A public lecture by Prof. Frank Doyle, Dean of Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

How can we build robots that act like living organisms? What will it take to develop an artificial pancreas? Or create intelligent medical nanotechnologies? New intellectual spaces for interdisciplinary thinking are encouraging engineers to work with bioscientists to find surprising solutions to complex problems. 

This is what’s known as convergence - the merging of distinct technologies, industries, or devices into a unified whole. This talk will explore new pathways and opportunities that result from not only the convergence of systems engineering with the life sciences, but also the emerging opportunities that result from embedding engineering into design, business, law and the arts and the humanities. 

Distinguished chemical engineer, Professor Frank Doyle, Dean of Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, will share his insights into the convergent thinking revolution. 

In his research, Professor Doyle applies systems engineering principles to the analysis of regulatory mechanisms in biological systems. His work includes the design of drug-delivery devices for diabetes; modeling, analysis, and control of gene regulatory networks underlying circadian rhythms; and computational analysis for developing diagnostics for post-traumatic stress disorder.