Keynote speakers announced for "International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials"

(Nanowerk News) TAPPI has announced keynote speakers for the 2011 TAPPI International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials. The conference's technical focus includes both cellulose and renewable nanomaterials and their applications. The event will be held June 6-8, 2011 at the Sheraton Crystal City, Washington. D.C., USA (Arlington, VA).
"The science of Nanotechnology for renewable materials is growing rapidly as is its importance to the global forest products industry," notes Sean Ireland, Verso Paper, Conference Co-Chair. "I'm pleased that our keynote speakers will address a full range of issues involved including the status of current and future research, the wide range of applications being examined and government and environmental regulations."
Mike Jackson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Verso Paper Corp., Memphis, Tennessee, will speak on Monday, June 6, 2011 at 8 a.m. His presentation is entitled "Importance of Nanotechnology/Nanomaterials to the Forest Products Industry of the 21st Century." Prior to joining Verso, Jackson was with Weyerhaeuser Company for 29 years where he served in various senior management roles, including Senior Vice President of Cellulose Fibers and White Papers. He also served as Chairman of NORPAC, Weyerhaeuser's joint venture with Nippon Paper.
Vicki Stone, Director of the Nano Safety Research Group at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, Director of Toxicology for SAFENANO, and Editor-in-chief of the journal Nanotoxicology, will present on Monday, June 6, 2011 at 12:30 p.m. Her presentation is entitled "Assessing the Potential Toxicity of a Variety of Nanomaterials." Stone is also chair of the British Toxicology Society Specialty Section on Nanotoxicology and a member of the UK Government Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP). Previously, she worked at Edinburgh Napier University.
Mike Roco, Senior Advisor for Nanotechnology at the National Science Foundation (NSF) will present on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 8:00 a.m. His presentation is entitled "NSF Programs and the Future of Nanotechnology Research and Development." Roco is founding Chair of the U.S. National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology and a Fellow of ASME, AIChE and the Institute of Physics. The U.S. Society of Professional Engineers and NSF elected him Engineer of the Year in 1999 and 2004. In 2007 he received the National Materials Advancement Award from the Federation of Materials Societies
Dr. Leo Christodoulou, Director, Defense Sciences Office, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Arlington, VA, will speak on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 12:30 p.m. His expertise encompasses the synthesis, processing, and performance of metallic, intermetallic, and composite materials. He obtained his bachelor's degree and doctorate in metallurgy from Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine, London, England. Prior to DARPA he was visiting professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a staff member at Imperial College of Sciences. Dr Christodoulou is a Fellow of the American Society of Metals and recipient of the Federation of Materials Societies 2006 National Materials Advancement Award.
Tom Lindström, Director of the Biofibre Materials Research Centre at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and Senior Research Scientist at Innventia AB in Stockholm, Sweden, will speak on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 8 a.m. His presentation is entitled "NanoCellulose Research and Developments at Innventia." Lindstrom is a fellow of TAPPI and the International Academy of Wood Science, a George Jayme medalist (ZellCheming), and an Ekman medalist (SPCI).
Source: TAPPI