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Berhane Temelso named Foresight Institute Fellow

|Berhane Temelso

Last updated March 22, 2017

By Tina Underwood

Department of Chemistry professor Berhane Temelso has been name an inaugural Foresight Institute Fellow for his work in computational chemistry.

Foresight Institute is a leading think tank and public interest organization focused on catalyzing future technologies.

The Foresight Fellowship is an exclusive one-year program committed to giving participants the support and mentorship needed to accelerate their bold ideas into the future. The 10 selected Fellows are working on technologies that have massive potential for the future, especially with technology that is relatively undervalued in the media.

The Fellows will provide new perspectives on topics such as Molecular Machines (Nanotechnology), Space, Longevity, Mind Uploading, and AI Ethics. They were reviewed on the criteria of technical ability, originality, experience, and potential for impacting the state of these technologies in a big way. Each Fellow will receive personalized attention, exposure to opportunity, and mentorship from leaders in their fields. During the one-year program, Fellows will be invited to engage in events, connect to mentors and other Fellows, and increase their skills to succeed with their endeavors.

Berhane Temelso

Berhane Temelso is a computational chemistry research scientist working with Provost George C. Shields. He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Georgia Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s in physics from Berea College (Ky.). His postgraduate work explored the ability of the most rigorous first-principles computational methods to reproduce molecular properties derived from experiment.

Temelso’s current research is focused on the application of efficient computational methods to understand the structure and dynamics of hydrogen-bonded systems ranging from water clusters and atmospheric aerosols to biological molecules. He collaborates with experimental groups to solve problems like the structure of small water clusters and the formation rates of sulfate atmospheric aerosols whose cooling effect on the global climate is significant, but poorly understood.

Aside from his research and mentoring responsibilities, Temelso manages and maintains MERCURY consortium’s high performance computing (HPC) resources as a system administrator. He also provides technical research support to MERCURY users and promotes the use of HPC within chemistry and beyond.

Steve Burgess, President of Foresight Institute says, “There’s nothing new in the world… is an adage that has met its match. The Foresight Fellows are up to the challenge and we look forward to what they bring forth. The Foresight Fellowship Program is itself new, and we’re excited about working with this talented group and the prospects they bring to possible technological breakthrough for a better world for everyone.”

Since 1993, Foresight Institute has been rewarding those who are making strides in the field of Nanotechnology with the Feynman Prize. In 2016, one of the institute’s former Feynman Prize winners, Sir James Fraser Stoddart, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work with molecular machines. Foresight Institute recognizes that providing a strong network and knowledge base for new Fellows to access will accelerate their missions and reflect Foresight’s goals to further support those making important strides in key fields. The early identification and support of big research ideas is where Foresight Institute creates the most impact.

The 2017 Foresight Institute Fellows are:

Jonathan Barnes, Synthetic Polymer Chemistry
Chuyang Cheng, Molecular Machines
Kimberly Hamad-Schifferli, Biomolecular Machines
Eric Hinterman, Space Technology
Cosmo Mielke, Longevity
Michael Skuhersky, Mind Uploading
Eva-Maria Strauch, Protein Engineering
Berhane Temelso, Computational Chemistry
Nell Watson, Machine Ethics
Christopher Wilmer, Molecular Machines
To learn more about the Foresight Fellowship program and follow the news, visit www.foresight.org or view this video.

About the Foresight Institute
Foresight Institute is a research organization focused on transformative future technologies. Founded in 1986, its mission is to discover and promote the upsides, and help avoid the drawbacks of nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and similar life-changing developments.

 

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