Spring 2018

 In the 1980s, David Mermin derived a simple example of a Bell inequality and showed that it is violated in measurements on entangled quantum systems. In this talk, I reanalyze Mermin’s example, using correlation arrays, the workhorse in Jeffrey Bub’s Bananaworld (2016). For the class of all non-signaling correlations conceivable in the kind of experiment considered by Mermin, I derive both the Bell inequality, a necessary condition for such correlations to be allowed classically, and the Tsirelson bound, a necessary condition for them to be allowed quantum-mechanically. I show that the Tsirelson bound for these experiments follows directly from the geometry going into their quantum-mechanical analysis. I use this example to promote Bubism (not to be confused with QBism though both are information-theoretic approaches to the foundations of quantum mechanics). I do so by comparing the rules for probabilities in quantum mechanics, illustrated by my Bubist reanalysis of Mermin’s example, to the rules for spatio-temporal behavior in special relativity.

The concept of “courses ” has not changed much over centuries. However, online learning technology is quickly starting to challenge our understanding of what it means by a “course”. The abundance of online learning resources challenges the role of courses being the disseminators of knowledge, while the high registration numbers and low finishing numbers of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) challenges not only the necessity to “pass” a course, but also the optimum length and scope of a course. Given the fact that more than 70% of today’s undergraduate students are non-traditional in one way or another, it might be a good time to think about how online learning technology might help to evolve the structure of courses to accommodate an increasingly diverse student population. In this workshop, I will initiate the discussion of “what might a future STEM course look like”, by introducing three relatively old ideas: mastery-based learning, flipped or blended classroom , and modularized instructional design. I will talk about how those ideas, when combined with the latest online learning technologies, might re-shape how students take a course, how teachers teach a course, and how instructors create a course , especially for STEM disciplines. We will also brainstorm about what STEM instructors can do to embrace the possible changes ahead.

Introduction: In the halls of Congress there is widespread agreement about the role of R&D in the success of the America’s most innovative corporations. However, too often lawmakers view government models of discovery, from NASA to public university research labs, as obsolete and costly superstructures in today’s .com marketplace. What happened to the case for public exploration and discovery and why shouldn’t the private sector be trusted to find the cure for Grandma’s dementia or Johnny’s brain tumor? Long-time Washington political insider, former lobbyist, Administration appointee, and AIMBE’s Executive Director, Milan Yager, will reveal the hidden truth about why Congress doesn’t fund needed biomedical research.

Results and Discussion: This presentation will highlight innovations and achievements made possible from past federal investments in basic research; such as the internet, wireless communications, even mapping the human genome. Today, Congress seems less interested in past accomplishments as they assume new priorities to balance the budget, reduce government, and free the private sector to assume long-standing government responsibilities for innovation and discovery. How did Congress make spending decisions to permit federal R&D spending to be flat for over a decade? Learn about why Congress is no long accountable for reduce investments in basic research. Discover three secrets to making a winning case for federal funding for medical and biological research. Learn practical steps to successfully getting your point across to a Member of Congress. Find out how to brand your research as the Sputnik in the race to cure cancer, manage chronic disease, or Type I diabetes.

Conclusions: Arming yourself with the strategies for the political warfare in the case for innovation is more than just changing public policy; it can provide the key to changing the future landscape of new biomedical materials, products or procedures. Attendees will get insight into America’s next biomedical “moonshot” initiative.

The programmed assembly of nanoscale building blocks offers exciting new avenues to creating electronic devices and materials in which structure and functions can be chemically designed and tuned. In this context, the synthesis of inorganic molecular clusters with atomically-defined structures, compositions and surface chemistry provides a rich family of functional building elements. This presentation will describe our efforts to assemble such “designer atoms” into a variety of hierarchical structures and devices, and study the resulting collective properties.