Event

Booz Allen Colloquium: "Why Engineers Should Grow a Long Tail," Prof. Bill Hammack, UIUC

Friday, September 16, 2011
3:00 p.m.
1110 Jeong H. Kim Engineering Bldg.
Carrie Hilmer
301 405 4471
chilmer@umd.edu
http://www.ece.umd.edu/colloquium

Booz Allen Hamilton Distinguished Colloquium in Electrical and Computer Engineering

"Why Engineers Should Grow a Long Tail: How Our Profession Can and Should Use New Media to Reach the Public"

Prof. William S. Hammack
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Abstract:

Bill Hammack gives a primer to his fellow engineers on how to think about new media, focusing on  how the engineering profession should communicate in a user-generated media era. Bill draws on his own experiences on YouTube to illustrate what engineers need to know to grasp the mindset of new media and to understand the underlying changes in the media landscape that will outlast the latest social networking tools. He tackles what exactly is meant by new media; and then looks into what engineers should communicate to the public. In addition to looking at communicating from a high vantage point, he offers tips for any engineers who to engage the public who is video blogging.

Biography:

Bill Hammack is a Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana. He earned a B.S. Degree from Michigan Technological University; and his M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois-Urbana. He taught for ten year at Carnegie Mellon University before returning to Illinois in 1998. Most recently he created the "engineer guy" video series which has been viewed over 3million times. Make Magazine called Bill a "brilliant science-and-technology documentarian", whose "videos should be held upas models of how to present complex technical information visually"Wired called them "dazzling." He’s been a regular commentator for American Public Media’s premier business show Marketplace, for Illinois Public Radio via his home station WILL-AM 580, and for Radio National Australia’s Science Show. Many journalism, scientific and engineering organizations have recognized his work. He’s received the top awards in science journalism: The National Association of Science Writers Science in Society Award, the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award, and the American Chemical Society’s Grady-Stack Medal. In Edwin F. Church Medal from American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Service to Society Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers; Silver Reel for National News & Commentary from the National Federation of Broadcasters, President's Award from the American Society for Engineering Education; Distinguished Literary Contribution, Furthering the Public Understanding of the Profession, IEEE. He is also a Fellow the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical Society. He spent 2005-06 as a Senior Science Adviser at the Department of State.

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