Dates of Employment: 24 September 2012 - 23 August 2012
Estimated Hours/Week: 10-15
Salary Range: $12.50 - 15.00 / hour (depending on experience level)
Supervisor: Michael Khbeis
Available Positions: 3
Job Title: Student Employee - Cleanroom Laboratory Student Assistant
Job Description: The Cleanroom Laboratory Student Assistant's primary responsibility is to ensure the continuity of operations within the Microfabrication Facility in Fluke Hall. Core responsibilities include tracking and stocking inventory of chemicals, cleanroom, and general laboratory supplies. Part of this job involves inventory control, purchasing, and interaction with a high volume of industry vendors, which makes the position an optimal professional networking opportunity. The technician is essential in maintaining the cleanroom protocols and lab safety by ensuring chemicals, supplies, and critical materials are available within the laboratory environment. Secondary responsibilities include assisting research engineers in maintaining, characterizing, and upgrading advanced cleanroom manufacturing equipment as well as establishing and executing common semiconductor and MEMS manufacturing processes for foundry customers. Technicians will be responsible for conducting equipment qualifications. On-the-job training will be provided by staff research engineers. This opportunity is advantageous to anyone seeking lab experience in engineering and/or physical sciences as well as providing a strong foundation and professional networking in advanced electronics and biotech job markets.
Requirements:
- Experience in following detailed instructions and demonstrated consistency in conducting laboratory processes
- Conducting work independently with minimal supervision upon completion of training
- Competency in chemical and cryogenic material handling or equivalent educational experience (e.g. completion of inorganic chemistry or similar courses)
- Demonstrated ability to complete detailed record-keeping and provide technical reporting on a regular basis
- Prefer 10 hours / week commitment but can have flexible schedule
Dr. Michael Khbeis
Associate Director
Microfabrication Facility (MFF)
University of Washington
Fluke Hall, Box 352143
(O) 206.543.5101
(C) 443.254.5192
khbeis@uw.edu
Friday, September 7, 2012
Job Openings for Math Homework Graders
The math department is currently hiring homework graders for the upcoming year. Available courses include Math 307, 308, 309, 324, 326, and 327. If you have taken and received a grade of 3.7 or higher in any of these courses we welcome you to apply online at https://catalyst.uw.edu/webq/survey/danyel/46538. Preference will be given to students with Work Study funding.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Opportunities: Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium
1. WSGC is currently accepting graduate fellowship applications from University of Washington graduate students. These fellowships provide UW awardees with a single quarter to focus solely on their doctoral research. Fellowship awardees are provide with tuition for the quarter she/he is selected for, student health insurance and a $5,000 award.
Application deadlines for Winter and Spring 2013 support is November 2, 2012.
Details may be found at the following link:
http://www.waspacegrant.org/for_students/graduate_programs/uw_fellowships.html
Contact nasa@uw.edu if you have additional questions.
Sincerely,
Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium (WSGC)
2. FAA's Design Competition for Universities
I am writing to let you know that The FAA's Design Competition for Universities will again be offered for the 2012 - 2013 academic year. The Competition has been significantly expanded. As you may know, the Virginia Space Grant Consortium created and manages this competition, now in its sixth year, on behalf of the FAA. We hope you will participate in the Competition, and make colleagues and students aware as well. The Competition guidelines and many resources are posted at the Competition website:
http://FAADesignCompetition.odu.edu
All 2011-2012 design topics are still included. New topics have been added to the each of 2012 Design Challenge areas. In addition, two new Design Challenge areas have been added: Innovative Application of FAA Data and Electric/Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Technology.
The new Innovative Application of FAA Data design challenge challenges students to use FAA, industry, travel and airport-relevant data to develop a mobile application for use for by smart phones and tablets that is innovative and commercially viable.
The new Electric/Hybrid Electric Aircraft Technology design challenge asks students to design a regional transport aircraft that will use electric or hybrid electric propulsion and to consider the impact on airports. This is the first aircraft design challenge for the FAA design competition.
Other brand new topics by Design Challenge area are:
Airport Operation and Maintenance: Improved methods for ground traffic flow scheduling.
Airport Environmental Interactions: System level methodologies for strategic assessment of environmental interactions beginning at the airport planning phase.
Runway Safety: Safety Assessment Tools:
Mobile tools to support assessment conducted by runway safety action teams that aid in compliance evaluation as well as hazard identification and correction.
Systems analysis to determine areas of greatest risk for runway incursion and excursion in the National Airspace and proposing corrective action plans.
Airport Management and Planning: Methods for aircraft/runway interface that address issues caused by new energy efficient lighting not being visible to heat sensing, enhance flight vision systems.
The Competition's broad challenge categories embrace many engineering, science, information technology, psychology, and management disciplines. The new Innovative Application of FAA Data challenge particularly encourages designs from interdisciplinary teams.
The Competition is again open to individual and student teams at U.S. colleges and universities (both undergraduate and graduate) working under the mentorship of a faculty advisor. Winners can earn cash awards and first place winners have the opportunity and travel funds to present their design at FAA Headquarters summer 2013 and may also be sponsored to present at professional meeting relating to the students’ design. A notice of intent is strongly encouraged. Design submissions are due April 19, 2013.
Thanks for helping us get the word out to our Space Grant colleagues nationwide.
Please feel free to contact me or Debbie Ross (dross@odu.edu) if you have
any questions.
See you in Seattle,
Mary
Mary Sandy
Director
Virginia Space Grant Consortium
600 Butler Farm Road, Suite 2200
Hampton, Virginia 23666
757 766-5210
3. Registration Open for NASA's Fourth Annual Lunabotics Mining Competition
NASA is challenging U.S. and international undergraduate and graduate student teams to design and build a telerobotic or autonomous excavator, called a Lunabot, that could be used on the moon. The Lunabot must be able to mine and deposit a minimum of 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of lunar simulant in 10 minutes. The scoring for the Mining Category requires teams to consider a number of design and operation factors such as dust tolerance and projection, communications, vehicle mass, energy/power required and autonomy.
Design teams must include one faculty advisor from a college or university and at least two undergraduate or graduate students. Universities may work in collaboration and multidisciplinary teams are encouraged. Selected teams will compete in the Lunabotics Mining Competition at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 20-24, 2013. Registration is limited to the first 50 approved teams. Registration is limited to one team per university campus. Internationally, registration is limited to 5 teams per country. Registration will end when NASA approves 50 applications.
The NASA EDGE video from NASA's Third Annual Lunabotics Mining Competition is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/mp4/670179main_NE00072112_39_Lunabotics_2012.mp4
For more information and to apply online, visit NASA's Lunabotics Mining Competition on the Web at www.nasa.gov/lunabotics. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Lunabotics; watch Lunabotics videos on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/Lunabotics; and follow Lunabotics on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nasalunabotics
Susan Sawyer
REDE/Critique JV
supporting the
NASA KSC Education and External Relations
Lunabotics Mining Competition Coordinator
Mailcode: RCJV-EX-E-2
M6-0399:3385B
Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899
Voice: (321) 867-5482
Fax: (321) 867-8007
E-mail: Susan.G.Sawyer@nasa.gov
Lunabotics Mining Competition on the Web at www.nasa.gov/lunabotics
Facebook at www.facebook.com/Lunabotics
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/nasalunabotics
4. Space Florida and NanoRacks Announce International Space Station Research Competition
Space Florida, the State of Florida's spaceport authority and aerospace economic development organization, and NanoRacks, LLC, have announced a partnership to host the Space Florida International Space Station (ISS) Research Competition. As part of this program, NanoRacks will provide up to eight Payload Box Units (NanoLabs) that will fly payloads to the ISS, with scientific research that will be conducted on board the U.S. National Lab. Space Florida will cover the costs of research payload transportation to the ISS for the eight winning applicants.
To register for the competition and to view the rules and regulations, timeline, judges criteria, workshop reservations and technical support details, visit www.spaceflorida.gov/iss-research-competition.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jaydeep Mukherjee, Ph.D
Director, NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium
Partnership 1 Building, Room 218
12354 Research Parkway
Orlando, FL 32826-0650
Jaydeep.Mukherjee@ucf.edu
Tel: 407-823-6177
Fax:: 407-823-6362
www.floridaspacegrant.org
5. National Student Solar Spectrograph Competition (NSSSC)...
an Opportunity for Undergraduates to Participate in a Real World Research Experience
Ask yourself the following questions:
·Are you looking for a real world design problem?
·Do you want to participate on an interdisciplinary team?
·Do you want experience with mechanical components, optics, electronics
and software?
·Are you looking for an independent study or a capstone project?
·Do you want to travel to the 'Big Sky' state?
·Do you want a chance to win scholarship and travel prizes?
If you answered yes to these questions then this competition is for you! Get your team of 3 to 6 students together and register today.
The yearly National Student Solar Spectrograph Competition (NSSSC) is
Montana Space Grant Consortium's Education and Public Outreach (EP/O) Program for NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) mission. A Spectrograph is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum by separating the incoming light into its characteristic frequencies of wavelengths (spectrum). Spectrographs have a wide range of complexity from simple grating or prisms to the cutting edge IRIS spectrograph.
The NSSSC provides students from across the country the opportunity
to work as part of an undergraduate interdisciplinary team to design, build and test a ground based solar spectrograph. Over the course of nine months, teams come up with their own science goals and then build an instrument to collect data in support of their goals. Teams then travel to Bozeman, MT to demonstrate their instruments and present their results in a competitive science fair environment. There are four judged categories: best build, best design, best science and best presentation. Each student on the winning teams receives a scholarship award of $3,000 and a travel award to a NASA launch.
College students interested in designing a spectrograph can now
register for the 2012-2013 competition. Build awards of $2,000 per team are available for teams that register by Sept. 30.
Comments about the NSSSC:
"NASA is in a unique position to use scientific space missions like IRIS to foster student interest in science and engineering," said Diane DeTroye, of NASA's education office in Washington, D.C. "Giving students a chance to get hands-on experience often encourages them to pursue and continue STEM studies. This helps build an important pipeline of talent for future NASA missions."
"The concept of having undergraduates design, build and test a scientific instrument is certainly unique as far as I know. This is a marvelous opportunity for young people to develop high level skills in instrument building. Using the instrument to answer science questions makes it even better. I commend and thank you for this wonderful experience. All of us will learn so much as we successfully complete this project. NSSSC provides participating students a better chance for admission to the graduate school of their choice. Also, they will receive better fellowships when they are accepted to graduate school. It will give some of them a direction for their career. I know of no other opportunity to engage in instrument design and application." - Edmond Wilson, Faculty Advisor Harding University
"The opportunity to work on a real project has been a true motivation for our students who can feel isolated at a small school with no significant research going on." - Jim Boger, Faculty Advisor Flat Head Valley Community College
The 2012-2013 Final Competition Dates are May 15-18, 2013 in Bozeman, MT. Any questions please contact Randy Larimer at rlarimer@ece.montana.edu or 406-994-6085
Registration and more information is available at http://www.spacegrant.montana.edu/iris/
Social Media Link: http://www.facebook.com/NASANS3
Thank you in advance for your consideration!
Randy.
If you are not interested would you please pass this on to a student or faculty member that might be interested.
Randal M. (Randy) Larimer, P.E.
Deputy Director
Montana Space Grant Consortium
416 Cobleigh Hall, P.O. Box 173835
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717-3835
Application deadlines for Winter and Spring 2013 support is November 2, 2012.
Details may be found at the following link:
http://www.waspacegrant.org/for_students/graduate_programs/uw_fellowships.html
Contact nasa@uw.edu if you have additional questions.
Sincerely,
Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium (WSGC)
2. FAA's Design Competition for Universities
I am writing to let you know that The FAA's Design Competition for Universities will again be offered for the 2012 - 2013 academic year. The Competition has been significantly expanded. As you may know, the Virginia Space Grant Consortium created and manages this competition, now in its sixth year, on behalf of the FAA. We hope you will participate in the Competition, and make colleagues and students aware as well. The Competition guidelines and many resources are posted at the Competition website:
http://FAADesignCompetition.odu.edu
All 2011-2012 design topics are still included. New topics have been added to the each of 2012 Design Challenge areas. In addition, two new Design Challenge areas have been added: Innovative Application of FAA Data and Electric/Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Technology.
The new Innovative Application of FAA Data design challenge challenges students to use FAA, industry, travel and airport-relevant data to develop a mobile application for use for by smart phones and tablets that is innovative and commercially viable.
The new Electric/Hybrid Electric Aircraft Technology design challenge asks students to design a regional transport aircraft that will use electric or hybrid electric propulsion and to consider the impact on airports. This is the first aircraft design challenge for the FAA design competition.
Other brand new topics by Design Challenge area are:
Airport Operation and Maintenance: Improved methods for ground traffic flow scheduling.
Airport Environmental Interactions: System level methodologies for strategic assessment of environmental interactions beginning at the airport planning phase.
Runway Safety: Safety Assessment Tools:
Mobile tools to support assessment conducted by runway safety action teams that aid in compliance evaluation as well as hazard identification and correction.
Systems analysis to determine areas of greatest risk for runway incursion and excursion in the National Airspace and proposing corrective action plans.
Airport Management and Planning: Methods for aircraft/runway interface that address issues caused by new energy efficient lighting not being visible to heat sensing, enhance flight vision systems.
The Competition's broad challenge categories embrace many engineering, science, information technology, psychology, and management disciplines. The new Innovative Application of FAA Data challenge particularly encourages designs from interdisciplinary teams.
The Competition is again open to individual and student teams at U.S. colleges and universities (both undergraduate and graduate) working under the mentorship of a faculty advisor. Winners can earn cash awards and first place winners have the opportunity and travel funds to present their design at FAA Headquarters summer 2013 and may also be sponsored to present at professional meeting relating to the students’ design. A notice of intent is strongly encouraged. Design submissions are due April 19, 2013.
Thanks for helping us get the word out to our Space Grant colleagues nationwide.
Please feel free to contact me or Debbie Ross (dross@odu.edu) if you have
any questions.
See you in Seattle,
Mary
Mary Sandy
Director
Virginia Space Grant Consortium
600 Butler Farm Road, Suite 2200
Hampton, Virginia 23666
757 766-5210
3. Registration Open for NASA's Fourth Annual Lunabotics Mining Competition
NASA is challenging U.S. and international undergraduate and graduate student teams to design and build a telerobotic or autonomous excavator, called a Lunabot, that could be used on the moon. The Lunabot must be able to mine and deposit a minimum of 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of lunar simulant in 10 minutes. The scoring for the Mining Category requires teams to consider a number of design and operation factors such as dust tolerance and projection, communications, vehicle mass, energy/power required and autonomy.
Design teams must include one faculty advisor from a college or university and at least two undergraduate or graduate students. Universities may work in collaboration and multidisciplinary teams are encouraged. Selected teams will compete in the Lunabotics Mining Competition at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 20-24, 2013. Registration is limited to the first 50 approved teams. Registration is limited to one team per university campus. Internationally, registration is limited to 5 teams per country. Registration will end when NASA approves 50 applications.
The NASA EDGE video from NASA's Third Annual Lunabotics Mining Competition is available at: http://www.nasa.gov/mp4/670179main_NE00072112_39_Lunabotics_2012.mp4
For more information and to apply online, visit NASA's Lunabotics Mining Competition on the Web at www.nasa.gov/lunabotics. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Lunabotics; watch Lunabotics videos on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/Lunabotics; and follow Lunabotics on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nasalunabotics
Susan Sawyer
REDE/Critique JV
supporting the
NASA KSC Education and External Relations
Lunabotics Mining Competition Coordinator
Mailcode: RCJV-EX-E-2
M6-0399:3385B
Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899
Voice: (321) 867-5482
Fax: (321) 867-8007
E-mail: Susan.G.Sawyer@nasa.gov
Lunabotics Mining Competition on the Web at www.nasa.gov/lunabotics
Facebook at www.facebook.com/Lunabotics
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/nasalunabotics
4. Space Florida and NanoRacks Announce International Space Station Research Competition
Space Florida, the State of Florida's spaceport authority and aerospace economic development organization, and NanoRacks, LLC, have announced a partnership to host the Space Florida International Space Station (ISS) Research Competition. As part of this program, NanoRacks will provide up to eight Payload Box Units (NanoLabs) that will fly payloads to the ISS, with scientific research that will be conducted on board the U.S. National Lab. Space Florida will cover the costs of research payload transportation to the ISS for the eight winning applicants.
To register for the competition and to view the rules and regulations, timeline, judges criteria, workshop reservations and technical support details, visit www.spaceflorida.gov/iss-research-competition.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jaydeep Mukherjee, Ph.D
Director, NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium
Partnership 1 Building, Room 218
12354 Research Parkway
Orlando, FL 32826-0650
Jaydeep.Mukherjee@ucf.edu
Tel: 407-823-6177
Fax:: 407-823-6362
www.floridaspacegrant.org
5. National Student Solar Spectrograph Competition (NSSSC)...
an Opportunity for Undergraduates to Participate in a Real World Research Experience
Ask yourself the following questions:
·Are you looking for a real world design problem?
·Do you want to participate on an interdisciplinary team?
·Do you want experience with mechanical components, optics, electronics
and software?
·Are you looking for an independent study or a capstone project?
·Do you want to travel to the 'Big Sky' state?
·Do you want a chance to win scholarship and travel prizes?
If you answered yes to these questions then this competition is for you! Get your team of 3 to 6 students together and register today.
The yearly National Student Solar Spectrograph Competition (NSSSC) is
Montana Space Grant Consortium's Education and Public Outreach (EP/O) Program for NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) mission. A Spectrograph is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum by separating the incoming light into its characteristic frequencies of wavelengths (spectrum). Spectrographs have a wide range of complexity from simple grating or prisms to the cutting edge IRIS spectrograph.
The NSSSC provides students from across the country the opportunity
to work as part of an undergraduate interdisciplinary team to design, build and test a ground based solar spectrograph. Over the course of nine months, teams come up with their own science goals and then build an instrument to collect data in support of their goals. Teams then travel to Bozeman, MT to demonstrate their instruments and present their results in a competitive science fair environment. There are four judged categories: best build, best design, best science and best presentation. Each student on the winning teams receives a scholarship award of $3,000 and a travel award to a NASA launch.
College students interested in designing a spectrograph can now
register for the 2012-2013 competition. Build awards of $2,000 per team are available for teams that register by Sept. 30.
Comments about the NSSSC:
"NASA is in a unique position to use scientific space missions like IRIS to foster student interest in science and engineering," said Diane DeTroye, of NASA's education office in Washington, D.C. "Giving students a chance to get hands-on experience often encourages them to pursue and continue STEM studies. This helps build an important pipeline of talent for future NASA missions."
"The concept of having undergraduates design, build and test a scientific instrument is certainly unique as far as I know. This is a marvelous opportunity for young people to develop high level skills in instrument building. Using the instrument to answer science questions makes it even better. I commend and thank you for this wonderful experience. All of us will learn so much as we successfully complete this project. NSSSC provides participating students a better chance for admission to the graduate school of their choice. Also, they will receive better fellowships when they are accepted to graduate school. It will give some of them a direction for their career. I know of no other opportunity to engage in instrument design and application." - Edmond Wilson, Faculty Advisor Harding University
"The opportunity to work on a real project has been a true motivation for our students who can feel isolated at a small school with no significant research going on." - Jim Boger, Faculty Advisor Flat Head Valley Community College
The 2012-2013 Final Competition Dates are May 15-18, 2013 in Bozeman, MT. Any questions please contact Randy Larimer at rlarimer@ece.montana.edu or 406-994-6085
Registration and more information is available at http://www.spacegrant.montana.edu/iris/
Social Media Link: http://www.facebook.com/NASANS3
Thank you in advance for your consideration!
Randy.
If you are not interested would you please pass this on to a student or faculty member that might be interested.
Randal M. (Randy) Larimer, P.E.
Deputy Director
Montana Space Grant Consortium
416 Cobleigh Hall, P.O. Box 173835
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717-3835
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
New GLBT group for STEM majors
Are you LGBT or ally? Are you majoring in a science, engineering, technology, or mathematics field? Are you interested in networking, making friends, and jumpstarting your professional career?
Then you should join the UW's chapter of oSTEM (Out in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics)! oSTEM plans to create a strong, supportive environment for LGBT and allied students in STEM fields, with plenty of networking, food and career guidance along the way!
We will be holding our first event of the year on Tuesday, September 25th in HUB 337 at 3PM. Be prepared to have eat, socialize, and learn about what other exciting events oSTEM has planned for this next school year. See you then!
If you have any questions, please feel free to forward them to our advisor, Gian Bruno (gbruno@uw.edu).
Sincerely,
oSTEM
Then you should join the UW's chapter of oSTEM (Out in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics)! oSTEM plans to create a strong, supportive environment for LGBT and allied students in STEM fields, with plenty of networking, food and career guidance along the way!
We will be holding our first event of the year on Tuesday, September 25th in HUB 337 at 3PM. Be prepared to have eat, socialize, and learn about what other exciting events oSTEM has planned for this next school year. See you then!
If you have any questions, please feel free to forward them to our advisor, Gian Bruno (gbruno@uw.edu).
Sincerely,
oSTEM
AUT 12 Micro-course on Synthetic Biology in Question
Fall 2012
Synthetic Biology in Question
HUM 597A
1 CR (C/NC)
Designed for graduate students across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and professions, this course aims to prepare students to engage with and reflect on a two-day conference on "Synthetic Biology in Question."
Instructors:
Celia Lowe, Anthropology and International Studies
Gaymon Bennett, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Course Meeting Dates and Times:
Mon, Oct 29, 9:30-11:20 am, CMU 202
Mon, Nov 5, 9:30-11:20 am, CMU 202
Synthetic Biology Conference:
Tues, Nov 13, 9:00-6:00 pm, CMU 202
Wed, Nov 14, 9:00 am-1:00 pm, CMU 202
Mon, Nov 19, 9:30-11:20 am, CMU 202
Course description:
Over the last decade, engineers, social scientists, funders and the media have established synthetic biology as a prominent new brand of bio-engineering, one promising the routinized and standardized engineering of living systems. The brand's success has turned on its claims to technical novelty and a re-imagined future of health, wealth and security, as well as the fact that proponents offer a unified story to justify and draw together divergent research programs-from the modularization of genetic circuits to the production of biofuels. Crucially, synthetic biology's rise to prominence has been facilitated by the sustained engagement of scholars from the human and social sciences, who have helped make talk of ethics, openness, and security part of synthetic biology's self-definition.
This micro-seminar will examine synthetic biology's rise to prominence, and pose the question of the extent to which synthetic biology may be exemplary of the dynamics of new engineering and scientific subfields as well as the political, ethical and cultural conditions of their rise and stabilization. It will examine the ways in which social scientists, philosophers, anthropologists and others have involved themselves in synthetic biology's formation, and raise the question of the ethics of such attempts at collaboration.
"Synthetic Biology in Question" is part of Biological Futures in a Globalized World , a jointly sponsored project of the University of Washington and the Center for Biological Futures at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Synthetic Biology in Question
HUM 597A
1 CR (C/NC)
Designed for graduate students across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and professions, this course aims to prepare students to engage with and reflect on a two-day conference on "Synthetic Biology in Question."
Instructors:
Celia Lowe, Anthropology and International Studies
Gaymon Bennett, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Course Meeting Dates and Times:
Mon, Oct 29, 9:30-11:20 am, CMU 202
Mon, Nov 5, 9:30-11:20 am, CMU 202
Synthetic Biology Conference:
Tues, Nov 13, 9:00-6:00 pm, CMU 202
Wed, Nov 14, 9:00 am-1:00 pm, CMU 202
Mon, Nov 19, 9:30-11:20 am, CMU 202
Course description:
Over the last decade, engineers, social scientists, funders and the media have established synthetic biology as a prominent new brand of bio-engineering, one promising the routinized and standardized engineering of living systems. The brand's success has turned on its claims to technical novelty and a re-imagined future of health, wealth and security, as well as the fact that proponents offer a unified story to justify and draw together divergent research programs-from the modularization of genetic circuits to the production of biofuels. Crucially, synthetic biology's rise to prominence has been facilitated by the sustained engagement of scholars from the human and social sciences, who have helped make talk of ethics, openness, and security part of synthetic biology's self-definition.
This micro-seminar will examine synthetic biology's rise to prominence, and pose the question of the extent to which synthetic biology may be exemplary of the dynamics of new engineering and scientific subfields as well as the political, ethical and cultural conditions of their rise and stabilization. It will examine the ways in which social scientists, philosophers, anthropologists and others have involved themselves in synthetic biology's formation, and raise the question of the ethics of such attempts at collaboration.
"Synthetic Biology in Question" is part of Biological Futures in a Globalized World , a jointly sponsored project of the University of Washington and the Center for Biological Futures at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
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