The best presentation that I heard was the Von Hippel lecture given in the Sheraton Ballroom to a packed audience by Professor William Nix from Stanford University. He spoke about exploiting new opportunities in materials research by remembering and applying old lessons. And he gave some wonderful examples of this. I was so impressed that after the talk ended and nobody was intent on asking any questions, I walked up to the microphone and asked him if I could obtain a copy of his presentation. I actually met up with him afterwards and spoke with him for a short while, and he agreed to email me the presentation. Great guy.
Maui