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My father, speaking with a broad sweep of his arm, introduced me to the infinite - the universal scale from the astronomical to the sub-atomic - opening the vast frontiers up to and far beyond the margins of the human mind. I was 12 years old or so, just old enough to grasp the awe in his shared perspective. This early insight about the scope of things has been one of his greatest gifts to me.

Later, science curricula added to and bolstered my curiosity about the worlds at large (and small). At that moment in my life, though, a torch illuminated the vastness of space in both directions.

Somehow in these new revelations, I felt freed to explore and learn amid the limiting fears of the unknown and unimaginable. Indeed, humans are suspended in our skewed comprehensions of the cosmic soup, so it is exhilarating to sense the wild truths that surround us.

Two upcoming events in the region fuel similar connections to the fascinating worlds of science of the large and the small.

On the big side, the 2007 Intel International Science Fair is the largest pre-college science exhibition in the world. The fair brings 1,500 of the brightest young scientific minds and their scientific projects to the Albuquerque Convention Center, May 13-19.

On the small side, the 2007 Annual Ibero-American Research and Development Summit, March 19-21 at the Embassy Suites, 1000 Woodward Place N.E., focuses on nanotechnologies and microsystems. AIRDS, as it is known, brings scientists, scholars and nano entrepreneurs from around the Spanish-speaking world together to forge new research and business opportunities.

Both events have great back-stories about the vision and tenacity of their founders and organizers.

The Intel International Science Fair culminates many years of evangelizing by Russ Fisher-Ives and Bill Cordova. Fisher-Ives is a science teacher through and through who has spent many years inspiring young minds in the way my father excited mine. He has been one of the intrepid leaders and volunteers behind the New Mexico science fair scene.

Along the way, Fisher-Ives imagined the International Science Fair and partnered with Cordova, one of New Mexico's few winners ever at the International Science Fair level (1989). Together they doggedly marshaled the local resources and commitment to bring the fair here. I was involved in some of their earliest conversations in 2003 and can attest to their monumental accomplishments since then. Congratulations, Russ and Bill, for doing New Mexico proud.

In addition to showcasing the technical nano and microsystems strengths of Sandia National Laboratories, the 2007 AIRDS conference amplifies some of Sandia's past safe-world policy recommendations. Working smarter not harder, AIRDS builds scientific and technological bridges with other countries and cultures to expand scientific and economic development in those countries, while opening doors for American technologies.

Vic Chavez at Sandia labs, working with others including Fred Mondragon, economic development director for the city of Albuquerque, has been an international ambassador through his determined leadership of AIRDS over the years. Each conference highlights a different technology area. This year's event targets and shares New Mexico's significant resources in the nano and microsystem fields.

According to Wikipedia, nanotechnology is "the control of matter on a scale smaller than one micrometer, as well as the fabrication of devices on this same length scale." Or, in other words, making things at the atomic levels. Like digital television, nanotechnologies are changing the ways we "see" things.

Chavez is familiar to many New Mexicans. He is currently featured in the ads for the MBA program at the University of New Mexico's Anderson Schools of Management. Chavez has also touched thousands of New Mexico businesses as the manager of Sandia's small business initiatives, connecting small business needs to technical talent at Sandia labs.

As a winner at a regional science fair once for my study and depiction of the lunar eclipse, I can attest the universe, large and small, is as close as your curiosity.

Burge is president of the New Mexico IT & Software Association and principal at Proactive Teams.