Oxford
Oxfordshire OX1 3PU
UK
Abstract:
Can industry as we know it be made obsolete? If so, then the problems of the 21st century, including climate disruption, are not as they seem. Physical principles indicate the feasibility of developing a high-throughput atomically precise manufacturing technology that operates at low cost, with common materials, and with an extraordinary scope of application. The prospective technology resembles 3D printing, but capable of producing, for example, photovoltaics, jet engines, and nanoscale digital electronics. Rapid progress in atomically precise fabrication, primarily in the molecular sciences, points the way to an incremental development path that leads to a genuinely revolutionary set of capabilities. This prospect calls for a multifaceted shift in today’s research agenda.
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The Speaker:
Eric Drexler is a pioneering nanotechnology researcher and author. In his 1986 book, Engines of Creation, he introduced a broad audience to the promise of high-throughput atomically precise manufacturing, a prospective technology using nanoscale machinery to guide molecular motion and bonding, thereby structuring matter from the bottom up. In his publications and lectures, Dr. Drexler describes the implementation and applications of advanced nanotechnologies, and their potential impact on global problems.