Edison Lecture Series

The Edison Lecture Series was established in 1989 by the Charles Edison Fund to stimulate interest in and encourage participation in science and technology. Notre Dame Engineering’s Edison Lectures are designed to bring new ideas and innovative perspectives on engineering to our community and beyond.

Fall 2024

September 27
Andrew J. Whittle

Edmund K. Turner Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT

MoSE: The Audacious Project to Protect Venice from Flooding and Preserve the Venetian Lagoon

Spring 2024

Raul Romero

April 18
Raul Romero ’75, ’77

Executive Chairman for North America of Sacyr Group (retired)

Doubling the Capacity of the Panama Canal: How this colossal global engineering project was achieved—and how it is changing the world

Students watching Solar Eclipse

April 8
Eclipse Watch Party

On April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse passed over North America, traveling from Mexico to Maine. Notre Dame was in the eclipse’s path and experienced 97 percent totality at 3:09 p.m. To celebrate the event, the College of Science hosted an Eclipse Watch Party. The College of Engineering/Edison Lecture Series was a donor of eclipse glasses for attendees.

Fall 2023

Dava Newman

December 7
Dava Newman ’86

Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics and Director of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

The Infinite to Spaceship Earth

Marian Ackun-Farmmer

September 28
Marian Ackun-Farmmer, Ph.D.

Jewell lab, University of Maryland, College Park

Modulating Innate Signaling with Self-Assembled Systems to Promote Immune Tolerance in Autoimmunity

Jamie E. Padgett

September 28
Jamie E. Padgett

Stanley C. Moore Professor and Department Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University

In Pursuit of Smart and Equitable Multi-Hazard Resilience Modeling for Structures and Systems

Spring 2023

Catalina Vajiac

April 13
Catalina Vajiac

Ph.D. student in Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon University

Detection and Visualization of Human Sex Trafficking in Online Escort Ads

Grace O’Connell

April 11
Grace O’Connell

Associate Professor and Co-directorBerkeley Biomechanics Laboratory,University of California, Berkeley

3D Modeling of the Intervertebral Disc: Direct Relationship between Tissue Composition and Model Parameters

Kai-Mei Fu

March 31
Kai-Mei Fu

Virginia and Prentice Bloedel Professor of Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Washington

Point Defects in Crystals: Trapped Atoms for Quantum Technologies

Dr. Adam Simpson

March 23
Dr. Adam Simpson

IDEAL Provostial Fellow for Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Stanford University

What’s in Our Food?

Fall 2022

Carina Martinez

December 13
Carina Martinez

Postdoctoral researcher, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago

Dynamic Associations Facilitate Macromolecular Engineering of Formulations

Jeseth Delgado Vela

November 10
Jeseth Delgado Vela

Howard University

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Biofilm

Spring 2022

Gabriel Burks

April 28
Gabriel Burks, Ph.D.

Army Research Office MURI Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Hierarchical Control and Characterization of Synthetic and Biopolymer Materials

Asher Williams

April 21
Asher Williams, Ph.D.

Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow, Cornell University

Engineering Microorganisms for the Efficient Biosynthesis of Carbohydrate-Based Drugs and Related Enzymes

Josef A. Nossek

March 24
Josef A. Nossek

Professor, Munich University of Technology

How to Achieve Energy Efficiency in Multi-Antenna Systems? A Physical Layer Perspective

Emma Chory

February 1
Emma Chory, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow, MIT

Phage and Robotics-Assisted Biomolecular Evolution

A graphic with a black background and a green globe that reads "Science Olympiad"

January 22
Fighting Irish Science Olympiad

Science Olympiad is a national organization that hosts academic competitions for students from K-12th grade. The event encourages the spread of STEM education and critical thinking to students all across the United States. The College of Engineering/Edison Lecture Series is a sponsor of this event at Notre Dame.

Martez Mott

January 20
Martez Mott, Ph.D.

Senior researcher, Ability Group at Microsoft Research

Designing Accessible Virtual Reality Experiences for People with Limited Mobility

Fall 2021

Darius Carter

December 7
Darius Carter, Ph.D.

President’s Postdoctoral Fellow,Georgia Institute of Technology

Near-Boundary Flow Phenomena in Unmanned Aerial/Underwater Vehicles

Spring 2021

Katlyn Turner

March 17
Dr. Katlyn Turner (ND ’12)

Research Scientist, MIT Media Lab, Space Enabled Research Group

Towards Intersectional Equity in Complex Sociotechnical Systems

C. Fred Higgs

March 16
Dr. C. Fred Higgs III

John and Ann Doerr Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Rice University

Industry 4.0 Design for Additive Manufacturing in Energy and Bioengineering Systems