Dr. F. Joseph Heremans is a staff scientist at Argonne National Laboratory in the Center for Molecular Engineering and Materials Science Division and a CASE scientist at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME). He received his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and music theory from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara, working in the group of David Awschalom.  His work focused on spin defects in wide bandgap materials, particularly nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond. He continued his work in the Awschalom group as a postdoc before starting at Argonne as an assistant staff scientist. Now, in his dual roles within Argonne and PME, he works on engineering spin systems in several wide bandgap materials to create scalable quantum platforms. Additionally, he mentors, collaborates, and engages with students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty from both institutions, where he has used successful science communication to lead an interdisciplinary team split between a national lab and university.

Dr. Dan Hickman is a Senior R&D Fellow in the Engineering and Process Science department at The Dow Chemical Company. He is recognized as an expert in experimental reactor systems, reaction kinetic model development, reactor modeling, and reactor scale-up across multiple Dow businesses. As a subject matter expert and technical leader, he has led interdisciplinary R&D teams in the reaction engineering and process development of several reaction systems. As an R&D team lead, he can speak to his experience working on an interdisciplinary project team in industry and the impact that interdisciplinary science communication has on project success in an industry setting. Over the course of his career, Dr. Hickman has been awarded 25 patents and has authored 32 journal articles and book chapters, along with more than 200 internal technical reports for Dow. In addition to receiving numerous prestigious awards, Dr. Hickman maintains an active role within the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and served on the board of directors for the International Symposia on Chemical Reaction Engineering, Inc., further contributing to the advancement of the chemical engineering field.

Prof. Laura Lindenfeld is the Executive Director of the Alda Center for Communicating Science, Dean of the School of Communication and Journalism, and a Professor of Communication at Stony Brook University. As Director of the Alda Center, she oversees an organization that is a world leader in science communication, training over 20,000 scientists from around the world using the Alda method to develop more effective communication strategies to convey their research to others in an interdisciplinary environment. Prof. Lindenfeld’s work has focused on facilitating communication between scientists and among scientists and the public, with an emphasis on environmental sustainability communication. She has devoted her career to helping scientists from various backgrounds to develop the skillset to communicate their research in more engaging and clear ways. Also, throughout her career, Prof. Lindenfeld has developed an interest in food culture and media, along with understanding how to develop new sustainable food production systems, shown through her co-authored book, Feasting Our Eyes: Food Films and Cultural Identity in the United States, published by Colombia University Press in 2016.