Plenary Speakers

Kristi S. Anseth

Kristi S. Anseth is the Tisone Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Head of Academic Leadership of the BioFrontiers Institute at the University of Colorado at Boulder, USA. Her research interests lie at the interface between biology and engineering where she designs new biomaterials for applications in drug delivery and regenerative medicine. Dr. Anseth is an elected member of the US National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, and most recently the American Academy of the Arts and Sciences. She is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, Society for Biomaterials, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and Materials Research Society. Dr. Anseth currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Board of Trustees for the Gordon Research Conferences, on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Allen Institute. She is also an editor for Biomacromolecules and Progress in Materials Science.

Pauline Harris

Pauline Harris, from Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Rakaipaaka and Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, is an Associate Professor at Massey University.

Pauline has a PhD in astrophysics from Canterbury University and has since been the Chairperson of the Society of Māori Astronomy Research and Traditions (SMART). As a Principal Investigator on the Marsden funded project “Ngā Takahuringā ō te ao: The effect of climate change on traditional Māori calendars”, Dr Harris has significant experience and expertise in how to build bridges between Mātauranga Māori and currently topical areas of scientific research.

Chennupati Jagadish

Professor Jagadish is a Distinguished Professor and Head of Semiconductor Optoelectronics and Nanotechnology Group in the Research School of Physics, Australian National University. Prof. Jagadish is the Editor-in-Chief of Applied Physics Reviews (IF:19.5), Editor of 2 book series and serves on editorial boards of 20 other journals. He has published more than 1000 research papers (730 journal papers), holds 7 US patents, co-authored a book, co-edited 15 books and edited 12 conference proceedings and 20 special issues of Journals. He is a fellow of 12 Science and Engineering Academies (US, UK, Australia, Europe, India) and 14 Professional Societies (IEEE, MRS, APS…). He received many awards including IEEE Pioneer Award in Nanotechnology, IEEE Photonics Society Engineering Achievement Award, OSA Nick Holonyak Award, IUMRS Somiya Award, UNESCO medal for his contributions to the development of nanoscience and nanotechnologies and Lyle medal from Australian Academy of Science for his contributions to Physics. He has received Australia’s highest civilian honor, AC, Companion of the Order of Australia, for his contributions to physics and engineering, in particular nanotechnology. He is currently serving as the President of the Australian Academy of Science.

Michelle Simmons

Michelle Simmons is the founder of Silicon Quantum Computing and Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computation and Communication Technology in Sydney. She is internationally renowned for creating the field of atomic electronics and for pioneering new technologies to build computing devices in silicon at the atomic scale. She has been recognised by the American Computer Museum as a pioneer in quantum computing, awarded the US Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology and was named the 2017 L’ORÉAL-UNESCO Asia-Pacific Laureate in the Physical Sciences. In 2018 Professor Simmons was admitted as a Fellow to the Royal Society of London and named Australian of the Year, one of the nation’s pre-eminent awards. She was the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of Nature Quantum Information, Chair of the American Physical Society Division of Quantum Information in 2021 and in 2022 she was awarded the Royal Society’s prestigious Bakerian Medal for seminal contributions to our understanding of nature at the atomic-scale.

M. Cather Simpson

M. Cather Simpson is a Professor of Physics and Chemical Sciences at the University of Auckland, where she founded and directed the Photon Factory, an industry-facing laser centre in the Faculty of Science. In addition to its leading edge laser-matter interaction research, the Photon Factory’s interdisciplinary team has worked with dozens of New Zealand and international companies, from Fletcher’s and Fonterra to small startups. Cather also is a scientific founder of two internationally award winning spin-outs, Engender Technologies and Orbis Diagnostics. Engender was acquired in 2018; Cather led the New Zealand based R&D as Chief Science Officer until the end of 2021. Orbis’ platform diagnostic technology, co-founded with David Williams, is entering the commercial pilot phase. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Aparangi and the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, and is a Director of SPIE (International Society for Optics & Photoncs), Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Orbis. She is an Emeritus Investigator of the MacDiarmid Institute and a Principal Investigator and Associate Director – Industry for the Dodd-Walls Centre. In addition to her university role, she is a Partner at Pacific Channel. Accolades include an Ako Aotearoa New Zealand National Teaching Award, the Kiwinet’s Researcher Entrepreneur and Supreme Awards and Royal Society’s Pickering Medal.

Kathleen J. Stebe

Kathleen J. Stebe is the Goodwin Professor in the School Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. Educated at the City College of New York, she received a B.A. in Economics and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the Levich Institute advised by Charles Maldarelli. After a post-doctoral year in Compiegne, France under the guidance of Dominique Barthes-Biesel, she joined the Department of Chemical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, where she became Professor and served as the department chair. Thereafter, she joined the University of Pennsylvania, where she served as department chair prior to her service as Deputy Dean.

She is an Associate Editor of the journal Soft Matter, and has been recognized by the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars, as a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the Radcliffe Institute. Her research focuses on directed assembly in soft matter and at fluid interfaces, with an emphasis on confinement, geometry, and emergent structures for novel functional materials.