Office of the Chancellor > Speeches, Columns and Letters > THERMO International 2006 Conference Welcome

THERMO International 2006 Conference Welcome
July 31, 2006

Good morning. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to Boulder, and to the University of Colorado. It is an honor and a pleasure for all of us here to host such a distinguished gathering of scientists from all over the world and we are pleased to serve as host for this joint meeting of the 16th Symposium of Thermophysical Properties, the 19th International Conference on Chemical Thermodynamics and the 61st Calorimetry Conference.

Having arrived to assume the duties of Chancellor only two weeks ago, I am especially pleased that the first group I am charged with formally welcoming is this one.

Let me take a moment to offer a special thanks to the following organizers and sponsors for their support of this conference, and for making CU-Boulder the permanent home of the Symposium on Thermophysical Properties:

• Dr. Mickey Haynes and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST
• The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
• The American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and
• The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.

For many the mere mention of the word thermodynamics puts fear into their hearts, but I know that's not the case for this group. As I used to tell my students, in order to get comfortable with the subject, you must study it at least three times:

The first time you study thermodynamics you don't understand it at all. The second time you study it, you feel like you might have it under control except for one or two small points. And by the third time, most people realize that they will never fully understand it, but by that time they are so used to it, it doesn't bother them any more.

Fortunately, here at CU-Boulder we have faculty who do understand it and who make thermodynamics and its related fields real to all of us … faculty such as Distinguished Professor Carl Wieman and Eric Cornell, winners of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of the Bose-Einstein condensate. And there's Jan Hall, fellow and senior research associate at JILA, a joint institute of CU-Boulder and NIST. Hall was co-winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Let me tell you a little bit about our campus: The University of Colorado was founded in 1876, right here at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, in a region know as the Flatirons, a truly magnificent site.

The main campus has grown from one small building; known as Old Main, which is just about 200 yards that way, to a main campus of 200 buildings spread over 786 acres.

We offer 3,400 courses in 150 fields of study to 29,000 students and have more than 90 research centers, institutes and laboratories focusing on subjects ranging from entrepreneurship to natural hazards. We lead the nation, and in fact the world in research in areas such as renewable energy and space sciences and our world-class faculty conduct research on grants totaling more than $260 million a year – that's $100 million more than just a decade ago. All of this demonstrates how the work of our faculty is valued and trusted.

I'm also proud to say that our university cares about the world in many different ways. Our students have strong sense of social consciousness and we rank sixth among all colleges and universities in the United States in the number of graduates who have served in the Peace Corps since its founding by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.

We also have an interesting story to tell about our technology transfer accomplishments:

Last year we produced 177 invention disclosures and since 2000, patent applications have doubled 69 to 139 per year.

There have been 46 operational start-ups, nine of those in the past 18 months, and we expect somewhere between 10 and 14 new start-ups in the next year. Today, CU-Boulder's technology transfer activities generate nearly $22 million per year, $20 million more than in 2000.

I could go on and on, but this week is really about you and your expectations. This conference is an exciting opportunity to share the very latest news and breakthroughs in your fields, and there is much you can learn from each other.

As Einstein said, "Thermodynamics is the only physical theory of universal content which, within the framework of the applicability of its basic concepts, I am convinced will never be overthrown."

To that end, I offer you three challenges for your meetings this week:

• Take a new approach, be unconventional.
• Destroy the old, then create new.
• And finally, tap your imagination. Consider new ideas, ask new questions, and raise new possibilities.

Thank you for coming, and best wishes for enlightening and informative discussions. I hope all of you will find time to walk around our campus and take in its beauty and sense its wonderful spirit. Thank you and good luck.

G.P. "Bud" Peterson, Chancellor
University of Colorado at Boulder