June 13th Dr. Amit Goyal presents High Temperature Superconductors: From Discovery to Large-Scale Industrial Applications

Remember high-temperature superconductors? These high-tech darlings of the late 1980s brought a Nobel Prize to their discoverers and generated endless speculation about how their near perfect conduction of electricity would revolutionize the world we live in! A key obstacle in realizing large-scale applications of these novel materials was the difficulty of forming long, flexible wires that can carry large amounts of supercurrent per unit area, from these highly brittle, ceramic superconductors that essentially resemble “mud”.It turns out that from a technical or performance standpoint, a mile-long, flexible, single-crystal-like wire of the highly brittle, ceramic superconductor was required. From a cost and fabrication standpoint, an industrially scalable, low-cost process was needed with the goal being to meet or beat the price of ordinary copper wire! This constituted the first holy-grail in fabrication of high-performance, superconducting wires, namely, fabrication of single-crystal-like superconducting wires by the kilometer at a price/performance metric equivalent to that of copper. Once this seemingly insurmountable objective was addressed via fundamental technical innovations, a second holy-grail became apparent for realizing large-scale applications where high-applied magnetic fields were present. This related to substantially improving the vortex-pinning within the superconducting wires which could only be accomplished by introducing periodic, nanoscale, non-superconducting regions separated by nanoscale dimensions, within kilometer-long superconducting wires. Of course, all of this had to be accomplished without adding any significant cost! In this talk Professor Amit Goyal of the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo will take you on a journey from the discovery of high temperature superconductors towards realizing practical, large-scale, applications of these novel materials by addressing the key scientific and technical challenges mentioned above. The eventual solutions are one of the first, large-scale, high-technology applications of nanotechnology, the only example of "epitaxy-by-the-mile" and of self-assembly of nanomaterials by the mile! These HTS wires are now enabling commercial nuclear fusion for limitless clean energy generation, loss-less transmission of energy, superconducting magnetic energy storage systems, next-generation MRI and NMR, MagLev for transportation and all-electric planes and ships with superconducting drivetrains for defense applications.

Dr. Amit Goyal is a SUNY Distinguished Professor and SUNY Empire Innovation Professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo; a Member of US National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Inventors; a Fellow of AAAS, MRS, IEEE, APS, ASM, ACERS, IOP, WIF and WTN; and a Member of the US National Materials and Manufacturing Board (NMMB). He has co-authored over 360 publications and has 85 issued patents. He was ranked by Thompson-Reuters as the most cited author worldwide in the field of high temperature superconductors from 1999-2009. He is the Director of the Lab for Heteroepitaxial Growth of Functional Materials and Devices, and the Director of the NYS Center of Plastics Recycling Research and Innovation at SUNY. He served as the Founding Director of the Institute on Research and Education on Energy, Environment and Water (2015-21), and is an Emeritus Corporate Fellow at the Oak Ridge National Lab. He has received numerous accolades including DOE’s E.O. Lawrence (EOL) Award in the inaugural category of Energy Science and Innovation. The EOL award is given by the DOE Secretary on behalf of the President. Selected additional honors include: TEN R and D 100 awards, the R and D Magazine's "Innovator-of-the-Year" award (2010), Three National Federal Lab Consortium Awards for Tech. Transfer, and the SUNY-Buffalo President’s Medal (2019), the. highest award at the University at Buffalo.

The Forum’s Resident Historian Vincent Dixon speaks on The History of Industrial Revolutions

On May 23rd, The Forum’s Resident Historian Vincent Dixon will speak on The History of Industrial Revolutions. Industrial Revolutions have developed in sequences over many centuries. While many of us tend to hear of “The” Industrial Revolution, there have been distinct waves of Industrial Revolutions, and as we begin to enter the AI Revolution, it is useful to review, the different Industrial Revolutions, and even to look further back. Each Revolution has distinct characteristics as technology and society interact, and transform each other, in a dynamic and hybrid set of interactions. While we cannot know every detail, with any ease, we can learn from thinking about these transformative periods and/or eras.

Vincent Lawrence “Vince” Dixon is a known Historian, in Eastern Massachusetts, especially focused on presentations including Colonial History; Civics; Current Events, and their Relationship to History; Constitutional History; Church-State Relationships, Evolutions, and Relationships with Civic Society; Parks, and Landscape History; and has also taught and tutored. He has done work in curriculum development, is a frequently published columnist, and speaker; and responds to custom requests. MASS PRESENTATIONS (a dba brand, of Dixon’s) develops a wide variety of presentations, including media, curriculum, and published materials, across a wide range of audiences, and subject matter. Dixon has made many presentations, including to Winchester Historical Society: Religious Realities of Winchester: Houses of Worship and Communities of Faith; Schools of Winchester and Their Namesakes (including an exploration of The Lincolns of Massachusetts); Sports History of Winchester (A Virtual Event – by Zoom); History of Vaccination, Immunization, and Disease Prevention; A First Family of Figure Skating: The Vinson Owen Family. – He has also presented to the Sudbury Militia Group, covering several historical eras, including the American War of Independence. He has regularly conducted Town Day Trolley Guided Tours; and will again, on this year’s Winchester Town Day, Saturday, June 7, 2025 – The ABCs Of Winchester History – During This 175th Anniversary Year of Winchester. Additional previous presentations have been made to Cambridge Historical Society; and he is periodically invited to teach classes in History, and Civics, at East Boston High School. Interestingly, Vince was home schooled K-12; earned his Associate in Arts, and his Bachelor of Arts Degree, cum laude, at the Harvard University Extension School and a Master of Education Degree at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. He studied with Dr. Thomas H. O’Connor, University Historian of Boston College, who was the long-time Dean of Boston Historians.

Raising the Bar on AI Education with MIT Professor Eric Klopfer

On May 9th, Professor Eric Klopfer of MIT’s Media Lab will speak about the work of MIT's RAISE (Responsible AI for Social Empowerment and Education) initiative. RAISE explores the transformative impact of AI on personal, civic, and professional life, emphasizing the importance of AI literacy and its integration into K-12 education. Activities within RAISE are designed to build foundational AI knowledge, critical judgment of AI solutions, and the ethical considerations necessary for responsible AI design. The presentation highlights some of the RAISE initiatives, such as the Day of AI program, aimed at fostering AI literacy among students and educators. A focus of this presentation is the policy implications of AI education research, addressing the impact of AI-assisted learning on student outcomes, the role of AI literacy in supporting students' futures, and the current policies and practices that inform the future of AI in education. The implications of research on policy policy are examined, focusing on how AI can support good pedagogical practices and the importance of integrating AI literacy across all subjects. The presentation underscores the need for collaboration between industry, academia, education, and government to empower students and teachers in an AI-powered society. It also addresses the challenges and opportunities presented by AI, such as mitigating bias, ensuring equitable access, and supporting educators in their practice.

Dr. Eric Klopfer is Professor and Director of the Scheller Teacher Education Program and The Education Arcade at MIT. He is also co-PI of MIT's RAISE initiative in AI education. His research focuses on technology and pedagogy for building understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and systems. He has special interests in games, simulations and computing as pathways to STEM learning. He is the co-author of the books, "Adventures in Modeling", "The More We Know, and “Resonant Games”, as well as author of "Augmented Learning.” His lab has produced software (from casual mobile games to MMOs to AR/VR) and platforms (including StarLogo Nova and Taleblazer) used by millions of people, as well as online courses that have reached hundreds of thousands. Klopfer is also the co-founder and past President of the non-profit Learning Games Network.

Join us on April 25th as Chief Development Officer of BlueSky Utility discusses the future of solar.

Bill Hilliard, the Chief Development Officer at BlueSky Utility, a branch of the publicly listed power producer, Nofar Energy, will speak with the Forum today on the future of solar and renewable energy sources. BlueSky is an innovative clean energy developer/owner providing renewable energy solutions for businesses. They serve as the United States Territory arm of Nofar Energy and specialize in energy storage, solar, and microgrid systems. Bill will address renewables, the impact of renewables on the grid; batteries; and policy issues associated with electric generation and distribution.

Bill Hilliard is experienced in renewable energy, software, edge computing, and financial technology. Before leading energy storage development at BlueSky, Bill worked at Generate Capital as an Investor and Operating Partner. There, he led energy investments in a range of areas including EV charging, community solar, data center energy, fuel cells, HVAC cooling, waste-to-value, and sustainable energy technologies. He has over 30 years of experience in clean technology, real estate, specialty finance, and technology. Bill is an inventor on 14 US patents. He has successfully led three companies as a CEO or senior team member. He founded Sonnetech Ltd., which is now part of VeriSign, and was its CEO until it was bought. He also worked as a senior executive at MicroTouch Systems and Phoenix Technologies during their public offerings. Bill is part of the North American Executive Board for MIT’s Sloan School of Management and advises MIT Sloan’s Sustainability Initiative. He has represented investors on the boards of several firms. He earned a Master’s degree in Management from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematical Economics from Pomona College. He has been a Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Bill’s academic contributions were published in the Journal of Business Venturing, Venture Capital Journal, Knowledge at Wharton, and Wharton Magazine.

On April 11th Professor Ramses V. Martinez Will Discuss Scalable Manufacturing of Self-Powered Smart Wearables

Professor Ramses V. Martinez of Purdue University will present cutting-edge strategies for the scalable manufacturing of intelligent, self-powered wearable systems. His talk will highlight the development of three innovative technologies aimed at enhancing human well-being and safety through materials-driven engineering.

First, he will introduce disposable smart diapers (DSDs), wearable platforms capable of monitoring hydration, glucose levels, and urinary tract infections in real-time, transforming passive hygiene products into diagnostic tools for vulnerable populations. Next, he will discuss triboelectric–piezoelectric edible food sensors (TEFS), battery-free devices designed for the early wireless detection of food spoilage gases, which enable real-time monitoring directly on packaging or food surfaces using safe, biodegradable materials. Lastly, he will present a scalable fabrication method for creating waterproof, breathable, and antibacterial self-powered e-textiles. These omniphobic triboelectric textiles harvest biomechanical energy from human motion to power wearable electronics, while remaining washable, durable, and compatible with mass production.

Together, these wearable technologies represent a paradigm shift toward the production of accessible, eco-friendly, and multifunctional smart devices that redefine how we interact with food, garments, and healthcare diagnostics.

Ramses V. Martinez is an Associate Professor in the Schools of Industrial Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. His research group, The FlexiLab, explores the intersection of materials science, soft robotics, and scalable manufacturing to create transformative technologies for health and sustainability.

March 28th- AI in K-12 Education: Empowering Minds, Not Machines

On March 28th, Courtney Marshall Fairfax County Public Schools will speak on AI in K-12 education, The Human Edge: Empowering Minds, Not Machines. As AI reshapes our world, we face a critical choice: Will we become passive consumers of technology, conforming to systems built for efficiency, or active partners who redefine what’s possible? AI is rewriting the rules. Will we simply follow them, or rewrite the future ourselves? AI doesn’t think—it predicts. It doesn’t ask What if?—it finds What’s most likely? Every decision it makes collapses possibilities into a single, determined outcome. Breakthroughs don’t come from probability. They come from humans who challenge the expected, defy patterns, and create the impossible. She will describe how her work has transformed how students labeled "disruptive" learn, influenced the development of a technology ready workforce, and developed education methods that harness AI to enhance human capability rather than replace it.

Courtney Marshall is a strategist, educator, and AI-human collaboration expert who transforms complex systems into actionable, human-centered innovation. She specializes in breaking deterministic AI patterns, ensuring that technology amplifies human intelligence rather than limiting it. She holds an Ed.S. in Educational Technology specializing in AI from the University of Florida, an M.Ed. in Special Education from the University of Virginia, and a B.S. in Economics from George Mason University. Her work spans business, education, workforce transformation, and AI policy, making her one of the most versatile thought leaders in the field. Marshall served on the Fairfax County Public Schools AI Advisory Board, was recently personally invited to help develop Virginia’s first K-12 AI curriculum and has consulted for organizations including the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) and Ohio’s inaugural Broadband for Teachers program, where she helped shape technology strategies that bridge the gap between education, business, and the future of work. Her SPARK Framework is a blueprint for breaking through the AI Deterministic Barrier, where algorithms optimize but do not explore. She challenges organizations, educators, and leaders to move beyond passive AI consumption and into true collaboration, ensuring that AI remains a catalyst for human ingenuity, not a replacement for it.

On March 14- Perspectives on the Electrical Grid from a Second Year PhD Student

On March 14th, Dahlia Saba will speak with us on Perspectives on the Electric Grid from a Second Year PhD Student. For over 100 years, we have been operating electric grids. However, as it has become apparent that our reliance on fossil fuel based energy is unsustainable and renewable energy has become an increasingly viable alternative, many of the fundamental assumptions we have used to operate the grid so far are changing. In this talk, I will discuss my path towards becoming a PhD student studying the electric grid. I will also present an overview of some of the biggest challenges to a clean energy transition from an electric grid perspective.

Dahlia Saba is a second year PhD student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses on the dynamic stability of electric grids with renewable energy, energy storage, and high voltage DC transmission. She is also pursuing a certificate in Energy Analysis and Policy. She received her B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley in 2023. She is also the granddaughter of Don and Lita Nelsen.

On February 28th, Dr. Albert Moussa will speak on Hydrogen in Aviation – Potentials and Challenges

Join Dr. Albert Moussa to discuss how decarbonization and advances in Urban Air Mobility are driving the introduction of new fuels, technologies, and requirements in aviation. He will describe the aviation segments where hydrogen can satisfy these requirements and its associated challenges. To obtain FAA certification, manufacturers must demonstrate that the risk to passengers and the public from new fuel is no worse than that from traditional fuels. Dr. Moussa will discuss some of the safety issues with hydrogen, and drawing upon his 1982 study for NASA, compare quantitatively the crash fire hazards of aircraft fueled by liquid hydrogen vs. carbon fuels. He will also comment on hydrogen use in ground transport.

Dr. Moussa is the founder and president of BlazeTech Corp., an R and D and engineering consulting firm that services the aviation and energy industries. Previously, he spent a decade as senior consultant at Arthur D. Little, Inc. For about four decades, he worked in innovations in the areas of energy, environment and safety. For example, he developed unique software on fire, explosion and toxic releases for the chemical, aerospace and defense industries. He developed also novel pulverized and fluidized bed coal combustors. His forte has been in technology development to proof-of-concept testing but now he is seeking also the commercialization of his innovations. He has received several awards including the William Lockwood Memorial Lecture Award; Engineer of the Year by the New England AIAA Section; AIAA Distinguished Lecturer; Best Papers by SAE and ASEI; and several ASME citations. He has served on three national committees and was Associate Editor of the Journal of Energy Resources Technology. He received his Bachelor’s from Stanford University and his PhD from MIT.

On February 14th join Professor Srinivasan Chandrasekar.

Professor Srinivasan Chandrasekar of Purdue University will speak about Prince Rupert’s Drops: 400- year-old Mystery Revealed. Prince Rupert’s drops, special “glass bubbles”, possessing very striking mechanical properties, have been in existence since before 1625. Forerunners of modern toughened glasses, they exhibit a paradoxical combination of strength and fragility that excited the imagination of natural philosophers of yore. The head of a drop does not break when hammered on an anvil: yet when its tail is broken with mild finger pressure applied, the drop disintegrates explosively into fine powder. We unravel this curious behavior using high speed photography, fractography and stress measurements, thereby providing the solution to a 400-year old conundrum.

Srinivasan Chandrasekar is Professor in the Schools of Industrial Engineering and Materials Engineering at Purdue University. His research and teaching interests are in manufacturing, materials processing, fracture and tribology. His recent contributions all stem from the use of high-speed imaging techniques to characterize material flow and fracture phenomena at high spatial and temporal resolution. “Prince Rupert’s Drops” exemplifies this approach.

Johns Hopkins University Professor Peter Searson

will speak on The blood-brain barrier: what is it and what does it do? The blood-brain barrier is a 600 km network of blood vessels that supplies fuel to the brain while at the same time providing protection from anything in circulation that could compromise normal brain function. We start by describing how the blood-brain barrier performs these functions. We then discuss the role of the blood-brain barrier in health and disease. Finally, we describe how tissue-engineering can be used create models of the blood-brain barrier and how these models can be used to contribute to understanding disease progression and developing strategies for rejuvenation and repair.

Searson received his PhD from the University of Manchester in England in 1982 and was a post-doctoral associate in Ron Latanision’s lab at MIT. Since 1990 he has been at Johns Hopkins University. He was co-founder and director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Nanobiotechnology from 2006 to 2016, and holds appointments in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the Department of Biomedical Engineering, the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and the Department of Oncology. He is the Joseph R. and Lynne C. Reynolds Professor of Engineering at Hopkins.

On January 10, Professor Ron Ballinger of MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering will speak on Restarting Decommissioned Nuclear Power Plants.

Professor Ron Ballinger will discuss how the growing demand for electricity stimulated by EVs and data mining has led, for example, to consideration by Microsoft to restart the decommissioned Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. What are the technical hurdles to doing this and how is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission responding?

Ronald G. Ballinger is a Professor Emeritus of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He served for 8 years in the nuclear navy before attending college. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1975, his S.M. in Nuclear Engineering in 1977 and in Materials Science and Engineering in 1978 and his Sc.D. in Nuclear Materials Engineering in 1982 from MIT. After receiving his Sc.D., he joined the faculty at MIT. Ballinger was appointed to the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board by President Joseph Biden on October 25, 2022. He has served on several U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) committees dealing with the stabilization, processing and disposition of metallic uranium fuel from the production reactors as well as from research reactors including teams to evaluate options for the Hanford, Savannah River, and Idaho National Engineering Laboratory sites. He has been, a member of several DOE committees to evaluate advanced reactor options and materials for these options. These committees include: (1) Independent Technical Review Group: Design Features and Technology Uncertainties for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant, (2) Power Conversion Unit Study Committee, and (3) the Idaho National Laboratory Materials Review Board. Professor Ballinger was a member of the Independent Performance Assessment Review Panel that evaluated the total system performance assessment for the license application for the Yucca Mountain waste repository. Professor Ballinger was appointed to the NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards in 2013.