Future engineer appears fascinated by a talk titled "Computers That See" presented by Fei-Fei Li, assistant professor of computer science. (Photo by Norbert von der Groeben)
Some 500 or so Stanford Engineering alumni and their family members ages 10 and up came to campus on July 21 for the 13th eDay—a day of insightful talks by engineering faculty, hands-on student demos and catching up with old friends.
TINA SEELIG, an author, professor and executive director of the school’s entrepreneurship program, the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, kicked off the day with a talk on the creative spark in all of us and how to unlock that sometimes hidden genius to accomplish great things.
With the eDay keynote complete, the attendees disbursed from the Hewlett Teaching Center to locations in the Huang Engineering Center, where the bulk of the day’s activities took place.
The day’s sessions included:
- Assistant Professor JENNIFER DIONNE talked about fighting cancer with light and the possibility of a real-life Harry Potter-esque cloak of invisibility in “Lights, Nano, Action!”
- Associate Professor MARGOT GERRITSEN gave an introduction to “The Mathematics of Sailing” just in time for the America’s Cup races taking place over the coming year.
- Assistant Professor MANU PRAKASH taught his audience about the wonders of the microscopic world.
- Assistant Professor FEI-FEI LI explained why it is so hard to create “Computers that See,” and how we’re getting closer to that goal every day.
- Associate professor OLAV SOLGAARD provided a look inside ourselves with his presentation: “Fiber Optics: Window on Human Biology.”
- In “The Wonders of Wireless,” Associate Professor PHIL LEVIS answered the age-old question: “I’m in the middle of Silicon Valley, why can’t I get a cell signal?”
- Assistant Professor SIGRID CLOSE took a closer look at what “Meteors!” tell us about where we, and our planet, came from.
- Professor and author BOB SUTTON discussed how great managers are “Scaling-up Excellence” to build better companies.
- In “Turbulence and Computing: Beauty and the Beast,” Assistant Professor GIANLUCA IACCARINO explored how he and colleagues are using high performance computers to make jets faster, engines quieter and Formula 1 racers brake better.
Click here for an eDay slideshow.
BY ANDREW MYERS, Stanford School of Engineering
