- 1st international meeting of the Alan G. MacDiarmid Institutes from eight nations held at CNU - From April 9 to April 12, the meeting was held in Yongbong Culture Center at CNU - On April 10, Prof. Alan G. MacDiarmid will introduce bio-fuel at his lecture on \"Agrienergy (Agriculture/Energy.)\" The newest Alan G. MacDiarmid Laboratory, \"The Alan MacDiarmid Energy Research Laboratory,\" was established at CNU and the opening ceremony was held on November 7th, 2005. President Kang Jung-chae of Chonnam National University had kindly offered to host \"The First International Meeting of the Alan G. MacDiarmid Institutes\" at Chonnam National University for the occasion. At this first International meeting to be held for April 10th through 13th in 2006 at the University, Dr. MacDiarmid will share his vision for the collaborative international research involving exchange of students, researchers and faculty among the MacDiarmid Institutes established in Brazil, China, India, Korea, New Zealand, and USA and the vision of the newly established non-profit \"MacDiarmid Institute of Global Scientific Excellence\" incorporated in the USA will also be shared at this meeting. In addition, there will be information exchange as well as technical exchange seminar organized by the leadership of the Institutes. Each Institute will deliver introduction of activities and present the most significant current research projects. Also, additional presentation will be followed in the poster session. Lastly at the meeting, panel discussion will be held to foster the vision and mission as well as role of the MacDiarmid Institutes in the community and to set up the procedures of future meetings. MacDiarmid won the 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry with Alan Heeger and Hideki Shirakawa for their discoveries that plastics can be made electrically conductive, thus creating the field of conducting polymers, also known as \"synthetic metals.\" Some of the practical applications of his research include rechargeable batteries, gas sensors and light-emitting devices. In recent years, MacDiarmid has pioneered research in the field of nanoelectronics. MacDiarmid is the author or co-author of some 600 research papers and holds 20 patents. He has received numerous awards, medals and honorary degrees for his scientific achievements, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. On April 9, the welcome reception will be hosted by Dr. Yang, Kap-seung, Director of The Alan MacDiarmid Energy Research Laboratory at CNU at 7 p.m. On April 10, the meeting opening and welcome addresses will be given from 11 a.m. CNU
s President Kang Jung-chae, Cho Moo-je, President of Gyongsang National University, and Dr. John Ferrraris, Dean of Natural Science at the University of Texas at Dallas, will give congratulatory speeches. After the speeches, Prof. MacDiarmid will give a lecture titled \"Agrienergy (Agriculture/Energy): What does the Future Hold?\" At his lecture, Prof. MacDiarmid will introduce bio-fuels, currently intensively explored in the USA, New Zealand, China and Brazil. The bio-fuels are said to resolve the problems of the lack of fossil fuels and the environmental pollution. The three meetings including one day excursion (April 12) is held at Chonnam National University in Gwangju, South Korea. To promote and facilitate a direct exchange of ideas, the scientific presentations have been scheduled over one and half day session including poster presentation. Presentation session is followed by the panel discussion for the vision/mission and role of the MacDiarmid Institutes in the community and for the establishment of procedures for future meetings. Scientists from each institute can share the scientific progress and creative ideas through the poster presentation as well.