The Brimmer and May School in Chestnut Hill, MA cordially invites you to attend its fifth annual KENYON BISSELL GROGAN Humanities Symposium—
Innovations in Mathematics, Science and Technology

Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Keynote address: 10:45 a.m. in the Ruth Corkin Theatre, the Chase Building, 60 Middlesex Road, Chestnut Hill.
Workshops: Panel workshops from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and from 1:45 p.m.to 2:45 p.m. in the Chase Building.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
10:45 a.m.
Keynote address by Dr. Ioannis Miaoulis, Director and President, Museum of Science, Boston
The Best Wrong Turn I Ever Took

An innovative educator with a passion for both science and engineering, Dr. Miaoulis championed the introduction of engineering into the Massachusetts science and technology public school curriculum. At Tufts, he originated practical courses based on students', and his own, passions for fishing and cooking: a fluid mechanics course from the fish's point of view and Gourmet Engineering, where students cook in a test kitchen, learn about concepts such as heat transfer, and then eat their experiments. His dream is to make everyone, both men and women, scientifically and technologically literate. Dr. Miaoulis has seized the opportunity as the Museum of Science Boston's president to achieve his vision. With the Museum's Boards of Trustees and Overseers, Dr. Miaoulis spearheaded creation of the National Center for Technological Literacy ® (NCTL®) at the Museum in 2004.


WORKSHOPS
Robotic Systems for Extreme Ocean Environments - Featuring the arm of the Nereus vehicle
Dr. Brendan Foley and Alberto Tito Collasius, Deep Submergence Lab at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Brendan Foley's research focuses on the application of marine robotics to deep-water shipwreck archaeology in the Mediterranean region. His goal is to study many dozens of very ancient shipwrecks dating to the Bronze Age (3000-1000 BC), and, through them, begin to understand how our ancestors invented civilization.  Alberto (Tito) Collasius Jr. participates in research expeditions at sea as expedition leader with the JASON remotely operated vehicle. Highlights of his career include being involved in the 1985 discovery of the wreck of the /Titanic/; exploring underwater volcanoes as they erupt; and participating in the discovery of a perfectly-preserved 3rd century shipwreck in the Black Sea.

These researchers will discuss the technology they use to explore the ocean. In spring 2009, the underwater vehicle Nereus dove nearly 11,000 meters to the deepest part of the ocean -- the Mariana Trench. The only
vehicle in the world capable of reaching that depth, Nereus, a hybrid vehicle, can fly through the ocean like an aircraft to survey and map large areas with sonar, sensors, and cameras, and it can hover like a
helicopter to collect samples with its robotic arm, while shipboard pilots send it commands through a hair-thin tether. The researchers will bring Nereus's robotic arm for a hands-on demo and talk about deep sea
exploration.



Real World Applications of Physics
Math in both neuroscience and satellite research.
Chris Bedell, Mechanical Engineer, Ph.D. candidate at Boston University in Mechanical Engineering, developing a minimally invasive surgical robot.

Chris Bedell received his Bachelors in Science from Boston College in Physics with minors in Mathematics and Scientific Computation. While completing his bachelors he worked in both satellite research and computational neuroscience. In satellite research he worked on understanding the effects of the ionosphere on GPS signals. He is attending Boston University and is working on his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering. There he is working with a team of engineers and doctors on a minimally invasive surgical robot. The purpose of this robot is to be driven down an artery into the heart where it can perform surgery inside the heart.



Visualizing The Universe
Michelle Borkin ‘02, Applied Physicist, Ph.D. candidate and researcher at Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Michelle Borkin '02 is a researcher at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. She works on creating new approaches to interdisciplinary scientific imaging, data exploration, and image analysis with a focus on 3D visualization. As part of both the "Astronomical Medicine" and the "Multiscale Hemodynamics" projects she collaborates with astronomers, physicists, computer scientists, and doctors to help them analyze and visualize their data. Michelle graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Astronomy & Astrophysics and Physics in 2006, and is now an Applied Physics PhD candidate.


Changing the Course of Production—Getting Toxic Chemicals Out of Products
Dr. Mark Rossi

Dr. Mark Rossi is the Research Director at Clean Production Action (www.cleanproduction.org), an environmental organization that promotes the use of safer alternatives to toxic chemicals. Dr. Rossi is the author of many publications including the Green Screen for Safer Chemicals, Healthy Business Strategies for Transforming the Toxic Chemical Economy and the Plastics Scorecard. He chairs the Business-NGO Working Group, a collaboration of over 160 representatives from businesses and environmental groups, which promotes the use of safer chemicals and sustainable materials in products. His Ph.D. is in Environmental Policy from MIT.


Culturing the Good, Killing the Bad: The Fun of Bacteria in Research
Nina Moeker, Ph.D.

Dr. Nina Moekerís current research interest is to find a way to fight multidrug tolerant bacteria causing several life-threatening and hard-to-treat infections like pneumonia, disfiguring and painful burns, and internal infections that can actually hit every part of the human body. Before trying to kill bacteria, Dr. Moeker worked with good bugs, studying different bacteria used in biotechnology, for example for the production of amino acids or artificial sweeteners.


Adventures in Lifelong Kindergarten: When Is a Banana a Paintbrush?
Eric Rosenbaum and Jay Silver

Eric Rosenbaum is a Ph.D. student at MIT Media Lab's Lifelong Kindergarten research group, where he works on empowering people to tinker with electronics, improvise music, and paint with light. Jay Silver has studied Electrical Engineering at Georgia Tech,  the internet at Cambridge University, and creativity at MIT. Mr. Silver is now a researcher at the Media Lab and wants to help people unleash their inner child by making creative learning tools to help people learn to intertwine with Modern Nature. Learn how they became creative learning researchers.


Antarctica: Life at the Bottom of the World
Jeff Klein, Brimmer and May Science Teacher

Jeff Klein teaches Middle and Upper School science at Brimmer and May. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies from Brown University and a Masters of Science in Natural Resources from Cornell University. After his Masters, Mr. Klein got a job as a dishwasher at McMurdo Station, the largest research base in Antarctica. Though his job was menial, Mr. Klein got to volunteer with several science research crews and gained valuable experience in an amazing part of the world.


Political Polling: The Dance of the Numbers in 2010
Rob Spurrier, Brimmer and May Humanities Co-Chair

Mr. Spurrer will explain the latest mathematical techniques in constructing, conducting, and interpreting political polling techniques. Tuesday, Jan. 19 will be the special U.S. Senate election day in Massachusetts, and 2010 will see lots of media attention given to political polls; see how mathematics figures in a process that affects all of our lives. Mr. Spurrier majored in political science at Williams College and received his Master's degree in history from the University of New Hampshire. Before coming to Brimmer and May Mr. Spurrier worked on several state and national political campaigns in New Hampshire and twice ran for state representative.


Using Math to Analyze Diseases in New York City's Firefighters after 9/11
Rachel Zeig-Owens ‘00, Epidemiologist, New York City Fire Department, World Trade Center Monitoring and Treatment Program

Rachel Zeig-Owens '00 and studied mathematics at Wheaton College. She works†at the New York City Fire Department World Trade Center Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program as an epidemiologist. Her session will be about the different health topics that affect fire fighters, from lung function to cancer to mental health.

The Keynote address will take place in the Ruth Corkin Theatre, the Chase Building, 60 Middlesex Road, Chestnut Hill. 
Kindly RSVP: Amanda Frank at 617-264-1424 or afrank@brimmer.org