Thursday, May 14, 2009

Steven Chu on the Internet

Video of his talk at MIT

At first, the talk is kinda boring, and I kept losing track of his points. But when he starts talking about Bell Labs, it gets really exciting. He is an engineer's engineer! He talks about recreating the kind of environment that produced great research at Bell Labs and how it's important to invest in r&d. The tasks can be specific and targeted towards an application, but given the right kind of environment the lab should also be able to generate a lot of fundamental science and tools for engineering, not just the product itself.

He also nerds it out about certain projects that he likes. Even if I don't agree with all his endorsements for technologies to pursue, I really appreciate that he actually has a grasp on the science of how they work. I also believe that as long as funding is in r&d, the best ideas will have opportunities to prove themselves.

The only thing I am concerned about is if there is too much focus on technology and not enough on the way we live and do business. Even if we make buildings 90% more efficient, for example, if it simply allows people to live in bigger buildings, we'll still be using the same amount of energy. However, I have to acknowledge that Chu is the Energy Secretary not the Sustainability Secretary. But then, really now, who is the Sustainability Secretary? The EPA?

No comments: