The 2026 Nano Summit—Oct. 29

2026 Nano Summit: Discovery Processes of Tomorrow

Impact of the Nano Summit, MIT.nano's flagship conference, is delivered through the insights of leaders from academia, industry, government, and startups, who provide first looks into the science and technologies that will shape the next decade of innovation. The 2026 Nano Summit will focus on the convergence of nanoscience and engineering, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies. Given MIT.nano’s central role in broadly enabling research, one session is dedicated to the role of shared research facilities in enabling progress that can scale.

The summit provides early insight into the research and capabilities needed to sustain technological leadership and competitiveness

It is designed for researchers, industry professionals, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and students engaged in advancing next-generation science and engineering.

Thursday, October 29
Schwarzman College of Computing, Building 45, Floor 8

Agenda

Time	Session
8:00 AM	Registration & Breakfast
9:00 AM	Welcome Vladimir Bulović, Fariborz Maseeh (1990) Professor of Emerging Technologies and Director, MIT.nano
9:05 AM	Opening Keynote Richard Gottscho, President, SemiSan, LLC; Former EVP and CTO, Lam Research
9:50 AM	AI for Materials Discovery Chaired by Heather Kulik, Lammot du Pont Professor of Chemical Engineering, MIT Session speakers: Markus Buehler, Jerry McAfee (1940) Professor in Engineering, MIT Mingda Li, Associate Professor, Nuclear Science and Engineering, MIT
10:50 AM	Break
11:15 AM	Transformative Technologies Upon Us Chaired by Livia Racz, Associate Head of the Advanced Technology Division, MIT Lincoln Laboratory Session speakers: Mordechai Rothschild, Principal Staff, Advanced Technology Division, MIT Lincoln Laboratory Daniel Freeman, Technical Staff, Advanced Materials and Microsystems Technologies Group, MIT Lincoln Laboratory
12:15 PM	Lunch & Startup Showcase
1:15 PM	Accelerating Innovation through Shared Facilities Chaired by Vladimir Bulović, Fariborz Maseeh (1990) Professor of Emerging Technologies and Director, MIT.nano Session speakers: Jorg Scholvin, Associate Director, Fab.nano, MIT William Wilson, Executive Director, Center for Nanoscale Systems, Harvard University Anna Osherov, Associate Director, Characterization.nano, MIT Mary Tang, Managing Director, Stanford Nanofabrication Facility, Stanford University
2:25 PM	Afternoon Keynote Darío Gil, Under Secretary for Science, U.S. Department of Energy in conversation with Anantha Chandrakasan, MIT Provost; Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT
3:10 PM	Break
3:40 PM	Picotalks about nano: A glimpse of ecosystems inside the lab Chaired by Anna Osherov, Associate Director, Characterization.nano, and Jorg Scholvin, Associate Director, Fab.nano Session speakers: Eric Bui, Graduate Student, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT Mohammad Charara, Postdoctoral Associate, Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT Julian Patrick Klein, Research Scientist, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT Gillian Micale, Affiliated Researcher, MIT Samantha Sedor, Visiting Scientist, Department of Biology, MIT Alon Vardy, Staff Engineer, Analog Devices Liqiao Xia, Graduate Student, Physics, MIT
4:40 PM	Closing remarks
4:45 PM	The Nano Summit reception at MIT.nano

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