May 9 2007
UC Santa Barbara’s NSF Center for Nanotechnology in Society (CNS) will host internationally acclaimed nanotechnology and society professor Arie Rip on Thursday, May 24 for a public talk. Prof. Rip’s talk, entitled “Addressing Societal Implications of Nanotechnology – and Their Ambivalencies,” will provide an overview of the science and its impacts to society, and as well as identify eight key ambivalencies that arise as a result of nanotechnology’s rapid growth and progress.
Prof. Rip is a professor of philosophy of science and technology in the School of Management and Governance at the University of Twente, The Netherlands. He is a key figure in the Centre for Studies of Science, Technology and Society. He is involved in evaluation studies, as part of the Norwegian Research Council, and the research management of Flemish Universities, and international comparative science policy studies. He was a member of the European Union High-Level Expert Group on Foresighting the New Technology Wave.
The Center for Nanotechnology in Society at UCSB is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to serve as a national research and education center, a network hub among researchers and educators concerned with nanotechnologies’ societal impacts, and a resource base for studying these impacts in the U.S. and abroad.
Nanotechnology is the manipulation of materials on a very small scale and offers possibilities in the fields of medicine, energy and the environment, and electronics. A relatively new science, there is still a great deal unknown about its potential benefits and risks.
WHO: Professor Arie Rip, University of Twente, The Netherlands
WHAT: Public talk, “Addressing Societal Implications of Nanotechnology – and Their Ambivalencies”
WHERE: Engineering Sciences Building, Room 2001, UC Santa Barbara
WHEN: Thursday, May 24, Noon – 1:30 p.m.
Free and open to the public. Lunch will be served.