ITHACA, N.Y. -- The 20th annual Cornell Society of Engineers (CSE) conference will be held on the Cornell University campus, April 3-5. The conference, also sponsored by Cornell's College of Engineering, has as its theme, "Breaking the Size Barrier: Engineering at the Smallest Dimensions."

The conference will provide an overview of current research and applications of nanoscience, or engineering at the molecular level. The public is invited to attend all sessions at no charge, but advance registration is required.

CSE has been the engineering college's official alumni association since 1905.

W. Kent Fuchs, the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering at Cornell, says the conference will feature talks on the applications and business potential of the nanosciences by alumni who are leaders in industry and faculty members who are research leaders at Cornell. "The capability provided by nanoscience is one of the most important enabling technologies of the 21st century, with wide ranging implications for the quality of our lives," he says.

Among the presenters will be Ammar Hanafi '88, vice president of strategy and business development at Cisco Systems, who will deliver the William G. Ohaus '49 Memorial Seminar April 3 at 4:30 p.m. in the DeFrees Auditorium of Hollister Hall.

Presenters April 4, beginning in Barnes Hall, will include Bill Nye '77, "The Science Guy," a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 Professor; David Welch, Ph.D. '85, founder of Infinera, who will speak on "Technology Leverage in the World of Telecommunications: How to Thrive as a Start-up"; David Bishop, M.S. '77 and Ph.D. '78, vice president of Communications Subsystems Research Laboratory, Lucent Technologies; Jerry Woodall, Ph.D. '82, professor of electrical engineering and applied physics at Yale University and National Medal of Technology laureate, who will speak on "Higher Bandwidth Devices Using Exotic Materials Instead of Smaller Dimensions"; and Philip Batson '70, Ph.D. '76, of IBM Research Labs, and John Silcox, Cornell vice provost for physical sciences, both of whom will speak on their joint project, "Developing the World's Highest Resolution Electron Microscope."

Speakers from Cornell also will include Christopher Ober, professor and director of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering; and Harold Craighead, Ph.D. '80, the Charles Lake Professor of Engineering and co-director of the National Science Foundation-funded Nanobiotechnology Center at Cornell.

Greg Galvin, Ph.D. '84, president and founder of Kionix, will be the featured speaker on April 5, discussing "Engineering a Business in Microtechnology." The conference will end with a panel discussion, "Outlook for the Future." Panel participants will include W. David Williams, M.S. '75, Ph.D. '76, director of Special Microsystems Programs, Sandia National Laboratories; Kevin McGovern, '70, chairman, McGovern Capital; Sandeep Malhotra, M.S. '89, Ardesta Ventures; and Josh Wolfe '99, managing partner, Lux Capital.

For registration information, contact the CSE office at (607) 255-9920 or http://engr_cse@cornell.edu . Online registration is available at http://www.alumni.cornell.edu/cseconf .