May’s edition of nerdnite Austin is fast approaching and we have our lineup complete. Come see them speak on Thursday 28th May at Buffalo Billiards

The Accidental Innovator: one scientist’s tour through the innovation process
Jonas Moses
What’s the diff between invention and real innovation? What’s the innovation process, why does truly great innovation frequently get sidelined before it ever hits the marketplace? Who are some of the more notable accidental innovators, what did they introduce into common use, and what was the net impact on the human condition?

Dr. Jonas Moses is the Founder “On the Productions LLC” and Executive Producer/Director and Host of the hit TV series, “On the Edge.” His live, unrehearsed and uncensored “On the Edge” series has been broadcast over Broadband – via HDTV, Internet, cell phone, PDA and podcast – worldwide, for nearly two years. He received his Ph.D. – specialization in Cell and Tissue Engineering – at the University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC). The title of his Doctoral Dissertation was “Platelets, Cytoplasts and Extracellular Matrix in the Bioengineering of a 3-Dimensional, In Vitro Tumor Model.”

Bits and Atoms – the rise of Smart Environments
Philip Wheat
Everyone wants a Robot to do their bidding – but today we’re seeing the robots are not just things that roll or walk, but are becoming part of our buildings or even our construction materials. In this Nerd Night talk, we’ll discuss what the growing number of processors, sensors, radios, and actuators mean to us as their numbers increase and their costs and size continue to dwindle.

Phil Wheat is an Architect with Microsoft based in Austin with interests in Embedded Systems, Robotics, Knowledge Management, Augmented Reality, and probably another topic or two by the time you read this. He’s currently waiting for Wil Wright’s Spore game to release enough updates to enable the “Order a copy of your creature for a home pet” add on (though not sure if it’s waiting in anticipation or fear.)

From the Black Plague to the Bread Line: How Politics Becomes Social Policy
JC Dwyer
You probably have a church soup kitchen somewhere in your neighborhood. You probably have a state welfare office, too. Why both? Did we decide to do things this way, or did it just happen? Learn about the historical assumptions underlying modern American social welfare policy.

JC Dwyer is a professional do-gooder. He has worked with groups as small as Food Not Bombs and as big as the United Nations, and honestly hasn’t seen much of a difference. Currently, he is a policy wonk for a statewide anti-hunger group.