 EU-US Frontiers of Engineering symposium was held November 16-18 at the University of California in Davis, California. About 60 outstanding engineers under the age of 45 met for an intensive 2-1/2 day symposium to discuss cutting-edge developments in four areas: Technologies for Space Exploration, Next-Generation Solar Cells, Neuroengineering, and Computational Imaging. The event was intended to facilitate international and cross-disciplinary research collaboration, promote the transfer of new techniques and approaches across disparate engineering fields, and encourage the creation of a transatlantic network of world-class engineers.

The symposium was hosted in partnership with the European Council of Academies of Applied Sciences, Technologies, and Engineering. 

The National Academy of Engineering would like to express its gratitude to the University of California, Davis, The Grainger Foundation, and the National Science Foundation for their support of the 2017 EU-US FOE Symposium.

LIST OF SESSIONS     

Symposium co-chairs: Michael Tsapatsis, University of Minnesota, and Harri Kulmala, DiMECC Ltd.

TECHNOLOGIES FOR SPACE EXPLORATION
Session co-chairs:  Ian Clark, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Minna Palmroth, University of Helsinki

Introduction

The Electric Solar Wind Sail - New Propulsion Innovation for Solar System Travels
Sini Merikallio, Finnish Meterological Institute

Infusion of Vision Systems into Planetary Landers
Andrew Johnson, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Democratizing Access to Space
Will Pomerantz, Virgin Orbit

NEXT-GENERATION SOLAR CELLS
Session co-chairs:  Hugh Hillhouse, University of Washington, and Marko Topič, University of Ljubljana

Introduction

Second and Third-Generation Photovoltaics
Dirk Weiss, First Solar

Perovskite/Silicon Tandem Solar Cells and Modules
Bernd Rech, Helmholtz Zentrum, Germany

Perovskite Quantum Dots: A New Absorber Technology with Unique Phase Stability for High Voltage Solar Cells
Joseph Luther, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Insights to High-Efficiency CIGS Thin-Film Solar Cells and Tandem Devices with Perovskites
Stephan Buecheler, EMPA, Switzerland

NEUROENGINEERING
Session co-chairs:  Sanjay Joshi, University of California, Davis, and Benoit Larrat, Neurospin

Introduction

How We Image, Measure, and Understand the Brain: A Computational Perspective
Alexandre Gramfort, Inria, University Paris-Saclay

Interface Between Modern Microelectronics and the Human Brain
Adam Williamson, Aix-Marseille University

Clinical Neuromodulation Technology
Cameron McIntyre, Case Western Reserve University

Platform Research Tools and Deployment Strategies to Accelerate Translational Discovery
Tim Denison, Medtronic

COMPUTATIONAL IMAGING
Session co-chairs:  Anders Bjorholm Dahl, Technical University of Denmark, and Laura Waller, University of California, Berkeley

Introduction

Computer Vision and 3D Reconstruction
George Vogiatzis, Aston University

Light Propagation in Complex Media Meets Signal Processing: From Imaging to Compressive Imaging and Machine Learning
Sylvain Gigan, Laboratoire Kastler Brossel 

Computational MRI
Michael Lustig, University of California, Berkeley