Synergy is what happens when two or more components come together to produce an effect that neither one of them alone could achieve.

For instance, when entrepreneurial ideas and developing technology converge to form a paradigm-shifting new enterprise, that's synergy.

Synergy is what has sired companies like Genentech, Apple Computer, Pittsburgh's own Cellomics, and who knows how many other success stories in biotechnology, information technology, pharmaceuticals, and countless leading-edge industries.

Synergy is what has inspired local scientists from throughout the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, in particular, to collaborate in the recent development of ideas and technologies based on this region's academic strengths in science, engineering, medicine, and computation.

Synergy is what has prompted local academic scientists to join with their industrial counterparts as well as entrepreneurs, investors-indeed, anyone interested in the interface between science and society-to help position Pittsburgh as a leader in science and technology as the 21st century unfolds.

Science2002-Synergy in Science, the University of Pittsburgh's second annual fall celebration of science, will highlight these trends by focusing on research underway in our community that is not only interesting and important but also relevant to regional economic development. Plans for the three-day event include:

• A symposium with spotlight sessions on Mining Monster Databases, Regenerative Medicine, Responding to the Threat of Bioterrorism, the Chemistry of Nitric Oxide, Genetic Linkage and Genomic Evolution, Robots and Other Cool Gadgets, the Shifting Sands of Scientific Consensus in Clinical Research, and Modeling Complex Dynamic Systems
  
  
• Keynote presentations by world-renowned researchers: C. David Allis, Ph.D., Errol C. Friedberg, M.B., B.Ch., and Nobel laureate Ferid Murad, M.D., Ph.D.
  
  
• Spinout sessions featuring the science behind some of the emerging andestablished biotech and engineering companies in the Pittsburgh region
  
  
• A "first look" jazz brunch, featuring university-derived technologies now available for licensing as well as students seeking employment opportunities in science and technology
  
  
• A career-oriented presentation by biotech entrepreneur Carol A. Nacy, Ph.D.
  
  
• An exhibition of laboratory and scientific products and services
  
  
• Poster sessions highlighting the research of graduate and medical students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty
  
  
• Evening social events, including a "rock out" barbecue and something new this year: a "Science in Art" exhibit and reception

Science2002--Synergy in Science is designed to attract faculty and students from Pitt, Carnegie Mellon University, and other local colleges and universities; representatives of pharmaceutical, biotechnology, information technology, engineering, scientific equipment, and related industries; leaders in economic development and philanthropy; and secondary school science teachers. Once again this year, admission is free.