PLENARY+SPEAKERS

 **WHAT'S ALGAE GOT TO DO WITH IT? The Role of Algae in the Production of Alternative Fuels and the Growth of the Biodiesel Industry**

[|National Algae Association] ** ** B Building, Theater, 6:15pm-7pm, 45 min Categories: __Careers in Oil & Gas and Alternative Energies; New Technologies__ **
 * Barry Cohen, Executive Director

**Let's start at the beginning...** In the beginning, there was algae, but there was no oil. Then, from algae came oil. Now, the algae is still there, but the oil is fast depleting. In the future, there will be no oil, but there will still be algae. When oil prices are low, there seems to be no incentive to develop alternative fuels. This question addresses the question, "How often is the US economy going to be held captive by the price of oil when we have access to alternative fuels?"


 * Barry Cohen**, founder and executive director of the National Algae Association which is based in The Woodlands, formed the organization to bring together all facets of algae industry-research and algae oil production companies to assist the biodiesel industry. "The majority of work was being done in labs," Cohen said. "This is an industry that needs to be commercialized. The association will bring the entire algae supply chain together to meet investors. We put the association together specifically for that purpose," says Cohen.

//**RECENT ARTICLES**// ** Algae as Jet Fuel by 2010 ** [|**http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=jet-biofuel-ready-for-takeoff**]

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 * Profiles of 15 algae biofuel startup companies

** THINGS JUST KEEP GETTING SMALLER Trends and Career Opportunities in the Field of Nanoscale Science **

[|Richard Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science & Technology, Rice University] ** ** B Building, Theater, 7pm-7:45pm, 45 min Categories: __New Technlogies; Engineering; Careers in Oil & Gas and Alternative Energies__ **
 * [|Wade Adams, PhD, Executive Director]

The Smalley Institute is devoted to the development of new innovations on the nanometer scale. Some of the Smalley Institute's current thrusts include research in carbon nanotubes, medical applications of C60, nanoporous membranes, molecular computing, and nanoshell diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The Smalley Institute is part of a major initiative at Rice to expand activities in nano, bio, info and enviro science and engineering, and to expand interactions with the Texas Medical Center, the largest concentration of medical research facilities in the world. Dr. Adams' presentation will focus on trends in the nanotechnology and career opportunities within the field of nanoscale science.