With the theme Superconductors in the Marketplace, the 2002 Applied Superconductivity Conference (ASC2002) http://www.ascinc.org/, to be held Aug. 4 9 in Houston at the George R. Brown Convention Center, will feature top scientists, engineers, and industrial leaders from 50 countries discussing the current status and future potential of the field. The event, hosted by the Texas Center for Superconductivity and Advanced Materials (TCSAM) at the University of Houston, is the largest conference in the world focusing on commercial applications of superconductivity.

The use of superconductivity has made possible many important technologies, from medical devices to metrology, from sensors to accelerators. Many more are expected as the field advances, said Paul C. W. Chu, ASC2002 Chairman, President of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and T. L. L. Temple Chair of Science at the UH. Chu, a superconductivity pioneer, established the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH in 1987.

The event, expected to draw about 1,500 participants, includes an exhibition of industrial products and services related to superconductivity. UH scientists and engineers will present a number of technical papers, including information about a new clinical diagnostic device being tested in a Houston hospital that may help doctors detect heart disease and vulnerable plaque, said Alex Ignatiev, director of TCSAM.

A superconductor is a material that conducts electricity with virtually no loss of energy when its cooled below a certain temperature. It can transport much higher electrical currents than normal conductors, such as copper. Other applications of superconductors include:

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Contact: Amanda Siegfried
asiegfried@uh.edu
713-743-8192
University of Houston
30-Jul-2002