Bridges II: The Law-STEM Alliance & Next Generation Innovation

Overview

On Friday, October 28, 2016, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law will host a conference entitled Bridges II: The Law-STEM Alliance & Next Generation Innovation.  The conference will explore the role of law, business, policy, and regulation in the innovation process, and the role of scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs in the process of law and policy-making. There will be three panels that each focus on a particular new technology or innovation: (1) CRISPR, a new DNA-related technology; (2) the Internet of Things; and (3) User Innovation Platforms. The panelists and our keynote presenters - Joel Mokyr (Northwestern) and Eric von Hippel (MIT-Sloan) - will highlight areas of similarity and distinction among the new areas of innovation. Together, we hope that these similarities and distinctions can lead to insights that will help businesses, scientists, and policy-makers in the future. Four Northwestern deans, of the law school, engineering school, business school, and the college of arts & sciences, will share their views. Our goal for the conference is to bring together a diverse group of academic scholars from law, engineering, business, economics, sociology, and other fields for a robust discussion that we hope will facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Bridges II continues the tradition of innovation at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and is one in a series of programmatic initiatives – including our Master of Science in Law program and our June 2015 Bridges I conference – that are designed to bring together the disciplines of law, business, technology, and science.

Conference Schedule

Friday, October 28, 2016

8:00 am: Registration & Breakfast \ Rubloff Atrium

8:30 am - 8:45 am: Introduction & Welcome \ Aspen Hall - Room 150

8:45 am - 9:30 am: Keynote Speech - "Incentivizing Innovation: the Historical Origins of the Market for Ideas" 

  • Joel Mokyr, Robert H. Strotz Professor, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Economics, Northwestern University

9:30 am - 10:45 am: The Internet of Things

Panelists:

  • Mark C. Hersam, Walter P. Murphy Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University
  • Lee W. McKnight, Associate Professor, Syracuse University School of Information Studies
  • Paul Ohm, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
  • James B. Speta, Class of 1940 Research Professor of Law, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and International Initiatives, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

Coffee & Tea Break

11:00 am - 11:45 am: Keynote Speech -"Free Innovation"

  • Eric von Hippel, T. Wilson (1953) Professor in Management, Professor of Management of Innovation and Engineering Systems, MIT Sloan School of Management

12:00 pm - 1:15 pm Lunch & Deans' Panel

  • Sally Blount, Dean of Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, Michael L. Nemmers Professor of Management & Organizations
  • Julio M. Ottino, Dean of Northwestern McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Distinguished Robert R. McCormick Institute Professor, and Walter P. Murphy Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
  • Adrian Randolph, Dean of Northwestern University Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Professor
  • Daniel B. Rodriguez, Dean of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Harold Washington Professor

Coffee & Tea Break

1:30 pm - 2:45 pm: CRISPR

Moderator:

Panelists:

  • Laura Pedraza-Fariña, Assistant Professor of Law, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
  • Matthew Porteus, Associate Professor of Pediatrics - Stem Cell Transplantation, Stanford School of Medicine
  • Arti K. Rai, Elvin R. Latty Professor of Law; Co-Director, Duke Law Center for Innovation Policy, Duke University Law School
  • Laurie S. Zoloth, Professor of Bioethics and Medical Humanities, Feinberg School of Medicine, Professor of Religious Studies, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University; Director of Graduate Studies 

3:00 pm - 4:15 pm User Innovation Platforms

Moderator:

Panelists

  • Kristian J. Hammond, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University
  • Mohanbir Sawhney, McCormick Foundation Chair of Technology, Clinical Professor of Marketing, Director of the Center for Research in Technology & Innovation, Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management
  • Katherine Jo Strandburg, Alfred B. Engelberg Professor of Law, New York University School of Law
  • Eric von Hippel, T. Wilson (1953) Professor in Management, Professor of Management of Innovation and Engineering Systems, MIT Sloan School of Management

Coffee & Tea Break

4:45 pm - 5:15 pm: Wrap-Up & Takeaways

  • Ryan Whalen, Assistant Professor, Dalhousie University School of Information Management
  • Ivory Mills, PhD-JD Candidate, Northwestern University School of Communications, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
  • Thomas Rousse, PhD-JD Candidate, Northwestern University School of Communications, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law

Beer & Wine Reception - Thorne Auditorium Lobby

Saturday October 29, 2016

Academic sessions (closed to the public) will take place on Saturday. If you are interested in attending the Saturday discussions, please email Professor David Schwartz, at david.schwartz@law.northwestern.edu.