The fifth annual Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Day was held on Friday, Feb. 25, 2011 at the University of Manitoba. The event attracted more than 150 people, eager to learn from university professors who are also leaders in their research field. We wish to thank all of those who attended and helped make SET Day 2011 a success!

What will our food and nutrition landscape look like in the future?  Will we have more food than ever, or will environmental changes lead to fewer choices?  Will all our food be pre-made and ready to eat, tailored to our genetic makeup?  And what nutrition-related illnesses will we see?  This session will explore these questions and more, so bring your appetite and join in the discussion on the future of food!

The Theory of Everything: Making Our Way To The Planck Scale
Dr. Gerald Gwinner, Associate Professor
Physics & Astronomy, Faculty of Science

The coming decades will see a huge effort by physicists to merge the  two most famous theories, Einstein's general relativity and quantum theory into one overarching 'theory of everything'. Such a theory is expected to be valid at the Planck scale, i.e. at length scales of  10^(-35) meters, a billion trillions times smaller than the size of an
atomic nucleus. Get a glimpse of what the future holds at these unimaginably small distances.

How do you Mend a ‘Broken’ Brain?
Dr.Tammy Ivanco, Associate Professor
Psychology, Faculty of Arts & Faculty of Medicine

We all learn and remember, but very little is known about how this occurs.  We do know that the brain’s cells undergo intricate changes associated with development, learning and experience, hormones, and aging.  Imagine how much more difficult learning and memory become when the brain is not working correctly following a brain injury or as a result of a developmental disorder like Autism. Will future research on the brain be able to target fixing the 'broken' brain?

Microbial Alchemie: Biorefining Organic Waste Into Gold (valued products)
Dr. David Levin, Associate Professor
Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences
Dr. Richard Sparling, Associate Professor
Microbiology, Faculty of Science

Waste is wasted opportunity. Bacteria have the capability of transforming agricultural and municipal organic waste into value added products such as biofuels and bioplastics. By combining knowledge in microbiology, molecular biology and process engineering, we can enhance production of value added products such as biofuels or bioplastics, and even develop new products from waste.

When is a Picture Worth a Thousand Words? Data Visualization and Interaction
Dr Pourang Irani, Associate Professor
Computer Science, Faculty of Science

Massive volumes of data are derived from tools such as social networking sites or surveillance video from airports. It should come as no surprise that we are reaching the limits of our capacity to analyze this information overload. Information visualization is key to the analysis of data, but only when supported by the right interfaces. Participants will be guided through a brief tour of data visualization methods dating from the mid-1700s and up to present day. Modern computer interfaces that can allow for the effective exploration of data will also be presented. Presentation unavailable.