Centre For Converging Technologies

Quantum teleporter breakthrough: opens door to ultra fast data transmission

2011-04-18T23:25:00.000-07:00

Mark this day, folks, because the brainiacs have finally made a breakthrough in quantum teleportation: a team of scientists from Australia and Japan have successfully transferred a complex set of quantum data in light form. You see, previously researchers had struggled with slow performance or loss of information, but with full transmission integrity achieved -- as in blocks of qubits being destroyed in one place but instantaneously resurrected in another, without affecting their superpositions -- we're now one huge step closer to secure, high-speed quantum communication. Needless to say, this will also be a big boost for the development of powerful quantum computing, and combine that with a more bedroom friendly version of the above teleporter, we'll eventually have ourselves the best LAN party ever.

Researchers have achieved a breakthrough in quantum communications and computing using a teleporter and a paradoxical cat.

The breakthrough is the first-ever transfer, or teleportation, of a particular complex set of quantum information from one point to another, opening the way for high-speed, high-fidelity transmission of large volumes of information, such as quantum encryption keys, via quantum communications networks.

Teleportation – the transfer of quantum information from one location to another using normal, "classical" communications - is one of the fundamental quantum communication techniques.

The cat in the equation was not a living, breathing feline but rather "wave packets" of light representing the famous "thought experiment" known as Schrodinger’s Cat. Schrodinger’s Cat was a paradox proposed by early 20th century physicist Erwin Schrodinger to describe the situation in which normal, "classical" objects can exist in a quantum "superposition" - having two states at once.

Professor Elanor Huntington, in the School of Engineering and Information Technology at UNSW's Canberra campus at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), was part of a team led by University of Tokyo researchers. She said the team’s achievement was another step towards building a super-powerful quantum computer and transmitting quantum information.

"One of the limitations of high-speed quantum communication at present is that some detail is lost during the teleportation process. It’s the Star Trek equivalent of beaming the crew down to a planet and having their organs disappear or materialise in the wrong place. We’re talking about information but the principle is the same – it allows us to guarantee the integrity of transmission.

"Just about any quantum technology relies on quantum teleportation. The value of this discovery is that it allows us, for the first time, to quickly and reliably move quantum information around. This information can be carried by light, and it’s a powerful way to represent and process information. Previous attempts to transmit were either very slow or the information might be changed. This process means we will be able to move blocks of quantum information around within a computer or across a network, just as we do now with existing computer technologies.

"If we can do this, we can do just about any form of communication needed for any quantum technology."

The experiments were conducted on a machine known as "the teleporter" in the laboratory of Professor Akira Furusawa in the Department of Applied Physics in the University of Tokyo.

Professor Huntington, who leads a research program for the Centre for Quantum Computation and Communication, developed the high-speed communication part of the teleporter at UNSW’s Canberra campus with PhD student James Webb.

The research was published in the April edition of the journal Science.

Source: University of New South Wales

Cyborg: a cybernetic organism

2011-03-12T04:03:00.000-08:00

Cyborg: a cybernetic organism.

In the years ahead we will witness machines with intelligence more powerful than that of humans. This will mean that robots, not humans, make all the important decisions. It will be a robot dominated world with dire consequences for humankind. Is there an alternative way ahead?
Humans have limited capabilities. Humans sense the world in a restricted way, vision being the best of the senses. Humans understand the world in only 3 dimensions and communicate in a very slow, serial fashion called speech. But can this be improved on? Can we use technology to upgrade humans?

A Cyborg is a CYBernetic ORGanism, part human part machine. In this, we will go through Kevin Warwick’s amazing steps towards becoming a Cyborg. The story is one of scientific endeavor and devotion, splitting apart the personal lives of himself and those around him. This astounding and unique story takes in top scientists from around the globe and seriously questions human morals, values and ethics. Watch this absolutely awesome video of Cybernetics professor Kevin Warwick, One Step Beyond - The First Human Cyborg

A cyborg, also known as a cybernetic organism, is a being with both biological and artificial (e.g. electronic, mechanical or robotic) parts.The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space.The cyborg is often seen today merely as an organism that has enhanced abilities due to technology,but this perhaps oversimplifies the category of feedback.According to some definitions of the term, the metaphysical and physical attachments humanity has with even the most basic technologies have already made them cyborgs.In a typical example, a human fitted with a heart pacemaker or an insulin pump (if the person has diabetes) might be considered a cyborg, since these mechanical parts enhance the body's "natural" mechanisms through synthetic feedback mechanisms. Cochlear implants that combine mechanical modification with any kind of feedback response are more accurately cyborg enhancements.

The term is also used to address human-technology mixtures in the abstract. This includes artifacts that may not popularly be considered technology; for example, pen and paper, and speech and language. Augmented with these technologies, and connected in communication with people in other times and places, a person becomes capable of much more than they were before. This is like computers, which gain power by using Internet protocols to connect with other computers. Cybernetic technologies include highways, pipes, electrical wiring, buildings, electrical plants, libraries, and other infrastructure that we hardly notice, but which are critical parts of the cybernetics that we work within.

A CYBORG is a Cybernetics Organism, part human – part machine. This concept is bit tricky but let see an example of a CYBORG: you may have seen a movie “TERMINATOR.” In that ARNOLD was a CYBORG. He was part man- part machine. Well definition exactly says this; CYBORG can be made by technology known as CYBERNETICS. “What is CYBERNETICS?”, To understand CYBORG , this is the first step that we’ll see in the next post.

The future of information technology: overcoming the limits of our humanity

2010-10-26T22:29:00.000-07:00

Thinking about the future can help you shape it. Thinking too much about the future can make you spacey.I have made this post from some very good web resources like Kurzweilai's research, prospectus UK career guide,Accenture's vision for IT, Microsoft's vision for future.I hope you enjoy reading this post.

By the year 2019, thanks to information technology (IT), humans will have largely overcome the limits of our humanity. We will have found cures for the major diseases that kill 95 percent of us in the developed world. By 2029, we will become godlike—tiny computer chips embedded into our bodies will stop disease and reverse aging, ever expanding our lifespans.

Such are the prognostications of the current pied piper of the digital utopia crowd, Ray Kurzweil (http://www.kurzweilai.net). In a syndicated newspaper feature, he recently shared these and other rosy predictions about the power of IT. His main thesis is that IT doesn’t just lead to linear growth, as humanity has experienced in the past, but exponential growth, and not just with IT.

Kurzweil is the author of such books as The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology , Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever, and The Age of Spiritual Machines , and in them he has made other astonishing predictions. My favorite: Human and machine intelligence will merge and become indistinguishable, growing exponentially until we will be able to control how the universe evolves.

Future information technology would stand for all of continuously evolving and converging information technologies, including digital convergence, multimedia convergence, intelligent applications, embedded systems, mobile and wireless communications, bio-inspired computing, grid and cloud computing, semantic web, user experience and HCI, security and trust computing and so on, for satisfying our ever-changing needs.

In past twenty five years or so, Information Technology (IT) influenced and changed every aspect of our lives and our cultures. Without various IT-based applications, we would find it difficult to keep information stored securely, to process information efficiently, and to communicate information conveniently. In the future world, IT will play a very important role in convergence of computing, communication, and all other computational sciences and application and IT also will influence the future world's various areas, including science, engineering, industry, business, law, politics, culture, medicine, and so on.

America's focus still is on jobs and the large share of unemployed Americans. While the government struggles to find ways to help those without jobs,it seems clear that whether we need analysis, or research, or funding, all planning and resultant success lies on the ability and talents of those in the Information Technology field.

No matter the project or plan, the determination of success will hinge on the gathering of data (web-development/electronic survey), to the data manipulation (data base management), and to the final analysis and conclusion (statistical analysis/software development and analysis). The current Technology field has some of the most highly skilled development project and program managers, just the skill that is needed to accurately analyze program data and determine necessary modifications to ensure success.

As an Engineering Designer, one master skill is logic and the ability to interpret testing results to improve designs. It seems that is what is lacking in government today. Ideas are plentiful but projections of consequences and accurate analysis even determining the current state of affairs seem to be invalidated.

So, take a majority of highly intelligent IT gurus and replace the politicians that have ideas but seemingly no foundation and no logic, and in turn you will get great plans based on well thought out ideas with a definite result expected and with feed-back intervals to allow for adjustments to ensure perfect results.

And if a program is less than successful (which rarely would happen) at least there would be perfect documented analysis (as opposed to participants' lack of recall as to what happened).

Revised annually, the Accenture Technology Vision is a comprehensive analysis of emerging trends and major technological changes that will have a significant business impact on Accenture and its clients in the next three to five years. High-performance businesses use the Vision to understand the opportunities—and challenges—that lie ahead.
Microsoft's vision 2019(parody)

Hope enjoyed this post. please write comments.

Skill Set for Career in Nanotechnology

2010-08-15T21:13:00.000-07:00

As I explained the skill set for information and communication technology; Today in this post I am going to explain the skill set required to work in the field of nanotechnology.I did a lot of study and read several studies and according to them and according to professionals working in this field Skill needs can be differentiated into the general and the specific.

General and basic needs mean interdisciplinary cross-sectoral knowledge in natural sciences and in engineering as well as basic business management knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit. Specific qualification requirements are, for example, to master certain nanotechnological procedures. Occupational and qualification requirements can be differentiated into the fields of knowledge and knowing, skills and faculties, and personality characteristics and can be described in terms of respective competences.The skill set was established by the National Center for Nanotechnology Applications and Career Knowledge (NACK) at Penn State based on intensive interviews and surveys involving more than 200 companies over nearly ten years spanning virtually all industries using nanotechnology across the nation. A technician possessing these skills will have completed a broad, hands-on educational experience in micro- and nanofabrication, and is fully prepared to actively contribute to any industry.using micro- or nanotechnology, including the electronics, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, energy,materials manufacturing, and chemical industries.

Occupational and qualification requirements can be differentiated into the fields of knowledge and knowing, skills and faculties, and personality characteristics and can be described in terms of respective competences.In education sciences, decision-making and responsibility involve faculties, skills and individual characteristics, problem-solving and performing tasks independently, responsibly
and professionally; in sum, it means an occupational ability to act. Decision-making and responsibility can be differentiated into professional, methodological and social competences as well as competence of personality.

The specified qualifications(Career in Nanotechnology) can be described as follows:
(a) knowledge – professional competence
This includes knowledge of different technical branches and natural scientific fields such as physics and chemistry, and their special branches, e.g. photonics, precision optics, laser technology or electroplating as Nanotechnology is an interdisciplinary field. Knowledge of the protection of health and safety standards, instructions, data processing and foreign languages are also covered;
(b) skills and faculties – methodological competence
Skills and faculties demand effective handling with technological procedures. At this point the applied procedures of analysis, manufacture and finishing and the competences that are required for handling technical systems are taken into consideration;Good computer programming skills are must in this field;
(c) personality characteristics – soft skills and competences of personality
This involves characteristics such as behaviour, creativity and the capability to learn as well as the ability to analyse. It also involves communicative abilities and self-motivation.

In Short
One should have a scientific bent of mind and a natural propensity for research work, in order to study Nanotechnology, An open and enquiring mind with sound analytical and computer programming skills is a must in this field.

One should have a keen interest in, and some amount of knowledge about diverse fields since Nanotechnology finds application in a wide number of areas. Moreover, one should be hand working and patient in order to spend long hours in the laboratory and be engaged in research work.

Our Centre; Centre for converging technologies (NBIC Technologies)provide knowledge of all the four branches like Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials, Biotechnology & Bioinformatics, Information and Communication Technology and Cognitive and neuroscience.Since you will get knowledge of all different fields it'll be best spot for getting your nanotechnology degree(M.Tech) from centre for converging technologies.

If you wanna pursue nanotechnology as career this post will be helpful to you,I hope.Good luck...
Please write comments and help me in making this blog better...and it will become a good resource on converging technologies.

Cognitive and neuroscience

2010-08-05T07:21:00.000-07:00

The fourth branch at centre for converging technologies is one the most exciting fields and that is cognitive and neuroscience.Cognitive neuroscience represents the attempt to understand mental processes at the level of the brain’s functioning and not merely from information-processing models and theories. It relies heavily on an empirical analysis of what is happening in the brain, and where, when a person thinks, reasons, decides, judges, encodes information, recalls information, learns, and solves problems. Cognitive neuroscience allies psychologists, biologists, brain researchers, and others in what is perhaps the most dramatic advance in the last decade of psychological research.

Cognitive neuroscience is an academic field concerned with the scientific study of biological substrates underlying cognition, with a specific focus on the neural substrates of mental processes. It addresses the questions of how psychological/cognitive functions are produced by the brain. Cognitive neuroscience is a branch of both psychology and neuroscience, overlapping with disciplines such as physiological psychology, cognitive psychology and neuropsychology. Cognitive neuroscience relies upon theories in cognitive science coupled with evidence from neuropsychology, and computational modelling.

Due to its multidisciplinary nature cognitive neuroscientists may have various backgrounds. Other than the associated disciplines just mentioned, cognitive neuroscientists may have backgrounds in these disciplines: neurobiology, bioengineering, psychiatry, neurology, physics, computer science, linguistics, philosophy and mathematics,Methods employed in cognitive neuroscience include experimental paradigms from psychophysics and cognitive psychology, functional neuroimaging, electrophysiology, cognitive genomics and behavioral genetics. Studies of patients with cognitive deficits due to brain lesions constitute an important aspect of cognitive neuroscience (see neuropsychology). Theoretical approaches include computational neuroscience and cognitive psychology.

The task of neural science is to explain behavior in terms of the activities of the brain. How does the brain marshal its millions of individual nerve cells to produce behavior, and how are these cells influenced by the environment...? The last frontier of the biological sciences – their ultimate challenge – is to understand the biological basis of consciousness and the mental processes by which we perceive, act, learn, and remember. — Eric Kandel, Principles of Neural Science, fourth edition

If you enjoyed reading this post i can recommend you some of the articles which i think you will love to read if you have a good amount of interest in cognitive neuroscience.

Mind and Brain(http://www.scientificamerican.com/mind-and-brain)

Culture wires the brain: A cognitive neuroscience perspective (physorg.com)

Social Neuroscience and Psychology (helpingpsychology.com)

Who should choose Information and Communication Technology(ICT) as career

2010-07-31T05:08:00.000-07:00

Friends, This post is going to be very helpful for you guys, if you are on a stage where you want to decide which career is suitable for you. Most of the people will tell you that this field is good, this is bad , that is good, this career got a nice future, you should not choose that branch...and suddenly you feel crowded by suggestions of the people around you.

I got a nice idea for you people and that is make a plan and that is

-- Try to know the field, i mean what kind of job you gonna get, what is usual work environment of that field, yeah it may vary company to company.search over the internet. ask the people working in that field.

--Try to know yourself. This is more important than anything else. If you know exactly what sort of abilities you have, you can utilize it.what sort of work you like? do you enjoy traveling? what are the personality traits you have and do they suit that field you are going to opt.

The best career advice i can give you is:
Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it.

In this post i'm going to explain the who should choose information and communication technology(ICT) as career.My previous post related to ICT field may have given you the idea of the field.

These are few reasons to choose ICT field

Good job opportunities
Demand across the world
Higher economic benefits
Different career development paths
Traveling opportunities to other countries

If you are really good at what you do, you'll have the demand across the globe.
There are many paths you can consider

Software Engineering
Network Engineering
System security
Project Management
Quality assurance and Testing
System administration
Website development
Database administration
Technical support
Client management
IT consultancy

"Studies show that people flourish in their work environment when there is a good fit between their personality type and the characteristics of the environment. Lack of congruence between personality and environment leads to dissatisfaction, unstable career paths, and lowered performance."(Holland, 1996, p. 397).

Personality traits of ICT professionals

Studies shows that ICT professionals score higher on following personlity traits than professionals of other fields:

Emotional Resilience
Openness
Tough-Mindedness
Customer Service

According to studies ICT career satisfaction was also positively related to Extraversion,

Agreeableness/Teamwork, Assertiveness, Optimism, Tough-Mindedness, Work Drive, and Visionary Style.

You can choose various career path according to skills you have in ICT.If you are good at communication and planning you can become analyst or consultant. If you think you are very creative you can become developer, designer, architect.

If you want to go for a career in ICT and thinking of doing programming, developing software and become a good software engineer you need to have following skills

Basic Logical skills
Attention to details
Ability to read specifications
Ability to test
Patience
Perseverance

along with above skills you must have the following two skills and these are

Creativity

You may be asked to create novel solutions for the problem.If you are creative you can create better softwares with great user experience.You will not get stuck and find out the appropriate solutions for the given problem.

Change

The concepts, methods and applications involved in ICT are constantly evolving on an almost daily basis. Its difficult to keep up with the changes - they happen so fast. You may need to learn new skills, learn new programming languages.You may need to need to develop softwares using recently released technology.If you can adapt to the changes in technology and able to learn new skills, ICT is a right career for you.

Whatever career you choose, make sure you love doing it. When you start loving what you do, you can give more than 100%.You can do a lot of hard work and that hard work will not be as hard to you because you love it.

I think you should not choose a career in which you need to adapt too much, because if you change yourself too much; you will lose your essence.

I have a great interest in information and communication technology and i think it interests you too.

well whatever career you choose the best advise is(i am stating it again)

Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post.subscribe to my blog and please write comments.

Information and communication technologies : an introduction

2010-07-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

Hello , dear visitors and followers!

As i wrote in my previous post that i'll write about the two other exciting and fascinating branches of centre for converging technologies and these branches are:

Information and Communication Technologies &

Cognitive and Neuroscience

let me be very honest to you that i really love information and communication technology(ICT) and that's why this post is about ICT. So let us explore this field

ICT : INFORMATION . COMMUNICATION. TECHNOLOGY

ICT is an acronym that stands for "Information and Communications Technology" and is used often in the context of "ICT roadmap" to indicate the path than an organization will take with their ICT needs. Sample example of usage include Microsoft and The Australian Newspaper.

The terms ICT should be read as "Information Technology and Communication Technology" literally to clarify its meaning which refers to the merging (convergence) of telephone networks with computer networks through a single cabling or link system. The term ICT has grown in usage out of huge economic incentives (huge cost saving due by eliminating the telephone network) to merge the telephone network with the computer network system

the concepts, methods and applications involved in ICT are constantly evolving on an almost daily basis. Its difficult to keep up with the changes - they happen so fast.

A better way to start thinking about ICT is to consider all the existing and possible uses of digital technology that can help individuals, businesses and organisations use information.

ICT covers any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit or receive information electronically in a digital form. For example, personal computers (PCs),laptops, mobile phones, digital television, email, e-commerce, internet banking, robots etc.

I think ICT is about :

-knowing meaning and value of information

-how information is controlled

-how data is captured, verified and stored for effective use

-the manipulation, processing and distribution of information

-designing networks to share information

-keeping information secure

-designing and developing softwares to make human beings more efficient at whatever they do

-Making human life more interesting

-Making solutions for the problems and testing solutions virtually so that saving money and time

The list can grow so long that i think i should stop now. Whatever the field may be whether it be basic science, technology, business and even ICT itself require the help of computers, softwares, and web applications.

ICT grow from ICT itself.I think field like nanotechnology and quantum computing can revolutionize the ICT world.

The C part of ICT refers to the communication of data by electronic means, usually over some distance. This is often achieved via networks of sending and receiving equipment, wires and satellite links.

I think the idea of giving major developments in the form of a timeline is nice one. so here i'm executing my idea(compiled and run) and here we go:-

1969:
The Arpanet is introduced, funded by the department of defence.

1970:
The first automatic teller machine is introduced.
E.F.Codd describes the relational model (databases)

1971:
The first single chip central processing unit was introduced, the Intel 4004.
The first network e-mail message is sent by Ray Tomlinson of Bolt Boranek and Newman.

1972:
Lexitron, Wang and VYTEC introduce Word Processing systems.

1973:
The Xerox Paulo Alto Research Centre developed the Alto, an experimental computer that uses a graphical user interface and a mouse.

1978:
Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adelman introduce the RSA cipher as a public key cryptosystem.

1979:
The first electronic spreadsheet program is introduced.

1981:
IBM introduces its first personal computer with an operating system developed by Microsoft.

1983:
The switchover to the TCP\IP protocol marks the beginning of the global Internet.

1985:
Microsoft releases the Windows operating system.

1989:
The world wide web project is proposed to the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN).

1990:
Windows version 3.0 is released bringing a stable graphical user interface to the IBM Personal Computer.

1993:
The Mosaic NCSA is developed by the National Centre for Super-computing Applications.

1995:
The first full length feature movie createdby a computer is released. Toy Story.

Late 1990’s:

The emergence of electronic commerce.

wanna read more; don't worry my next post will be about impact of ICT and who should choose ICT as career and research in ICT.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. please do write comments.

bye for now....bye!

Exploring Converging Technologies

2010-07-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

Hello, dear visitor!

My previous two posts were about

Potential impact of NBIC technologies on improving human capabilities

Definition and an Overview of Some Different Viewpoints

By reading these you may get an idea of what exactly converging technologies is and what could be its potential uses and its impact on human beings; you, me and everyone around the globe.

If you haven't read those posts yet please read them. In this post we are going to explore converging technologies, by which i mean it's component technologies.

NBIC = NANO+BIO+INFO+COGNO

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology, shortened to "nanotech", is the study of the controlling of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally nanotechnology deals with structures sized between 1 to 100 nanometer in at least one dimension, and involves developing materials or devices within that size.

Nanotechnology is very diverse, ranging from extensions of conventional device physics to completely new approaches based upon molecular self-assembly, from developing new materials with dimensions on the nanoscale to investigating whether we can directly control matter on the atomic scale.

Following quotation by Richard Feynman may explain and excite you about nanotechnology

I want to build a billion tiny factories, models of each other, which are manufacturing simultaneously. . . The principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom. It is not an attempt to violate any laws; it is something, in principle, that can be done; but in practice, it has not been done because we are too big. — Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize winner in physics

Biotechnology and Bioinformatics

Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living things in engineering, technology, medicine, and other useful applications. Modern use similar term includes genetic engineering as well as cell- and tissue culture technologies.The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity defines biotechnology as:

Any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use.

The term bioinformatics was coined by Paulien Hogeweg in 1979 for the study of informatic processes in biotic systems. Its primary use since at least the late 1980s has been in genomics and genetics, particularly in those areas of genomics involving large-scale DNA sequencing.

The primary goal of bioinformatics is to increase the understanding of biological processes. What sets it apart from other approaches, however, is its focus on developing and applying computationally intensive techniques (e.g., pattern recognition, data mining, machine learning algorithms, and visualization) to achieve this goal. Major research efforts in the field include sequence alignment, gene finding, genome assembly, drug design, drug discovery, protein structure alignment, protein structure prediction, prediction of gene expression and protein-protein interactions, genome-wide association studies and the modeling of evolution.

I'll give a description of other two exciting technologies(Information and communication technologies & congnitive and neuroscience ) in my next post.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post.I'll appreciate your feedback so please write comments.

Bye for now, take care.

Potential impact of NBIC technologies on improving human capabilities

2010-07-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

Major Themes. Scientific leaders and policy makers across a range of fields prepared written statements for a December 2001 workshop, evaluating the potential impact of NBIC technologies on improving human capabilities at the microscopic, individual, group, and societal levels. During the workshop, participants examined the vast potential in six different areas of relevance:

Overall potential of converging technologies. Representatives of government agencies and the private sector set forth the mission to explore the potential of converging technologies and research needs to improve human performance, as well as the overall potential for revolutionary changes in the economy and

society. They identified the synergistic development of nano-, bio-, information- and cognition-based technologies as an outstanding opportunity at the interface and frontier of sciences and engineering in the following decades, and proposed new visions of what is possible to achieve.

Expanding human cognition and communication.

Highest priority was given to “The Human Cognome Project,” a multidisciplinary effort to understand the structure, functions, and potential enhancement of the human mind. Other priority areas are: personal sensory device interfaces; enriched community through humanized technology; learning how to learn; and enhanced tools for creativity.

Improving human health and physical capabilities.

Six priority areas have been identified: nano-bio processors for research and development of treatments, including those resulting from bioinformatics, genomics and proteomics; nanotechnology-based implants and regenerative biosystems as replacements for human organs or for monitoring of physiological well-being;

nanoscale machines and comparable unobtrusive tools for medical intervention; multi-modality platforms for increasing sensorial capabilities, particularly for visual and hearing impaired people; brain-to-brain and brain-

to-machine interfaces; and virtual environments for training, design, and forms of work unlimited by distance or the physical scale on which it is performed.

Enhancing group and societal outcomes.
An NBIC system called “The Communicator” would remove barriers to communication caused by physical disabilities, language differences, geographic distance, and variations in knowledge, thus greatly enhancing the effectiveness of cooperation in schools, corporations, government agencies, and across the world. Other areas of focus are in enhancing group creativity and productivity, cognitive engineering and developments related to networked society. A key priority will be revolutionary new products and services based on the integration of the four technologies from the nanoscale.

National security.

Given the radically changing nature of conflict in this new century, seven opportunities to strengthen national defense offered by technological convergence deserve high priority: data linkage and threat anticipation; uninhabited combat vehicles; war fighter education and training; responses to chemical, biological, radiological and explosive threats; war fighter systems; non-drug treatments to enhance human performance; and applications of human-machine interfaces.

Unifying science and education.

To meet the coming challenges, scientific education needs radical transformation from elementary school through post-graduate training. Convergence of previously separate scientific disciplines and fields of engineering cannot take place without the emergence of new kinds of people who understand multiple fields in depth and can intelligently work to integrate them. New curricula, new concepts to provide intellectual coherence, and new forms of educational institutions will be necessary.

Converging Technologies - a Definition and an Overview of Some Different Viewpoints

2010-07-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

If different things converge, they begin to become more similar, to move toward one another, or merge. "Convergence" in these and similar meanings has, just like its opposite, the term »divergence«, been an established expression in different disciplines for a long time.

The phrase “converging technologies” refers to the synergistic combination of four major “NBIC” (nano-bio-info-cogno) provinces of science and technology, each of which is currently progressing at a rapid rate:

(a) nanoscience and nanotechnology;
(b) biotechnology and biomedicine, including genetic engineering;

(c) information technology, including advanced computing and communications;
(d) cognitive science, including cognitive neuroscience.

The first CT initiative was started in the United States in 2001 in connection with activities concerning social, legal, and ethical aspects of nanotechnology. The primary participants in this initiative were the National Science Foundation and the Department of Commerce, and it received the support, for example, of some of those in military research. Some of the features of this initiative, which despite its nonofficial character is often viewed as an official government initiative, triggered some very controversial discussions. The subject was picked up by some of the mass media, nongovernmental organizations (NGO), and private enterprises.

What Converging Technology is All About - the USA Viewpoint

The US Government refers to convergence as NBIC (the integration of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Science) and envisions that the mastery of the nano-scale domain will ultimately amount to the mastery of all of nature. At the molecular level, in the NBIC worldview, there exists a “material unity” so that all matter - life and non-life - is indistinguishable and can be seamlessly integrated. The goal of NBIC is to “improve human performance,” both physically and cognitively (e.g., on the battlefield, on the wheat field, on the job).

What Recent European Reports Have Said About Converging Technologies

The European Commission recently released a report on Converging Technologies, prepared by the High Level Expert Group, entitled “Foresighting the New Technology Wave.” Distancing itself from the US agenda of “improving human performance,” the Group emphasised a “specifically European approach to CTs.” The Group proposedConverging Technologies for the European Knowledge Society (CTEKS), envisioning different research programs that address specific problems such as “CTs for natural language processing” or “CTs for the treatment of obesity.” The Group notes that while CT applications offer “an opportunity to solve societal problems, to benefit individuals, and to generate wealth,” they also pose “threats to culture and tradition, to human integrity and autonomy, perhaps to political and economic stability.”

What Environmentalist Groups Are Saying About Converging Technologies - the ETC Group

ETC Group refers to converging technologies as BANG, an acronym derived from bits, atoms, neurons and genes, the basic units of transformative technologies. The operative unit in information science is the Bit; nanotechnology manipulates Atoms; cognitive science deals with Neurons and biotech exploits the Gene. Together they make B.A.N.G. In early 2003, ETC Group warned that BANG will profoundly affect national economies, trade and livelihoods - including food and agricultural production - in countries of both the South and North. BANG will allow human security and health - even cultural and genetic diversity - to be firmly in the hands of a convergent technocracy.

Administration and Contacts

2010-07-18T05:36:00.000-07:00

Prof. S.L. Kothari	Director
Prof. Kananbala Sharma	Additional Director
Prof. C.K. Shah	Joint Director

Office Contact No: 0141-2700370, 2700358

Email: cct@uniraj.ac.in

Website: www.uniraj.ac.in

Admission Notice

2010-07-18T05:33:00.000-07:00

Admission notice for the admissions in CCT publish in popular news papers. click on the download button to download Notification for the admissions in CCT..if you have any query or problem regarding admissions in "Centre for converging technologies (CCT)" you may contact cct

About Entrance Test

2010-07-18T05:32:00.000-07:00

CCTET-2010 will be of total 3 hrs duration. The test will comprise of Multiple Choice Questions with choice of four answers,only one being correct. Each correct answer fetches three marks.One mark will be deducted for a wrong answer. Multiple answers will be treated as wrong and one mark will be deducted. The test paper will comprise of Four Sections each containing 50 questions. The syllabi of sections (A) Physics, (B) Chemistry, (C) Mathematics and (D) Biology are available on website.

The candidate will be required to attempt sections (A) and (B) and either (C) or (D).

Medium of CCTET-2010 : English or Hindi

CCTET Result and Merit List for admission:
The result and merit list of CCTET 2010 will be displayed on June 19th, 2010 on Notice Board at the Centre for Converging Technologies and University website. The candidate will be called for counseling on the basis of their merit position in the respective category at their own expense. At the time of counseling the candidate must bring all documents in original and Photostat copies and four passport size photograph along with a bank draft of Rs. 36000/- (Thirty Six Thousand) drawn in favour of Director, Centre for Converging Technologies, UOR, payable at Jaipur towards first semester fee. The candidates will be required to purchase the University Prospectus 2010-11(approx cost Rs. 200/-) and fill in the application form and submit the same along with the other fees as per University Prospectus (approx Rs. 4000/-)

(Date of counselling will be announced on the day of Examination)

How to apply

2010-07-18T05:31:00.000-07:00

Interested candidates may apply for CCTET-2010 in any one of the following methods.

Download Application Form Download the application form by clicking the link given below. Take a printout on A4 size plain paper. Procure a bank draft of Rs. 1000/- drawn in favour of Director, Centre for Converging Technologies and payable at Jaipur. Send completely filled up application form alongwith the bank draft and certificate to claim reservation if applicable at the address given below so as to reach latest by the given schedule.

Last date of submission of application forms	8 June, 2010
With late fee of Rs. 2000/-	14 June, 2010
With late fee of Rs. 3000/-	16 June, 2010

The incomplete application or those submitted after the deadline will automatically stand rejected. The candidates are advised to keep a Photostat copy of printout of the duly filled application form.

Note:-Ensure that the duly filled Application Form is submitted along with
(a) X and XII mark sheet (if result has been declared)
(b) Caste category and Special Category Certificates (if applicable)
(c) Demand Draft of Rs. 1000/2000/3000 (as applicable) as entrance test fee drawn in favour of Director, Centre for Converging Technologies and payable at Jaipur .

Address for correspondence

Convener, CCTET-10,
Centre for Converging Technologies,
University Campus
University of Rajasthan,
Jaipur-302055

Infrastructure of CCT

2010-07-18T05:28:00.000-07:00

The University has received support of Four Crore Rupees under Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme on recommendations of Hon'ble Ex-Member of Parliament Shri R.P. Goenka, for establishing the Center. The first phase of Centre's new building is near completion. It has specifically been designed to meet the requirements of Converging Technologies research and education activities. It will have fully networked, well-furnished, air-conditioned, dust and germ free research labs and activity rooms. It will have a seminar hall with a capacity of 200 persons equipped with multimedia presentation tools. It will have Smart Class rooms equipped with Interactive Board/Panel, PRS and Training Pad for fully interactive technology assisted teaching. A State of the Art research infrastructure is being created with assistance from various funding agencies and through public private partnership. Hon'ble Chief Minister Smt. Vasundhara Raje has kindly announced in the budget speech allocation of Rs. 2 crore to center as one to one matching grant. The center tre houses BIF facilities supported by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. The center has submitted multidisciplinary research proposals to funding agencies. The Centre has an MoU for research collaborations, faculty and student exchange with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, Melbourne, Australia. The Centre plans to collaborate with leading International Universities and Research Institutes to foster research in Converging Technologies.

About Course(CCT)

2010-07-18T05:25:00.000-07:00

Ph.D. Programme

The primary aim of establishing the Centre for Converging Technologies (CCT) is to produce high quality research in the four streams of Nanotechnology, Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, Information and Communication Technology, Cognitive & Neuroscience so as to create new scientific methodologies, engineering paradigms, and industrial products. The focus will be on key areas relevant to the desired rapid growth of the Indian economy.

Master's Programme

Ten Semester (Five year) Integrated Dual degree Master of Technology course in the four streams of Converging Technologies. The course is of non-affiliating nature and available on the campus only.
The Master's programme will have two years of common curriculum in all fields of basic science, and engineering. The third year course involves training in all streams of converging technologies. The last two years of education will be fully customizable in specialized domains in the streams of converging technologies. The credits of various courses are classified as credits in following streams

General
Nanotechnology
Biotechnology and Bioinformatics
Information and Communication Technology
Cognitive and Neuroscience

All courses of First to Fourth Semester are assigned credits as General. On successful passing of all papers of First to Tenth Semester the candidate will be awarded dual degree B.Tech and M. Tech. in a particular stream of Converging Technologies. M.Tech degree will be awarded on the basis of performance in all ten semesters and in the stream in which he has obtained maximum credits. B.Tech degree will be awarded on the basis of performance in first to eighth semesters and in the stream in which he has obtained maximum credits in these semesters. The training will include multidisciplinary perspective necessary for rapid progress of the new technologies and create a synergistic view for potential application in various areas of relevance. The idea is to produce entrepreneurially oriented competent individuals who can exploit the potentials of converging technologies in shaping the future economy, society, and industrial infrastructure. The Course has been cited as "This new technology education program (of University of Rajasthan) may become a pattern for other universities" at the Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering & Technology 2007(PICMET-07), Portland, USA.

About Centre

2009-06-29T02:22:00.000-07:00

The world economy is undergoing a fundamental structural change driven by the globalization of business on the one hand and by the revolution in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on the other. World economy may find a new equilibrium in the coming decades mainly because of the emergence of a set of changes based on synergies and confluence of Nanotechnology, Bioinformatics & Biotechnology, Information & Communication Technology and Cognitive & Neuroscience (NBIC). The integration and synergy of these four technologies originate from nanoscale where the building blocks of matter are established. Each of these technologies is currently progressing at a rapid rate. The Center for Converging Technologies (CCT) at the University of Rajasthan is conceptualized as a centre to strengthen quality education and to pursue high standard research in the frontier areas of NBIC technologies so as to accelerate techno-economic development.

The centre is pursuing the following activities:

Creating and maintaining a critical mass of Converging Technologies research specialists who can effectively contribute to the needs of the industry and society. It focuses on research in areas like Nanotechnology, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology, Information and Communication Technology.

Founding a strong training and research base in academia to make an attractive international training ground for Converging Technologies; Generating, designing, and applying new technologies in an innovative way.

Developing laboratories and facilities to efficiently engineer and design new products.

Promoting global level research in allied Theoretical Science (logic, data structures and algorithms, computational complexity, database systems, knowledge representations, constraint satisfactions, artificial intelligence, intelligent agents, theoretical computer science and quantum computing), Systems Biology and Metabolomics.

Making special provisions to attract post-doctoral students in Converging Technologies to uplift the capacity for research.

Imparting postgraduate education in Converging Technologies.

Collaborating with Industry, National and International Institutes/Universitie to augment research and achieve its objectives.