MEDIA ADVISORY: 00-148

One of the world’s foremost experts on molecular technology, Dr. K.
Eric Drexler, will deliver the keynote address at NASA’s second “Turning
Goals into Reality” conference May 18-19, 2000.

The event — which spotlights aerospace accomplishments by NASA and
its industry partners and ponders the future of air and space transportation
technology — is hosted by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Ala., and organized by NASA’s Office of Aero-Space Technology.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the office is tasked with defining the
critical aerospace needs of the nation, incorporating aviation safety,
productivity, environmental stewardship and cost-effective access to space.

Drexler will address conference attendees at the Huntsville Marriott
at 8:45 a.m. Thursday, May 18.

Media representatives should call June Malone of the Marshall Media
Relations Department at (256) 544-0034.

Drexler is credited with coining the term “nanotechnology” —
leading-edge research into molecular manufacturing, which includes
construction of computers smaller than living cells and microscopic devices
able to repair damaged cellular tissue. Such technology holds enormous
potential for all aspects of human life, Drexler contends — from universal
quality of life improvements to enabling travel between the stars.

For more information on the “Turning Goals into Reality” conference,
visit:
http://tgir.msfc.nasa.gov

More about K. Eric Drexler
Drexler is chairman of the Foresight Institute, a nonprofit
educational organization founded to help prepare for advanced technologies
such as nanotechnology. He is also a research fellow at the Institute for
Molecular Manufacturing, a nonprofit foundation for developing molecular
manufacturing. Both organizations are in Palo Alto, Calif.

His most recent book, “Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery,
Manufacturing and Computation,” describes the principles and mechanisms of
molecular nanotechnology. In 1992, it won the annual Association of
American Publishers award for best computer science book. A year later,
Drexler’s research into nanotechnology earned him the Kilby Young Innovator
Award, named for Jack Kilby, inventor of the integrated circuit.

In 1988, as a visiting scholar at Stanford University in Stanford,
Calif., Drexler taught the first formal course on nanotechnology and
exploratory engineering. In 1998, he chaired the First Foresight Conference
on Nanotechnology.

Drexler holds three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology in Cambridge, Mass., including an undergraduate degree in
interdisciplinary science, a master’s in engineering and a doctorate in
molecular nanotechnology. He has published papers and articles for
periodicals ranging from “Smithsonian” to “CoEvolution Quarterly” to
“Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”

Drexler has served on the board of the National Space Society and is
a member of the American Vacuum Society, the Protein Society and the
American Chemical Society.

— 30 —