A Future Odyssey

Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the noted science fiction author and screenwriter for the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, made his second visit to campus on Nov. 30. He first came to WPI in 1969 to deliver a lecture to an audience that included Esther Goddard, widow of rocket pioneer Robert Goddard '08. His latest visit was a virtual one. He appeared in a videotape (seen here) offering his predictions for the next century, and then answered questions by telephone from his home in Sri Lanka as part of "Imagining the Future: Visions of the World to Come," a multimedia voyage into the future held in the Campus Center Odeum. The event also featured a wide-ranging discussion by three panelists: best-selling author and artificial intelligence pioneer Ray Kurzweil, Alison Taunton-Rigby, a leader in the biotech-nology industry, and David Cyganski '75, pro-fessor of electrical and computer engineering at WPI. Scott Kirsner, columnist for The Boston Globe, moderated.

Streaming video of the event can be viewed at online. To request a copy of the complete video, contact Transformations. A report on the event will appear in the Spring 2002 issue.

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Imagining the Future: Visions of the World to Come

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Last modified: Sep 02, 2004, 16:03 EDT