IEEE Galveston Bay Section

Major breakthroughs in the field of biophotonics, genomics, and stem cell biology are enabling the control of biological processes through light. By incorporating light-actuated and light-emitting proteins into cells, key biological processes at the single-cell level can be controlled in real-time. In parallel to such developments, nanotechnology is providing the engineering community with a new set of tools to create novel nanoscale devices with unprecedented functionalities. These include, among others, plasmonic nano-lasers with sub- micrometric footprint, plasmonic nano-antennas able to confine light in nanometric structures, or single- photon detectors with unrivaled sensitivity, which can be combined to create novel optical nano-sensors and nano-actuators. Together, networks of nano-actuators and nano-sensors can control and monitor biological processes at the sub-cellular level with unprecedented temporal and spatial accuracy. The resulting light- mediated nano-bio-interfaces enable new unique applications, ranging from new tools to study, understand and enhance the recovery from developmental and neurodegenerative diseases to novel brain-machine interfaces and other technologies targeted at enriching human-machine interaction. In this talk, the fundamentals and the experimental state of the art and future research directions for wireless nano-bio communication networks enabled by optogenomics will be presented. Optogenomic interfaces are light- mediated nano-bio-interfaces that allow the control and monitoring of the genome and, thus, of all the cell functionalities, with (sub) cellular resolution and high temporal accuracy. The biological principles of cell development and function and, in particular, the role of the FGFR1 gene will be described. Then, the state- of-the-art in optical nano-devices will be summarized. Experimental results demonstrating the feasibility to optically actuating the expression of FGFR1 and, thus, the genome, will be presented. Future steps towards moving the fundamental in-vitro lab to in-vivo testing and, ultimately, deployment in humans, will be discussed while highlighting the role of wireless communication engineers in this truly transformative research paradigm. Speaker(s): JOSEP, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/323531

Layers of smartness—using technology and data—are being built into cities to make them safer, more efficient, and sustainable. Developed cities around the world are actively launching smart solutions, while new and emerging cities are integrating intelligent, connected systems from the start. The big cities of today may not be those of tomorrow. The opportunities are immense—across infrastructure, mobility, energy, healthcare, and beyond. Innovative technology applications and their adoption in society offer a turning point. At its core, the smart city is about people and improving the quality of our everyday lives. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed some of the shortcomings of major cities in times of crisis. The talk will cover the following areas: Intro: Current state and challenges of Smart Cities **Disruptive technologies enable building a solid foundation for smart cities - highlights of current and future of IoT, 5G/6G, Analytics (AI/ML/DP) across key markets **Key examples – technology convergence & adoption in new use cases in key verticals such as smart homes, public safety, autonomous driving, healthcare, smart energy, and others. ** Covid-19 accelerates the return to the new norm with greater innovation and end-to-end services Conclusion: Adoption of disruptive technologies and acceleration to a new norm will help transition to smart societies. Key Takeaways - Understanding the mission of smart cities and the current situation of 50 worldwide top smart cities and impact from Coronavirus Covid-19 - Technology Features overview and roadmap of 4G/5G/6G, IoT, and AI - Sample use cases and power of virtualization and network slicing Speaker(s): Fawzi, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/323532