One of the hallmarks of an outstanding university is its ability to conduct activities attended by the world’s leading researchers. Such was the case this summer when units of the College of Engineering – Computer Science & Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering – organized and conducted successful conferences.
The 3rd International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments (PETRAE) was organized and chaired by Dr. Fillia Makedon, professor and chair of Computer Science & Engineering. The PETRA Conference brought together experts in different types of technology to address an important social and healthcare issue: As the world’s population ages, there is growing interest in solutions for the in- home care of the elderly as well as for the care of people with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson's and other disabilities or traumas.
Held on the island of Corfu, PETRAE was sponsored by the College of Engineering, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Association for Computing Machinery and several Grecian research institutions. About 120 participants from around the world attended the conference.
Also taking place this summer was the 2nd International Conference: from Nanoparticle and Nanomaterials to Nanodevices & Nanosystems (IC4N) held on the island of Rhodes. Chaired by Dr. Stathis Meletis, professor and chair of Materials Science & Engineering, the conference was organized by UT Arlington, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Patras, Greece.
At IC4N, more than 80 experts, drawn world-wide, delivered keynote and invited talks on nano materials, fabrication and manufacturing. Pictured above are (left to right) Dr. Constantin Politis (University of Patras and IC4N co-chair), Dr. Michael Grätzel (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, plenary speaker), Dr. Krishnan Rajeshwar (plenary session chair and associate dean of the College of Science), Dr. Ron Elsenbaumer (vice president for research at UT Arlington) and Dr. Stathis Meletis (IC4N chair).
Dr. Meletis also helped to organize the Aegean Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Workshop, which was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and also held on Rhodes.
Another conference tied to the University and the College of Engineering is the IEEE International Conference on Pervasive Computing and Communications (PerCom), started by Computer Science & Engineering faculty eight years ago. PerCom is an established premier conference in the areas of pervasive computing and communications and recognized as a top tier conference by most universities and organizations. Dr. Gergely Zaruba was the vice general chair of PerCom 2009 and Dr. Yonghe Liu will serve as a vice program chair for PerCom 2010.
