C-NICE roundtable features alumnus Sidney Lu

Last Thursday, the Center for Networked Intelligent Components and Environments (C-NICE) hosted a roundtable discussion on the “Future of Communications” to discuss research and business perspectives on the next generation of communications. The virtual panel was moderated by Grainger Engineering Dean Rashid Bashir and featured experts from UIUC, IBM Research, and Foxconn Interconnect Technologies (FIT), including MechSE alumnus Sidney Lu (BSME ’81).

The academic and industry leaders discussed how communication technologies are shaping, and being shaped by, scientific discovery, technology and business innovation, and societal needs and trends.

Panelists included:

• Mr. Sidney Lu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT)
• Professor Klara Nahrstedt, Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering, Director of the Coordinated Science Laboratory, Member of the NAE
• Professor R. Srikant, Fredric G. and Elizabeth H. Nearing Professor and Co-Director of the c3.ai Digital Transformation Institute
• Mr. Chris Lu, Global Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT)
• Professor E. Soltanaghai, Computer Science, UIUC
• Dr. Hao-Chung Kuo, Director, Semiconductor Research Center, Hon Hai Research Institute and Chair Professor in Department of Photonics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
• Dinesh C. Verma, FREng, Chief Scientist of Research Consulting Program, IBM Research
• Professor W. Pfaff, Physics, UIUC

C-NICE launched in 2019 as a $100 million partnership between FIT and The Grainger College of Engineering, based at Illinois and serving as a global hub for the smart, reconfigurable technology that will drive the manufacturing plants, medical environments, autonomous vehicles, and smart homes of the future. MechSE’s Tungchao Julia Lu Professor Placid Ferreira serves as its founding director.

The recent event was co-sponsored by the Center for Networked Intelligent Components and Environments (C-NICE), the Coordinated Science Laboratory (CSL), the IBM-Illinois Discovery Accelerator Institute, and the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.