From left to right: Dr. Catherine Asaro, Dr. Merrilea Mayo, Dr. David Forrest, Dr. Lloyd Whitman, and Moderator Dr. Shelah Morita.
From June 3-5, 2016 the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC was filled with thousands of pop-culture enthusiasts and self-professed “geeks” for Awesome Con 2016. This convention is a celebration of comic books, movies, books, collectibles, costumes, and more. The sci-fi genre is extremely popular at Awesome Con, and this year’s convention included multiple panel discussions which examined the relationship between the technologies portrayed in pop-culture and the realistic limits of technology in everyday life.
Dr. David Forrest, a technology manager for the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), served as a panelist for the Debunking the Nanobot panel at Awesome Con. Dr. Forrest has given talks on nanotechnology since 1985, and was formerly the President of the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing – a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the development of productive nanosystems including nanorobots. During the panel he joined experts from various subject areas including a sci-fi writer to examine the intersections between science, technology, and pop-culture and discuss ways in which advancements in nanotechnology will impact our lives. Dr. Forrest provided examples of nanobot depictions in the sci-fi genre such as Star Trek and Dr. Who and offered insight into which portrayals he thought were best and worst.
Despite being critical of some portrayals of nanotechnology, Dr. Forrest stressed that sci-fi provides valuable thought explorations to help understand where technology can take us, and inspires us to imagine humanity’s future. The role of organizations like AMO, he said, is to use scientific endeavors to empower us to create that future.
Watch Dr. Forrest’s “Nano Nugget” where he discusses how nanotechnology will impact manufacturing.
To learn more about other DOE panelists who participated in Awesome Con, click here.