Phoenix’s lecture, free and open to the public, is scheduled for Wednesday, April 5, from 3-4:30 p.m., in the NJIT Campus Center Ballroom.

Molecular manufacturing combines chemistry and fabrication to produce machines at the nanometer scale – a nanometer being one billionth of a meter.  Such manufacturing could, in a decade or two, revolutionize modern industry. But if this change occurs, questions will need to be answered, says Phoenix. Questions such as who will own the technology? Will it be restricted or available, and how will dangerous weapons made by using molecular manufacturing be controlled?

“Molecular manufacturing will be extremely powerful, but very few people know what that really means,” says Phoenix. “We must understand its projected impact on politics, economics, law, sociology, and the environment.” Phoenix will also discuss the impact of molecular manufacturing on the medical fields.

Phoenix earned a bachelor’s degree in symbolic systems and a master’s degree in computer science both from Stanford University. Since 2000, Phoenix has studied and written about molecular manufacturing.

The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology is a nonprofit research and advocacy group concerned with the societal and environmental implications of advanced nanotechnology. The center seeks to understand the implications and the risks of molecular manufacturing.

The lecture is sponsored by the NJIT Technology and Society Forum Committee and the Albert Dorman Honors College at NJIT. The Technology and Society forums explore the connections between the technology that students study in the classroom and the real-world geo-political issues that affect the quality of human life.