Day 1 consisted of talks on Bob's career in fusion. Day 2 consisted of talks on Bob's career at the University of California San Diego and other ventures.
Speakers on Day 1 included:
Bobs bio:
Robert W. Conn is President of The Kavli Foundation and Zable Professor and Dean, Emeritus, of the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego. He began his academic career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1970 where he became Professor of Engineering Physics, served as a founding director of the University's Fusion Technology Institute and held the Romnes Faculty Chair. Dr. Conn moved to UCLA as Professor of Engineering and Applied Science in 1980. In 1986 he led the formation of UCLA's Institute of Plasma and Fusion Research and became its first director.
From 1993 to 2002, Dr. Conn was Dean of the Irwin and Joan Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego and the Walter J. Zable Professor of Engineering Science. While Dean, he led the School through a period of unprecedented growth in faculty, students and reputation resulting in its current ranking among the top engineering schools in the country. He worked to form two new academic departments, Bioengineering and Structural Engineering. Research centers established during Dr. Conn's tenure include the Center for Wireless Communications and the Whitaker Institute for Biomedical Engineering (in partnership with the School of Medicine). He was asked by the Chancellor on 2000 to lead a partnership across the campus to establish the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2). He led the hiring of the founding Director and helped raise the required matching funds well in excess of $100 million. Dr. Conn built partnerships between the university and industry and established the von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Transfer.
Dr. Conn has been a leading researcher in plasma physics, fusion energy, energy policy and materials science. He pioneered, beginning in the early 1970's, the study of fusion systems as potential power reactors, identifying the major physics and engineering challenges facing the development of practical fusion energy. His theoretical and experimental research focused on plasma physics, the plasma boundary layer, surface science and chemical physics. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1987 for his pioneering research contributions to the fields of plasma physics and fusion energy.
Dr. Conn's experience in the private sector includes co-founding Plasma & Materials Technologies, Inc. in 1986, a company that developed etching and thin film deposition equipment used to manufacture semiconductor and from 2002 to 2008, serving as a Managing Director at Enterprise Partners Venture Capital (EPVC), a La Jolla-based VC firm specializing in early-stage high tech and life science companies.
Dr. Conn is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of both the American Physical Society and the American Nuclear Society. Awards for his research contributions include the Ernest O. Lawrence Memorial Award, presented on behalf of the President by the Secretary of Energy; the McGraw Research Award of the American Association of Engineering Education; the Distinguished Associate Award of the U.S. Department of Energy; and the Distinguished Alumni Award of the California Institute of Technology.
Bob can be reached at rconn@ucsd.edu