Talks and shows

Materialising intelligence: Information processing with intelligent matter

Wilfred G. van der Wiel. Credit: University of Twente

The first in our series of Dutch Science Lectures.

During its history on the planet, man has exploited matter to carry out tasks well beyond his biological constraints. Starting from primitive tools with functionality solely derived from shape and structure, we have moved on to responsive matter that can change its properties upon external stimulus and even further to adaptive matter that can change its response depending on the environment. 

One of the grand scientific and intellectual challenges of the 21st century is whether we can make matter that can actually learn. Such matter’s behaviour would not only depend on the here and now, but also on its past. It would have memory, autonomously interact with its environment, and self-regulate its action. We may call such matter ‘intelligent’. 

So far, intelligence has been the domain of living systems. Would it be possible to bring intelligence to the inanimate realm and use it for information processing? What would we gain from such an approach? Could we make more efficient computers? What would be the technological and societal implications? These questions will be addressed by Wilfred G. van der Wiel as he explores his research in the field of brain-inspired nano systems.

This event is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

There will be a free drinks reception after the event, courtesy of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands and the United Kingdom share a long history of scientific exchange and collaboration.

The Netherlands treasures and stimulates these excellent relations, especially in an era where complex societal challenges are not contained by borders, not even the stretch of water between us as North Sea Neighbours. The solutions that these challenges demand international collaboration in research and ongoing exchange of scientific ideas.

Event type

This is a theatre and livestream event for an adult audience, where the speakers and audience in our Theatre are joined by our audience online. 

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About The Speaker: Wilfred G. van der Wiel

Wilfred G. van der Wiel (Gouda, 1975) is full professor of Nanoelectronics and director of the BRAINS Center for Brain-Inspired Nano Systems at the University of Twente, The Netherlands. He holds a second professorship at the Institute of Physics of the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany. His research focuses on unconventional electronics for efficient information processing. Van der Wiel is a pioneer in Material Learning at the nanoscale, realizing computational functionality and artificial intelligence in designless nanomaterial substrates through principles analogous to Machine Learning. He is author more than 125 journal articles receiving over 8,000 citations.

Full information 

Full list of citation 

Timing

Doors to the theatre will open at 6.45pm and the talk will begin at 7.00pm.

Accessibility

The event will take place on the first floor and there is step-free access from the street via lift.

The closest underground station is Green Park, which is step-free.

There is space at floor level in the theatre for wheelchair users.

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Our theatre is equipped with an Audio Induction Loop. 

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Event terms and conditions

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