The IEEE Nanotechnology Council – North Jersey Chapter (CH01288, NANO42) is pleased to announce its Spring 2026 Invited Lecture Series, featuring distinguished speakers from leading institutions across North America and Europe. Spring 2026 Lecture Lineup (https://lnkd.in/eCxjb5SB): February 23, 2026 | 2:00–3:00 PM (EST) Interplays between structural chirality, CISS, and pure spin current transport in chiral matters by Prof. Dali Sun (Department of Physics, North Carolina State University) March 23, 2026 | 11:00 AM–12:00 PM (EST) Advanced Functional Nanocomposite Materials and Their Applications in High-Performance Physical/Chemical Sensing by Prof. Seonghwan Kim (Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, University of Calgary) April 23, 2026 | 10:00–11:00 AM (EST) Numerical Simulation of Transport in Large-Area Disordered Materials by Dr. Aron Cummings (Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC & BIST, Barcelona, Spain) We warmly invite students and researchers interested in nanotechnology, spin transport, functional materials, and computational modeling to join us. Speaker(s): Dali Sun, Seonghwan Kim, Aron Cummings Agenda: Spring 2026 Lecture Lineup (https://lnkd.in/eCxjb5SB): February 23, 2026 | 2:00–3:00 PM (EST) Interplays between structural chirality, CISS, and pure spin current transport in chiral matters by Prof. Dali Sun (Department of Physics, North Carolina State University) March 23, 2026 | 11:00 AM–12:00 PM (EST) Advanced Functional Nanocomposite Materials and Their Applications in High-Performance Physical/Chemical Sensing by Prof. Seonghwan Kim (Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, University of Calgary) April 23, 2026 | 10:00–11:00 AM (EST) Numerical Simulation of Transport in Large-Area Disordered Materials by Dr. Aron Cummings (Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), CSIC & BIST, Barcelona, Spain) Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/539153

The Innovation Sprint for Women Engineers is a month long hackathon designed to inspire, mentor, and empower women in technology to develop creative, feasible, and socially impactful solutions addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the synergy of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Nanotechnology. The sprint will cultivate innovation, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and leadership among women engineers and students. Objectives - To promote innovation and sustainability awareness among women engineers. - To foster collaboration between AI and nanotech domains for practical SDG-aligned solutions. - To encourage women’s participation in STEM innovation through mentorship and networking. - To identify promising ideas for potential IEEE WIE publications, grants, or incubator follow-ups. Theme AI + Nanotech = Sustainable Futures Participants will ideate solutions under sub-themes such as: - Clean Water & Energy (SDG 6 & 7) - Health and Biosensing (SDG 3) - Sustainable Cities & Environments (SDG 11 & 13) - Circular Economy and Waste Reduction Expected Outcomes - Innovation recognition: Top projects highlighted on IEEE Nanotechnology platforms. - Community engagement: Strengthened cross-disciplinary collaboration. - Talent pipeline: Encouraging women’s visibility in STEM innovation. - Sustainability impact: Solutions aligned with real-world SDG metrics. Recognition & Certificates - Top 3 Winners will receive special IEEE Nanotechnology x Young Professionals Innovation Sprint Acknowledgemen and Certifcates Co-sponsored by: North Jersey Nano Technology Council Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/541140

Special Presentation by Robert Rittich (Counter Measures Security, USA) Hosted by the Future Networks Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (AI/ML) Working Group Date/Time: Thursday, 5 March 2026 @ 6 PM Eastern Time (3 PM Pacific Time) Topic: Infrastructure as an Emergent Behavior-Shaping System in Networked Physical AI Abstract: Modern security thinking around AI and networking often treats infrastructure as neutral plumbing: systems designed to transport data, coordinate services, and optimize performance. In practice, however, infrastructure exhibits emergent behavior. As trusted systems scale, they shape how humans and machines interact, what is considered normal operation, and which actions are taken without reflection—often before adversarial use becomes visible. This talk examines how implicit trust in networked infrastructure creates unexamined attack surface as an emergent property of technical design choices. Drawing on real-world examples — from browser push notification ecosystems to industrial control systems and emerging physical AI platforms — the presentation shows how infrastructure originally designed for benign environments establishes habits, incentives, and coordination patterns that later prove difficult to unwind. As AI systems become embodied, mobile, and collaborative — operating through proximity-based communication, device swarms, and delegated decision-making — the behavioral effects of infrastructure become more pronounced. Rather than predicting specific threats or proposing controls, this talk applies a risk manager’s lens to surface recurring architectural patterns: where trust migrates into systems by default, where behavior adapts faster than threat models, and where networking decisions amplify downstream consequences once physical systems are involved. Speaker: [] Robert Rittich is an independent technology consultant and researcher focused on the intersection of networking, artificial intelligence, and system-level risk. He is the founder of Counter Measures Security LLC and holds an MS in Cybersecurity, along with CISSP, CEH, and CHPS certifications. While his background is rooted in offensive and defensive security practice, Robert’s current work examines how emerging AI-driven systems — spanning robotics, autonomous platforms, wearables, and human augmentation — operate in real-world environments and at scale. His perspective is informed by hands-on experience assessing how systems behave when optimized for performance, efficiency, and low friction. Rather than approaching these challenges from a narrowly defined security role, his work emphasizes architectural thinking and cross-domain awareness, informed by how complex systems evolve once they are deployed and interconnected. Brochure (PDF): (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kFImhnpsJ8Kx128OnMnwgkcgZbe1CVUP/view) Co-sponsored by: Future Networks Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (AIML) Working Group Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/532025