Program Speakers

  • Welcome, and Background of IEEE and IEEE Milestones

    • Brian Berg: IEEE Region 6 History Chair; IEEE History Committee member; Consultant, Berg Software Design

    • Dr. K.J. Ray Liu: IEEE President-Elect; Distinguished University Professor, Univ. of Maryland, College Park

  • US (LIGO) & European (Virgo) Funding Agency Perspectives

    • The Honorable Dr. Sethuraman Panchanathan: Director, National Science Foundation (NSF)

    • Dr. Antoine Petit: Chairman and CEO, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS)

    • Dr. Antonio Zoccoli: President, Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN)

    • Miriam Luizink: Director, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)

  • Nobel Laureates' Conversation

    • Intro: Katherine "Kate" J. Duncan: President, IEEE-USA

    • Conversation Leader: Richard Abbott: Lead Engineer, California Institute of Technology (Caltech)/LIGO

      • Dr. Rainer Weiss: Professor Emeritus, MIT

      • Dr. Barry C. Barish: The Ronald and Maxine Linde Professor of Physics, Emeritus, Caltech; Professor, UC Riverside

      • Dr. Kip S. Thorne: The Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus, Caltech

  • Government Dignitary Comments

    • The Honorable Jay Inslee: Governor, State of Washington

    • The Honorable Billy Nungesser, Lieutenant Governor, State of Louisiana

    • Eugenio Giani, President of Tuscany

  • A "Visit" to each Observatory, and Their Milestone Plaques

    • Virgo in Cascina (Pisa), Tuscany ITALY

      • Dr. Stavros Katsanevas: Director, European Gravitational Observatory (EGO); Professor, Univ. of Paris, FRANCE

      • Dr. Bernardo Tellini: Chair, IEEE Italy Section; Professor, Univ. of Pisa, ITALY

      • Dr. Giovanni Losurdo: Virgo Spokesperson; former Advanced Virgo Project Leader; Research Director, Italian INFN

    • LIGO in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford, Washington USA

      • Dr. Joseph Giaime: Head, LIGO Livingston Observatory; Professor, LSU

      • Dr. Michael Landry: Head, LIGO Hanford Observatory

  • Historical and Collaborative Perspectives

    • Dr. Antonio Luque: IEEE Region 8 Director; Professor, Univ. of Seville, SPAIN

    • Dr. Catherine-Nary Man: CNRS Director of Research Emeritus; Virgo Instrumentation Specialist

    • Dr. Jean-Yves Vinet: CNRS Director of Research; Virgo Spokesperson (2011-2014)

    • Dr. Takaaki Kajita: Nobel Laureate; Principal Investigator, KAGRA Detector; President, Science Council of JAPAN

  • Concluding Remarks

    • Dr. Dave Reitze: Executive Director of LIGO Laboratory (Caltech); Professor, Caltech; Professor, Univ. of Florida

  • Plaque Unveilings: LIGO-Livingston, LIGO-Hanford, Virgo-Italy