INTERNATIONAL
STEM & INNOVATION COLLOQUIA SERIES (ISICS)
ISICS SERIES-19
16
October 2024 (Wednesday)
9.00 am
– 11.00 am (Malaysia Time)
Title: “The
Relevance of Physics in an AI World “
Speaker: Prof Lawrence M. Krauss
President
The Origins Project
Foundation, USA.
About the speaker:
Lawrence Krauss is an internationally known theoretical physicist and bestselling author, as well as being an acclaimed lecturer. He has also appeared regularly on radio and television, as well as in several feature films. He was born in New York City and moved shortly thereafter to Toronto, Canada, where he grew up. He received undergraduate degrees in both Mathematics and Physics at Carleton University. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1982), then joined the Harvard Society of Fellows (1982-85). He joined the faculty of the departments of Physics and Astronomy at Yale University as assistant professor in 1985, and associate professor in 1988. From 1993-2008 he was Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics, Professor of Astronomy at Case Western Reserve University. From 1993-2005 he also served as Chair of the Physics Department there. During this period he built up the department, which was ranked among the top 20 Physics Graduate Research Programs in the country in a 2005 national ranking. Among the major new initiatives he spearheaded were the creation of one of the leading particle astrophysics experimental and theoretical programs in the US, the Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics, and the creation of a groundbreaking Masters Program in Physics Entrepreneurship. Among his numerous important scientific contributions was the proposal, in 1995, that most of the energy of the Universe resided in empty space. This prediction was verified in 1999 by two teams of astronomers, and the discovery was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2011. In 2008 he was appointed as Foundation Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics Department, and Inaugural Director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University. During the decade (2008-2018) in which he led the program, the Origins Project became internationally recognized for spearheading forefront research across the full spectrum of scholarly activity through is renowned transdisciplinary workshops, and then bringing this exciting information to the public through its public events, bringing the most accomplished scholars, public intellectuals and celebrities in the world on stage at ASU to discuss topics ranging from the origins of the universe, to human origins, to the origins of consciousness and culture. In 2019, he became President of The Origins Project Foundation, an independent non-profit organization that will carry on the mission of inspiring the wonder and excitement of knowledge, inquiry and creativity in new forums for the public. In 2019, he also became Host of The Origins Podcast, an exciting new video podcast focused on dialogues between Prof. Krauss and some of the most interesting people in the world from science, the arts, politics, and journalism. The podcast first aired in May of 2019. He also publishes the Substack site, Critical Mass, which includes essays, as well as links to podcasts and lectures.
