Oct. 21, 2014 Speaker: Brian Keating, UCSD – Beginnings of Time

Going to the ends of the earth to glimpse the beginnings of time, Professor Brian Keating is an astrophysicist with UCSD’s Department of Physics. He and his team of 17 students, and postdocs develop instrumentation to study the early universe at radio-, microwave- and infrared wavelengths.

He is the author of over 100 scientific publications and holds a U.S. Patent. Brian Keating received his B.S. from Case Western Reserve University and his Ph.D. from Brown University in 2000. He did postdoctoral research at Stanford University and was an NSF Postdoctoral  Fellow at Caltech before coming to UCSD in 2004. He received the 2007 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers at the White House from President Bush for a telescope he developed at the U.S. South Pole Research Station.

Professor Keating c0-leads a collaboration operating the POLARBEAR telescope in the Atacama Desert of Chile. He is also a private pilot with single and multi-engine instrument ratings.

August 26, 2014 Speaker: Chell Roberts, Dean, USD, One Billion & Change

Chell A. Roberts, PhD, is the founding dean of the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering at the University of San Diego. He assumed his duties in July of 2013.

Before joining USD, Roberts served as the executive dean of the College of Technology and Innovation at Arizona State University, where he was responsible for designing innovative curricular programs. Roberts’ designs included the iProjects program, recognized by the national Academy of Engineering as one of 29 programs in the United States that are exemplars of authentic engineering practice embedded in a university program. While at Arizona State University, Roberts also had the opportunity to design an engineering program from a clean slate based on the study of best models of undergraduate engineering programs in the world.

Prior to his tenure at USD, Dr. Roberts was active in the development of engineering capacity programs in Vietnam. Working on several grants, he developed and led the Deans Institute for training deans on the development of strategic plans, the use of collaboration techniques, and in the leadership and management of colleges and schools. Roberts further developed training programs on pedagogy and teaching for international engineering faculty.

Roberts has been active in service to the broader engineering education community. He has served on the SEEK 16 National K-12 Framework Committee, the Arizona Department of Education K-12 Standards Committee, and the Arizona State Department of Education Engineering Pathways Committee. He has held positions of leadership on the Board of Directors, Society of Computer Simulation, as the chair of the ASEE Multidisciplinary Engineering Division, as a member of the ASEE ABET Board, and is active as an ABET evaluator.

Dr. Roberts has numerous professional publications and grants in the areas of engineering education, discrete event control languages and architectures, and in accessibility analysis for automated process planning. Chell Roberts received a PhD in Industrial Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MS Industrial Engineering degree and BA Mathematics degree from the University of Utah

 

July 22, 2014 Speaker: Amir Jafri, CEO/Founder, Immunicom, Inc. – Innovative Cancer Therapy

Amir has over 25 years of experience in healthcare technology and devices as a senior executive in Fortune 20 companies and his own healthcare technology startups. He is CEO and founder of Immunicom, Inc.

He has held positions as Executive Vice President at Netspective Communications LLC, Chief Operating Officer at West Health Institute, VP/CTO, VP Innovations, VP R&D, VP Operations at Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH), VP/General Manager Healthcare Division at Manpower Group (NYSE: MAN), VP Global Sales & Marketing at Amada Technologies, COO/Co-Founder of Physia Corporation, and President/Founder of ABA Medical Companies.

Amir is married to Dr. Rachna Jafri and has 2 boys, one in college and one in high school.

July 1, 2014 Speaker: Stephen Wilson, Ph.D., “Life Without Disease: Unleashing the Power of Our Immune System to Keep Us Healthy”

The study of immunology has emerged as the frontrunner of exciting medical research, with more and more studies suggesting it holds the key to solving most diseases that impact human health, even those we haven’t historically associated with immune issues. In fact, on the list of top 10 causes of death in the United States released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7 of the top causes of death are caused by immune system malfunction or could be cured by the immune system:

• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Asthma
• Influenza
• Nephritis
• Alzheimer’s Disease

In his presentation, Dr. Wilson will describe the goals of immune system research and how it is bringing forth interventions in health and medicine that will help people live better lives. Dr. Wilson will share concrete examples of how the aim of “Life Without Disease” is being tackled and how this area of research is even altering the way we look at the possibilities for our future: each of us living long lives without symptoms associated with diseases such as autoimmune disorders, infection, heart disease, and cancer.

Dr. Stephen Wilson is Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology.

In addition to overseeing all Institute operations, finance, and core scientific facilities, he is also the Project Director of the Immune Epitope Database (a national resource of the National Institutes of Health) and Executive Director of the Institute’s RNA Interference
Center (a high throughput genomics facility).

Before joining LJI in 1997 Dr. Wilson trained in basic medical research. He was a research fellow of both the National Institutes of Health and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society where he studied the immunologic basis of autoimmune disease. He holds a B.S.A. in Microbiology and a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Arizona’s School of Medicine.

 

July 8, 2014 Speaker: Jeff Harding, Recycle San Diego – How to Recycle: Electronics, Batteries, Light Bulbs, & Paint

Jeffrey Harding co-founded an e-scrap processor in San Bernardino in 2003. In 2006 he founded Recycle San Diego as a mobile hauler of e-waste, and established a permanent facility to accept e-waste daily in 2007. Ever since, Recycle San Diego has been growing and recycling over 85 tons of e-waste each month. Jeffrey believes that e-waste recycling should be easy and free for consumers, and has thus pioneered the practice of hosting free e-waste recycling events each week throughout San Diego County.

Mr. Harding is a Board Member of Accion San Diego, a member of the Spreckels Organ Society, a member of the Hillcrest-Mission Valley Lion’s Club, a Loud & Clear member of Voice of San Diego, a Lincoln Club of San Diego County member, and San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce member. Mr. Harding believes in community service and supporting causes that increases transparency in government and policies that supports the small business community.