November 17, 2004: FedEx Institute turns one. By John Scruggs. The Daily Helmsman Online. "Major new developments marked the beginning of the first anniversary celebration of the FedEx Institute of Technology Tuesday. ... [Andy] Meyers also announced the affiliation of Michael Hawley, from the Media Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as director of special projects at F.I.T. ... U of M's state of the art building is home to researchers developing technologies that are cutting edge in the fields of artificial intelligence, intelligent systems and robotics. 'We build the best conversational systems in the world,' said Art Graesser, co-director of the Institute for Intelligent Systems. 'We're combining computer science with other mechanisms and using computers to model the mind.' ... 'There's going to be a land grab for markets in artificial intelligence,' [David] Hanson said as he stood beside Eva, the robotic face he developed. ... Hanson demonstrated Eva's ability to teach using AutoTutor programs."
>>> AI Academic Departments (@ Resources for Students), Cognitive Science, Robots, Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Applications, AI Overview

November 10, 2004: A New Way Out of the Prisoner’s Dilemma: Cheat. Software agents use a strategy of covert collusion to win game theory championship; auctioneers beware. By Camberley Crick. IEEE Spectrum Online. "Within a certain obsessive breed of computer scientists, the geek equivalent of the World Series is a little known tournament called the Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma Competition. Academics from around the globe struggle to devise the best strategy for tackling one of the fundamental problems in game theory, Prisoner’s Dilemma, and then build artificially intelligent software 'robots' to play their strategies in a competitive round-robin tournament. As it turns out, real-world situations from live auctions to nuclear standoffs can bear striking resemblance to this very simple game, and so it was no small matter when this year the longstanding champion of Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma had to settle for silver. A team of robots submitted by computer scientists from Southampton University, in England, used conspiracy and collusion to sweep this year’s competition stealing the crown from the 20-year reigning incumbent, a simple strategy called Tit for Tat."
>>> Multi-Agent Systems, Agents, Competitions (@ Resources for Students); also see this related article

November 10, 2004: Students use Legos to study, understand disabilities. By Jennie Runevitch. WNDU-TV. "For most people, living life with a disability is hard to imagine, but a group of Berrien County youngsters is learning about the challenges firsthand. They’re also developing ways to help the disabled, with toys and technology, through a group called Gears in Motion. The children are nine through 13-year-olds, gearing up for a national Lego robotics competition, whose theme is helping the disabled through robotic technology."
>>> Assisitive Technologies, Robots, Competitions (@ Resources for Students) Applications

November 10, 2004: IT unravels tangled legal webs. The Australian; page B08 (subscription req'd.). "Remote dispute resolution is a fast-growing field that could provide a new direction for tech-savvy students. ... Melissa Conley Tyler, program manager at the International Conflict Resolution Centre at the University of Melbourne, says online dispute resolution is booming. There are now 115 online dispute resolution services worldwide that have resolved more than 1.5million disputes. Conley Tyler, who convened the third UN annual forum on online dispute resolution (ODR) at Melbourne University earlier this year, believes it is a field that could provide many job opportunities for a generation of technologically literate law students. ODR uses online and video conferencing and even artificial intelligence to facilitate negotiations. ... While Australian universities do not offer degrees in ODR, several universities have short courses. Bond University runs a semester-long course in online dispute resolution as part of its master of dispute resolution and master of laws."
>>> Law, Applications, AI Courses & Careers in AI (@ Resources for Students)

November 9, 2004: Dancing to That Robotic Engineering Beat. By Chris Hedges. The New York Times (no fee reg. req'd.). "[Prof. Naomi Ehrich Leonard] has been able to transcend the boundaries of her physical surroundings, as well as the traditional boundaries of her discipline, as a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. She has interwoven control theory, fluid mechanics, robotics, computer science, oceanography and biology. Her work has shattered barriers and helped her design new sensing systems that replicate the coordinated behavior of flocks of birds and schools of fish. The advances she has made, which recently led to her being awarded a MacArthur fellowship worth $500,000, have been found to apply far beyond robotics, extending control theory to all mechanical systems. 'It comes from having many interests,' she said modestly. ... Professor Leonard's field is not one that has traditionally attracted women, something she is trying to change by helping Princeton recruit prospective engineers. 'People hear the term mechanical engineering and they think we wear jumpsuits, carry wrenches and fix cars,' she said. 'It is hard to enter a field where they are few other women, but once we get people to think beyond these old-fashioned labels, once we show people how engineering is interdisciplinary, how it can be a bridge even into the humanities, we will attract diverse students. We need people who think broadly and deeply.'"
>>> Robots, Engineering, Equality & Diversity and Careers in AI (@ Resources for Students); also see this related article from October 2004

November 7, 2004: Computer science students to explore robotics. By Chris Valdez. The Pine Log Online. "Beginning in Spring 2005, the computer science department [at Stephen f. Austin State University] will offer a course in robotics. 'Robotics are what’s coming down the pipe,' Dr. Robert Strader, computer science professor in charge of the robotics program, said. 'New revolutions are going to be bio- and nano-robotics.' ... 'I had a pre-existing interest in the area, because I taught the artificial intelligence course in the past,' Strader said. 'Some people speculate that these areas are going to be the next revolutions in society.'"
>>> AI Courses (@ Resources for Students), Robots, Applications

November 4, 2004: Duke Robot Climbs to Victory in Madrid. Duke University / available from PhysOrg.com. "A wall-climbing, book-sized autonomous vehicle made by a Duke University team drove up a challenging vertical course to win first prize in an international competition Sept. 22-24 in Madrid. The student competition was part of the seventh annual International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots. ... 'Robots that climb walls and cross ceilings can go where humans can’t," [Jason] Janet said. "They can do security and safety jobs like looking for bombs or finding cracks in a support beam or the wing of a jumbo jet.' ... Janet said Duke’s future robotics efforts include teaming with a group from Carnegie Mellon University for the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Grand Challenge to design a full-sized autonomous land vehicle and continuing the development of autonomous underwater vehicles."
>>> Autonomous Vehicles, Competitions (@ Resources for Students), Hazards & Disasters, Robots

November 1, 2004: JHU Course Catalog - The Natural and the Artificial ("part of an occasional series in which reporters drop in on interesting classes"). By Lisa De Nike. Johns Hopkins Gazette. "THE COURSE: The Natural and the Artificial: The Concept of the Man-Made Man. The course attempts to illustrate society's changing understanding of science by examining the concept of the artificial human being. It begins with the Renaissance's 'golem' legend and proceeds through the Scientific Revolution/Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and the 20th century. ... REQUIRED READING: R.U.R., by Karel Capek; The Fourth Discontinuity, by Bruce Mazlish; He, She and It, by Marge Piercy; Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley; Island of Dr. Moreau, by H.G. Wells. Students also read selections from Science and Change, by Hugh Kearney; The Golem, by Chaim Bloch; Man a Machine, by J.O. de la Mettrie; and The Sandman, by E.T.A. Hoffmann. FILMS VIEWED IN CLASS: The Golem; Frankenstein; Island of Lost Souls; Colossus: The Forbin Project; The Stepford Wives (the original version); Bladerunner; A.I. ..."
>>> AI Courses (@ Resources for Students), Ethical & Social Implications, History, Science Fiction, Robots

October 28, 2004: Tech major loses its luster. By Jonathan B. Cox. The (Raleigh) News & Observer. "The number of new undergraduate majors in U.S. computer science programs has fallen 28 percent since 2000, reports the Computing Research Association, a group of more than 200 North American computer science, computer engineering and related academic departments. ... One reason, say those in the field, is that technology jobs appear less lucrative than they did during the dot-com boom. Then, students thought a computer science degree would lead to riches and a quick retirement. Many took on the major. Even those with minimal skills made it into the industry because demand was so high that companies had to hire almost anyone available. When the tech bubble burst, the promise of fast money evaporated. ... Some temper the doomsday prediction. Undergraduate students now are likely of higher quality and thus more attractive to employers, because they have pursued computer science degrees despite the industry downturn. ... Colleges have also begun to integrate computer instruction into other majors such as e-commerce programs in business schools. A computer science degree, therefore, can be unnecessary. One thing's almost certain, though: Those with the necessary skills could relive a bit of the dot-com fever as tech spending rebounds."
>>> Computer Science, Careers in AI & Employment Opportunities (@ Resources for Students)

October 27, 2004: Pensacola research institute to work with Florida Atlantic. Associated Press / available from NBC 15 News. "The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, one of three statewide research institutes, signed an affiliation agreement Wednesday with Florida Atlantic University. The deal paves the way for joint research and faculty appointments and other mutual activities involving computer and cognitive science, robotics, ocean engineering, transportation security and other fields, institute and university officials said. Gov. Jeb Bush praised the new partnership as 'forward thinking' in a news release. ... The institute in Pensacola is a national leader in artificial intelligence and human-centered computing."
>>> AI Academic Departments (@ Resources for Students)

October 13, 2004: Fewer women in computer jobs these days. By Ed Frauenheim. CNET News. "Women have lost ground when it comes to some geeky professions. A study released Wednesday by the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology found a decline in the share of computer science jobs held by women in a recent 20-year period. In 1983, women held 30.5 percent of the jobs in the category of computer systems analysts and scientists, programmers and postsecondary computer science teachers, according to the commission. That figure declined to 27.2 percent in 2002. On the other hand, women have increased their share of jobs in the natural sciences and in engineering, according to the commission."
>>> Something for Everyone & Careers in AI (@ Resources for Students)

October 13 - 19, 2004: Checking in with Ben Bederson. Ubiquity (Volume 5, Issue 32). "Benjamin B. Bederson is an Associate Professor of Computer Science and director of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. His work is on information visualization, interaction strategies, and digital libraries. UBIQUITY: Why don't we start by talking a little about the Human-Computer Interaction Lab. Tell us something about its history. BEDERSON: I believe we're the oldest center in the country focusing on research in Human Computer Interaction. We were started just over 21 years ago by Ben Shneiderman. He's still happily continuing to work here, but about four years ago, he asked me to take over as Director. We've chosen to remain a relatively small group, with a half-dozen faculty, about ten full-time researchers, and about thirty students, mostly working towards their PhDs. Our focus is thinking about the user experience: how can we improve people's lives using computers. I see our lab goals being to design, implement and evaluate novel interaction technologies that are universally usable, useful, efficient and appealing."
>>> Interfaces, Applications, Academic Departments (@ Resources for Students), Computer Science, Interviews

October 12, 2004: Bellingham residents display working robots. By Kara Lundberg. The Western Front Online. "Bellingham community members with curious minds gathered Saturday morning for the Bellingham Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Society meeting, where they came to build and learn about robots. Nearly 60 people, including Western students, came to the Communications Facility to get hands-on experience in building smart robots, applying the seriousness of computer science and engineering, and turning it into fun. ... 'It is a great initiative to connect the community to the department and the university,' computer science department chairman David Bover said. Bover and[Jianna] Zhang said involving women is especially beneficial because women sometimes encounter cultural barriers in math and science, which has given them the impression they cannot do either. 'By encouraging females to attend, we hope to help them understand what computer science is all about and teach them about robotics as an interesting and practical application to machine learning,' Bover said. ... Energetic children who attended Saturday's meeting were eager to start building. Kelsey Willson, a 13-year-old Sehome High School freshman, said she was completely surprised about who attended. 'I was expecting a lot of computer people,' Willson said. 'But I came because I think that girls need to be more involved in science, and this is actually pretty cool.'"
>>> Something for Everyone (@ Resources for Students), Robots, Machine Learning, Computer Science

October 9, 2004: Carnegie Mellon institute celebrates 25 years of robot research. Associated Press / available from The Herald Standard. "The researchers who developed robotics systems that play soccer, explored Antarctica and gave football fans a 360-degree view of Super Bowl XXXV are pausing to celebrate their 25th anniversary - and contemplate where robotics will take the world in the next 25 years. The four-day celebration at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute begins Monday with the second annual inductions into the school's Robot Hall of Fame. C-3PO, the droll droid of 'Star Wars' fame, and Robby the Robot from the 1956 cult flick 'Forbidden Planet' are among the honorees. ... The anniversary's theme is 'Robots and Thought' - and the founders' expectations about advances in artificial intelligence are tame compared to those of some experts who will address the grand challenges facing robotics in a series of lectures on Wednesday. ... The next great frontier for robotics, [Raj] Reddy says, is a conundrum: teaching computers to learn. 'The biggest barrier is (developing) computers that learn with experience and exhibit goal-directed behavior. If you can't build a system that can learn with experience, you might as well forget everything else,' Reddy said."
>>> AI Overview, History, Autonomous Vehicles, Robots, Science Fiction, Events (@ Resources for Students), Machine Learning, Applications

October 8, 2004: X Prize group plans new series of contests. By Alorie Gilbert. CNET News. "The group that awarded $10 million this week to the winner of an outer-space travel contest is gearing up to offer cash prizes for technology breakthroughs in medicine, computer science, transportation and a number of other arenas. ... The competitions will be aimed at people 'seeking to meet the greatest challenges facing humanity in the 21st century,' according to the WTN X Prize Web site. Those challenges could include finding a cure for cancer, AIDS or other major diseases; alleviating famine and environmental degradation; or making advances in artificial intelligence and nanotechnology, according to the Web site. The groups are soliciting suggestions for determining the rules and goals of the next contests from potential competitors and sponsors...."
>>> Competitions (@ Resources for Students), AI Overview

October 8, 2004: State-of-the-art robotics on display. By Will Knight. New Scientist News. "Many of the world's leading robotics experts gathered in the picturesque city of Sendai, Japan, this week to discuss their latest research efforts at the 2004 Intelligent Robotics and Systems (IROS) conference. As well as hundreds of scientific papers and workshops, attendees enjoyed demonstrations from some of the latest entertainment bots Japan has to offer. These include Sony's miniature humanoid, QRIO ... Fujitsu's HOAP-2 ... [Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology's] PARO. ... Max Lungarella, of the University of Tokyo, believes one of the more noticeable themes at this year's conference is the way robotics is feeding into areas of research relating to intelligence. As roboticists succeed in making ever-more intelligent machines, neuroscientists, cognitive scientists and even behavioural psychologists are becoming interested in studying their creations, he says."
>>> Robots, AI Overview, Applications, Cognitive Science, Conferences (@ Resources for Students)

October 6 - 12, 2004: Frans Johansson on the Medici Effect - By exploring the intersections between different disciplines and cultures, one may discover the next groundbreaking ideas. Ubiquity (Volume 5, Issue 31). "UBIQUITY: Let's start at the beginning: what is this 'Medici Effect' you write about? JOHANSSON: The book talks about the fact that we have the greatest chance of coming up with groundbreaking insights at the intersection of different disciplines or cultures. The Medici Effect refers to the exponential increase in ideas that you can generate when you combine two different fields. UBIQUITY: Give us an example or two. JOHANSSON: Let's take an example I'm particularly fond of -- the example of ants and truck drivers, which I talk about in one of the chapters. So there is this telecommunications engineer that has been is trying to figure out how to efficiently route telecom messages through a haphazard routing system. And one day the communications engineer met an ecologist, who studies social insects, like wasps and ants. And they started talking, and the ecologist described how ants search for food. As it turned out, the ant's search strategy turned out to be very applicable to the routing of telecom message packets. Once the engineer realized this, he decided to explore this particular intersection between ant ecology and computer search algorithms, so he spent three years looking at the connection between the way social insects behave and the way you can use computers to optimize particular types of search algorithms. And that has now lead to an entirely new field called swarm intelligence, which essentially came out of the intersection of the study of social insects and computer search algorithms. This methodology has been used in everything from helping truck drivers find their way around the Swiss Alps to helping unmanned aerial vehicles search for terrorists in Afghanistan."
>>> Resources for Students, Artificial Life, Agents, Interviews

October 5, 2004: Q&A - Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. By Gopakumar Karakonam. The Hindu. Q: am 12th standard student. I would like to know about IITs and other institutions that offer courses in robotics and cybertronics. - Anup Mohan, Thrissur. A. Artificial Intelligence is defined as the ability of an Artificial Mechanism to exhibit intelligent behaviour. It is closely associated with Robotics. Artificial Intelligence and Robotics courses are available in very few institutes/colleges/university at the degree/post-graduate-level. The Shanmugam College of Engineering Thanjavur, affiliated to the Bharatidasan University, offers Artificial Intelligence at BE degree-level. The Department of Electronics under Cochin University of Science and Technology offers M.Sc. Electronic Science with specialisation in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Microwave Electronics and Computer Technology. ... Other institutions are...."
>>> Academic Departments (@ Resources for Students)

October 5, 2004: Around the County - Engineering workshops for girls offered. The Columbian. "Washington State University Vancouver and the Girl Scouts, Columbia River Council, will offer a series of engineering workshops for girls ages 12 to 17, starting Saturday. ... Taught by WSU Vancouver engineering faculty and graduate students, the sessions will give hands-on experience in materials engineering, computer-assisted drawing, artificial intelligence, rapid prototyping, manufacturing, nanotechnology and computer science."
>>> Resources for Students

October 5, 2004: Bradford seeks intelligent robots. The British Journal of Healthcare Computing & Information Management News. "Bradford University reckons we’re on the edge of a robot revolution. It has launched a new degree course designed to research ways of making robots more intelligent. The announcement comes after a rash of Hollywood films dealing with artificial intelligence in robots.... 'We are on the edge of a new robot revolution, and while we might not have to worry quite as much as Will Smith, robots are already helping in many aspects of our lives', says Dr John Baruch, Head of the Department of Cybernetics, Internet and Virtual Systems at Bradford. 'Our new course, Robotics with Artificial Intelligence, will enable students to build robots that can use all the human senses and take a lead in this new technological revolution.'"
>>> Academic Departments (@ Resources for Students), Robots, Science Fiction

October 4, 2004: Tec gets fuzzy feeling. By Tom Pullar-Strecker. The Dominion Post & Stuff. "Wellington Institute of Technology has reinforced its credentials as a centre for research into fuzzy logic and artificial intelligence, thanks to the efforts of Romanian-born Professor Mircea Negoita. Professor Negoita, director of WelTec's Centre of Computational Intelligence, arranged for Wellington to host this year's International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems, KES 2004. ... The event attracted 480 academics from 50 countries, including the 'father' of fuzzy logic, Berkeley University Professor Lotfi Zadeh, who has been appointed honorary chairman of the Centre for Computational Intelligence at WelTec."
>>> Fuzzy Logic, Academic Departments & Conferences (@ Resources for Students), Reasoning

September 26, 2004: Have a hobby? Try robotics. By Michael Sun. New Straits Times / New Sunday Times (subscription req'd.). "Schools should encourage students to design and operate simple robots as a hobby, said [Dr Don Faust] a visiting professor from the United States. Since application of sophisticated robotics in industry represents the cutting edge in 21st century technology, he suggested that young Malaysians should first acquire the necessary background through an all- consuming recreational pursuit. ... '[Artificial intelligence]is a multidisciplinary science, synthesising the current results of many fields - biotechnology, computer science, engineering, physics, biology, mathematics, education and psychology,' said Faust, who is a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Northern Michigan University in the US. As technology plays an increasing part in 21st century professional life, he suggested that a love and an appreciation for the subjects mentioned earlier should be inculcated in young Malaysians."
>>> Robots, Resources for Educators, Summer Programs

September 14, 2004: Vietnamese students win first prize at Robocon 2004 in Seoul. Viet Nam News. "Viet Nam's FXR boys won Saturday's final round at the Asia­Pacific Robot 2004 (Robocon), held in the Republic of Korea. ... This year's competition used the tale The Reunion of the Shepherd and the Weaver as its theme. The story goes that the gods become upset with the laziness of a Shepherd and his Weaver wife and separate them. Annually, the gods take pity on the pair and erect a bridge so they may meet. Each round, teams drove their robots (shepherds) across an area (the bridge) carrying red boxes (gifts for the Weaver). The team that could carry the most items within an allotted amount of time would win the round."
>>> Robots, Competitions & Events (@ Resources for Students)

September 13, 2004: Robots to the fore. By Kamal A. Othman. New Straits Times Computimes. "Over the years, interest in robot technology has grown with the robotic field being taught in schools and universities worldwide. The major focus of this robotic field has been the search for autonomous robots which can think and this drives much development in machine intelligence or artificial intelligence field. Robots entered the mainstream culture with the introduction of Sony's Aibo in 1999. Since then several Japanese corporations have succeeded in developing humanoid robots. ... Robofest aims to create and stimulate Malaysian interest in robotic and artificial intelligence technology which is becoming even more crucial as the country pushes forward to become a developed nation. Already in its fourth series, the Robofest competition was organised by the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (Mosti). ... [Datuk Kong Chong Ha, the Ministry's Deputy Minister] hopes the competition will become a platform that would spur creativity and innovation among students and the public in the field of robotic and artificial intelligence. ... Some 180 teams were assembled to compete in six categories, namely Survival Robot, RoboClimb, RoboGrab, RoboDance, Partner Robot, Robot Jr. Football League and Robot Drawing Contest."
>>> Robots, Competitions & Events (@ Resources for Students), Science Fiction, Manufacturing, Robotic Pets, Applications

September 9, 2004: Gaming conference targets women. By Erin Ochoa. News 8 Austin. "More than a thousand video gamers from around the world attended the Austin Game Conference Thursday. Austin is third in the nation when it comes to game development. This year, it features the first-ever Women's Game Conference aimed at changing assumptions about the gender of people who make and play the games. 'I'm hoping to apply artificial intelligence to games to make games more interesting,' Astrid Glende, a recent graduate hoping to 'play the game', said. But Glende is stepping into an industry traditionally dominated by men. ... 'The game industry doesn't seem to be on the radar for most women when they're considering careers. It's not that women look at the game industry and discard it, it's actually not even something that comes up to be considered,' [Sheri Graner] Ray said."
>>> Video Games, Conferences & Careers in AI & Equality (@ Resources for Students)

September 6, 2004: Let's chat, shall we? Science news briefs. post-gazette.com. "Mix scientific issues with a mug of beer -- or even a cup of joe -- and you've got something called Cafe Scientifique, a form of informal science discussion that's become popular in Europe. ... Phil Campbell, a senior research scientist at Carnegie Mellon University's Institute for Complex Engineered Systems, will give a short talk on medical robotics and tissue engineering, which will be followed by an hour of discussion with the audience. It is free and open to the public."
>>> Events (@ Resources for Students), Resources for the Scientific Community, Robots, Medicine

September 2, 2004: Programmed for stardom. By Sara Kincaid. Arizona Daily Sun. "This Coconino High School senior writes computer programs that are out of this world. Stars, planets and, recently, asteroids are the topics of programs that Erik Kuefler creates for Lowell Observatory and a science program this summer in Socorro, N.M. ... Kuefler attended the Summer Science Program, Inc. at New Mexico Tech. The Summer Science Program is a nonprofit corporation with several higher education institutions involved with the program, such as New Mexico Tech, Stanford University and the University of California at Los Angeles. ... He plans to study computer science in college, although he has yet to decide where he'll go to college. Ideally, he'd like to specialize in artificial intelligence, he said."
>>> Summer Programs, Astronomy, Resources for Students

September 2, 2004: There and back again: a robot's tale. By Ben Oldfield. The Phoenix Online. "Robots programmed by two Swarthmore students won top honors in a national competition in San Jose, Calif., continuing the college's five-year winning streak in the event. Frederick Heckel '05, Nicolas Ward '05 and engineering professor Bruce Maxwell competed in the American Association for Artificial Intelligence's competition, which was held July 27-29. Along with them were two robots, Frodo and Gollum, named after J.R.R. Tolkien's characters. ... Frodo and Gollum competed in the competition's urban search-and-rescue category, run by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, as they have each year. ... 'There's paper, rubble and chicken wire all over the place,' said Heckel. 'Hidden throughout are manikins that are either moving, yelling for help or staying still.'"
>>> Robots, Hazards & Disasters, Conferences & Competitions (@ Resources for Students)

September 1, 2004: Domestic bliss through mechanical marvels? By Kevin Maney. USA Today. "Never mind the humanoid Automated Domestic Assistants walking rich people's pets in the movie I, Robot, or the accordion-armed Robot B9 in TV classic Lost in Space warning of danger on lonely planets. The real force driving the development of personal robots -- and what will eventually create demand for them in the marketplace -- is aging baby boomers. That's the secret among robotics researchers and budding robot companies. As the horde of boomers become old, they increasingly will be unable to care for themselves or their homes. They'll face a social and medical system straining to help them. But they'll be comfortable with technology. ... In a way, robotics stands at a juncture similar to the earliest stabs at personal computing in the 1970s, when mammoth computers were familiar in business and government but unheard of in homes. Robots today help build cars on assembly lines and explore caves for the military. Eventually, they will scoot around our homes, as much a part of life as e-mail and Google. At a recent conference here of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, robots competed to rescue dummies in a disaster mock-up, while a robot named George greeted attendees as they arrived. Dozens of teenagers -- a next generation of roboticists -- showed off their robot creations in a contest. Presentations by scientists ran from the esoteric... to the practical topic du jour ("Intelligent Technology for Adaptive Aging," by the University of Michigan's Martha Pollack). ... Robots that are likely to serve the elderly seem to fall into three broad categories. Though the categories don't officially have names, you could call them homebots, carebots and joybots. A look at those categories speaks volumes about what's going on in robotics -- and what's still beyond technology's reach. ... 'Whether or not you have to love your robot is another question,' Brooks says. 'I don't need my ATM to be cute.' Here is a great point of departure between U.S. and Japanese robotics research. U.S. labs and companies generally approach robots as tools. The Japanese approach them as beings. That explains a lot about robot projects coming out of Japan."
>>> Robots, Assisitive Technologies, Household Appliances, Autonomous Vehicles, Hazards & Disasters, Multi-Agent Systems, Conferences & Competitions (@ Resources for Students), Applications

August 30, 2004: Sony Sends Its Robots to School - Humanoid devices will be used to encourage interest in science and technology. By Paul Kallender. IDG News Service & PC World. "Sony will lend one of its five Qrio public relations robots to schools in Japan, India, and Vietnam to stimulate children's curiosity in science and technology, the company says. In cooperation with the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan (NFUAJ), Sony will initially send the 23-inch humanoid robot, accompanied by engineers, to a school in Sendai, Japan, on September 23 and a school in Gumma prefecture, Japan, in mid-December. Overseas, Qrio will go to a school in New Delhi, India at the beginning of October and to Hanoi, Vietnam, in January 2005. ... UNESCO and Sony have constructed two educational programs, under the name Qrio Science Program, to these ends. ... Equipped with seven microphones and a speaker, Qrio is able to identify voices, talk, sing, and understand about 20,000 words. It can also exhibit some limited emotional responses, according to Sony."
>>> Resources for Educators, Robots, Careers in AI (@ Resources for Students)

August 26, 2004: Texas School to Offer Women's Gaming Scholarship. Reuters. "As part of a drive to attract more women into the male-dominated video game industry, a program for aspiring game developers at Southern Methodist University will offer a women-only scholarship, organizers said on Thursday. The 'Game Development Scholarship for Women' will help cover costs for women attending the Guildhall, an 18-month certificate program at SMU designed by noted game developers."
>>> AI Courses & Diversity (@ Resources for Students), Video Games, Software Development

August 25, 2004: University of Maryland to Host Media Briefing on IT and Terrorism. TelecomWeb. "Current and future information technology (IT) applications for the prevention of terrorist attacks, as well as the exploitation of the Internet and other IT by terrorists will be the subjects of a University of Maryland media briefing at the National Press Club on Sept. 1. Experts from the university will assess technological developments and policy issues in many different areas, including gait and facial recognition surveillance systems; computer translation and artificial intelligence for sifting through batches of information; and information architecture and information sharing in the intelligence community."
>>> Law Enforcement, Biometrics (@ Image Understanding), Information Retrieval, Machine Translation, Web-Searching Agents, Applications, Computer Vision, Ethical & Social Implications, Natural Language Processing, Conferences & Events (@ Resources for Students)

August 20, 2004: £3m is chipped in for computer unit. By Gareth Edwards. Edinburgh Evening News & scotsman. com. "The Wolfson Foundation, a charitable foundation which advances the sciences and the arts, has pledged £2m towards a Wolfson Centre for Informatics and the Life Sciences. The centre would be part of the Informatics Forum, a new £40m facility bringing together Edinburgh University's researchers in computer science, artificial intelligence and cognitive science. The foundation's award coincides with a separate pledge of £1m over six years from the Edinburgh-based chip developer Wolfson Microelectronics. ... Informatics school administrator Gordon Duckett believes bringing the three sciences together under one roof will prove highly beneficial. ... The School of Informatics, including the world's first artificial intelligence research centre, is currently one of the best in Europe and ranks with such world leaders as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon and Stanford University. It brings together cutting edge research in computer science, cognitive science, computational linguistics and artificial intelligence. ... The informatics school lost a large proportion of its working space in the Cowgate fire in 2002, although the building is not seen as a replacement."
>>> AI Courses & Academic Departments (@ Resources for Students), History

August 17, 2004: Can't attend? Try distance learning - Taking classes online offers new option for disciplined students. By Tara Ramroop. San Mateo County Times. "Some of Bryce Martens' best students haven't shown up in his Computer and Information Systems classes very often at the College of San Mateo. One pupil was stationed aboard an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. ... In fact, online classes can be just as effective as traditional classes, or even more so, said CSM professor Melissa Green. In Green's experience, people taking these courses -- typically in business, accounting or computer science -- need to do so for the changing nature of their careers. Ron Bolts, a San Mateo resident, has been in the computer industry for the past 20 years, but took Martens' summer CIS course as a refresher on the latest in computer technology."
>>> Computer Science, AI Courses (@ Resources for Students)

August 16, 2004: National Instruments hosts tech conference, robot challenge. Austin Business Journal. "The RoboLab Challenge is scheduled for Wednesday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and will have students, teachers and engineers compete to design, build and program a LEGO robot that can maneuver through an obstacle course. ... RoboLab is a joint initiative of NI, Tufts University and LEGO Educational Division, and is designed to help teachers demonstrate engineering concepts to students."
>>> Competitions (@ Resources for Students), Robots

August 16, 2004: Declining computer-science enrollments should worry anyone interested in the future of the U.S. IT industry. By Eric Chabrow. Information Week. "Computer science often loses out to other fields of study, many of which depend on high-end computing. The type of student who once expressed interest in computer science now is lured by life sciences such as biology and chemistry, or even criminal justice, attracted to those fields by the popularity of criminal forensic shows such as CSI and Crossing Jordan. 'Things on TV guide their interests,' says Charles McCamant, head of Angelo State's computer-science department. Leaders of computer-science programs, having ridden a rising tide of employment and prominence for decades, concede they need to do a better job promoting their discipline and highlighting the great challenges ahead. [Mark] Stehlik notes that in real life, criminologists rely heavily on computers to solve crimes, something represented on TV shows by images of fingerprints quickly flashing by on a PC monitor. 'What's really happening here is pattern matching. That's computer science,' Stehlik says. 'On these shows, we see the test-tube side; there's a computer-science side, too, that's not played up. ... As a field, computer science has done a lot less PR than it needs to do.' ... There's growing pressure on schools to provide computer-science majors with an understanding of how information systems have an impact on an organization. It's not just business but how computers help researchers find new drugs, designers make sleeker cars, or police solve a crime. 'The one thing that's more important now than before is having an understanding of the application's domain,' says Gerald Engel, a University of Connecticut computer-science professor and president-elect of the IEEE Computer Society, an association of computer academics and professionals. ... This interdisciplinary approach might be the salvation for computer science and could eventually attract a different breed of student than from an earlier generation. 'The students who come in want to do more than just hack,' Stehlik says. 'Some students have political designs; they're interested in greater issues that confront society: security, privacy. We're seeing students who are extending the notion of computer science.'"
>>> Law Enforcement, Bioinformatics, Computer Science, Careers in AI (@ Resources for Students), Pattern Recognition, Machine Learning, Applications

August 16, 2004: A few good women - Tech firms want more female computer whizzes. By Marci Mcdonald. U.S. News & World Report / USNews.com. "That sense of isolation and inadequacy is one reason the number of women earning computer science degrees in this country has plummeted over the past two decades -- with women dropping from 37 percent to 28 percent of graduates -- at the very moment their presence in other scientific and engineering disciplines has soared. 'You look at the national statistics,' says Rick Rashid, senior vice president of research at Microsoft, 'and you just have to be appalled.' Until recently, many in the high-tech industry shrugged off that female brain drain. They could fill top information-technology slots from abroad or American doctoral programs, where foreign nationals still snag half the Ph.D.'s. But suddenly homeland security issues and visa hurdles have clogged that foreign pipeline. And countries like India are luring their U.S.-educated citizens back home to their own burgeoning Silicon Valleys. ... Faced with forecasts of a looming brainpower shortage -- and the retirement of those baby boomers who are the industry's pioneers -- many leading U.S. players fear the country could lose its competitive edge. 'Over the next seven years, our hiring needs are going to be huge,' says Wayne Johnson, executive director of HP's university relations worldwide. 'If you don't have half the U.S. population participating, you have a tremendous gap in filling these needs. What we're doing here is creating a disadvantage for ourselves as a nation.' ... Now many in the industry are focusing on an earlier generation in grade school, where career dreams, and misperceptions, are spawned. According to the book Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing by Jane Margolis and Allan Fisher, girls -- unlike boys -- want jobs they believe can make a difference in society. But they don't view high tech as a key to that idealistic path. 'They think it's what you do if you want to develop games or become a hacker,' says [Sarah Revi] Sterling. 'They just don't feel it's relevant to helping solve the problems of the world.' To combat that perception, IBM has launched annual summer camps for seventh- and eighth-grade girls called EXITE (Exploring Interests in Technology and Engineering). Instead of pounding in tent pegs and building campfires, the girls learn to tear apart a PC and debunk the mysteries of a circuit board at IBM Labs."
>>> Computer Science, Summer Camps, Careers in AI & Academic Departments & Graduate Schools & Equality & Diversity (@ Resources for Students)

August 11, 2004: Students saying no to computer science. By Ed Frauenheim. CNET News. "At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as in other schools across the country, computer science enrollments are dropping, raising questions about the country's future tech leadership. ... Saul Levy, chair of the [Rutgers University] undergraduate computer science program, said the ongoing decline stems from the way students perceive career prospects. 'They don't believe in the job market in computers anymore,' Levy said. ... Carnegie Mellon's [Peter] Lee said the recent decline in undergraduate enrollment is part of a larger trend of declining student interest in computer science over the past two decades -- a tendency temporarily interrupted by the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. To him, a fundamental cause is that computer science hasn't emphasized its grand challenges. Rather than tout the excitement of trying to magnify human intelligence through machines, the field has focused on more practical matters, which tend to be less attractive than big questions in disciplines like biology or chemistry, he said."
>>> Computer Science, Careers in AI (@ Resources for Students)

August 6, 2004: Brain drain in tech's future? By Ed Frauenheim, CNET News. "Discussion about technology's future in the United States often centers on problems that eighth graders have in algebra. But there also are concerns that the country's universities are churning out fewer tech-related doctorates, and that the numbers may decline further thanks to fewer foreign doctoral degree candidates -- who earn a large portion of science and engineering doctorates at U.S. schools. ... The National Science Board, an independent body that advises Congress and oversees the NSF, recently warned of a 'troubling decline' in the number of U.S. citizens studying to become scientists and engineers, even as the number of jobs requiring science and engineering training grows. ... James Foley, chairman of the Computing Research Association and a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology's College of Computing, sees the drop in doctorates as one of several red flags in the U.S. research system. 'We have potentially big problems ahead of us if we don't pay attention,' he said. ... According to the National Science Board, other countries are doing more to attract the best brains to their universities. The board also said increased security restrictions are partly behind a slower pace of visas given to students and science and engineering workers since Sept. 11, 2001. ... Not everyone agrees that Americans are turning away from science to snag more dough. People 'don't go into science and engineering to make a lot of money,' said Eleanor Babco, executive director of the Commission on Professionals in Science and Technology. 'They go in because they love science and engineering.' Another school of thought holds that overall U.S. doctoratal production is related to swings in the economy. ... There's also debate about how important those credentials are to the country's future. Breakthroughs in computing lead to economic growth, said Georgia Tech's Foley. He noted that doctoratal students at Georgia Tech are working on problems in information security and the interface between humans and computers. 'If we're not leading the charge or at least creating innovation here, we're going to really be up the creek,' Foley said. Industry leaders also proclaim the importance of the doctoratal degree. Computer maker Hewlett-Packard, for example, runs a summer intern program that includes about 50 doctorates and doctoral students. The company continues to hire doctorates, especially in its HP Labs research division, said Wayne Johnson, the company's executive director of university relations. ... Not surprisingly, what to do about the declining doctoratal numbers depends on who's talking. ..."
>>> Graduate Schools & Careers in AI (@ Resources for Students)

August 5, 2004: Advancing R&D work in tech areas. By Ferina Manecksha. The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia). "A conducive environment is necessary if research and development (R&D) work in information and communications technology areas is to advance in Malaysia. The environment includes good R&D facilities, well-planned projects, focus on niche areas and good remuneration for researchers, according to industry observers. Universiti Tun Abdul Razak (Unitar)'s dean of information technology faculty, Professor Dr Khairuddin Abdullah, said the proposed ICT R&D centre would be a good place for researchers and technology developers to engage in collaborative work or for upgrading of domain and research skills. 'We require synergistic research collaboration and a conducive environment to do R&D. The brain gain is a good effort to entice those in overseas to come back. However, what most scientists and technologists need is the assurance that they will be part of and be useful in well-planned projects,' he said. According to Khairuddin, niche strategic areas that can be looked into for ICT R&D in the very near future include ICT security, intelligent agents, automated software engineering, photonics, natural language processing, knowledge management and advanced robotics."
>>> Academic Departments & Careers in AI (@ Resources for Students)

August 4, 2004: New degree course combats fear of the 'I-Robots.' News Wales. "On the verge of the UK release of summer sci-fi blockbuster 'I-Robot', the University of Glamorgan has unveiled plans for an innovative robotics course, building on its expertise in communicating science using science fiction. The BSc Science (Robotics) degree, as it will be called, will start in October 2005 but, says course developer Dr Mike Reddy, it is 'more about the 'science of appliance' than the appliance of science'. ... 'Films like 'I Robot' and 'Artificial Intelligence' have raised the issues of how we treat robots, but, more importantly, how they might treat us,' he added. 'There is a great deal of interest and ignorance of what robotics is and will become in the future.' The emphasis of the course will be on problem solving and challenge-based learning, with a collaborative, 'hands-on feel' to the robotics elements of the course, which will make up between a third and half of each academic year. However, the proposed degree is part of a range of courses that attempt to bring to the fore the social and ethical concerns of scientists and the need for effective communication of scientific concepts with the public."
>>> AI Courses (@ Resources for Students), Science Fiction, Ethical & Social Implications

August 2, 2004: Welsh uni to turn science fiction into fact. By David Williamson. The Western Mail / available from i c Wales. "Students at a Welsh university are to begin preparing for a world shared with intelligent robots. A new degree in robotics will teach students how to apply science fiction in science. The release of the big-screen adaptation of Isaac Asimov's I, Robot has fuelled speculation about whether robots designed as servants could attempt to become our masters. Dr Mike Reddy at the University of Glamorgan is determined to take these questions from the realm of science fiction and explore them in the new BSc Science (Robotics) degree. ... The science fiction of the 20th century, he argues, not only created the concept of the robot but demonstrated the complexity of the threats, opportunities and moral dilemmas their arrival would spark. ... The degree will be launched next year, but the areas involving the social and ethical concerns of scientists and the need for effective communication of scientific concepts with the public, can currently be studied in BSc (Hons) Science and Science Fiction. ... He believes the use of 'software robots' could revolutionise our interaction with the web. These would study our surfing habits and search the vast expanses of cyberspace for sites of interest. 'If you draw an analogy to books in libraries, there is an almost infinite number I will never read unless someone says, 'Hey, Mike! Here's a book you'll love', and I'll go, 'Wow!'"
>>> AI Courses (@ Resources for Students), Science Fiction, Ethical & Social Implications, Web-Searching Agents, Agents

July / August 2004: AI in Australia and New Zealand. By the Australian Computer Society National Committee for AI. IEEE Intelligent Systems. "To provide an overview of AI in Australia and New Zealand, we offer snapshots of AI research throughout the region’s institutes and universities and review its industry and conference activities."
>>> AI Overview, Academic Departments, Associations & Conferences (@ Resources for Students), Applications

July 29, 2004: Tinkering with their minds - Program aims to get students into scientific research early. By Emily Anthes. The Boston Globe. "Kim Reinhold gave up a summer of swimming and dancing in her home in Hawaii to hole up in a lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Over the past five weeks, Reinhold, 16, has pursued her interest in artificial intelligence by spending some 40 hours of daylight a week in front of a computer screen. ... 'I love it,' said Reinhold, who developed a computer algorithm that scientists in her lab hope will be useful in teaching machines common sense. ... Reinhold is one of 53 rising high school seniors participating in a summer program at MIT that allows them to work on research projects in Boston labs. The Research Science Institute aims to sell some of the nation's most talented science students on research careers at a time when there is a shortage of US-trained scientists. ... The number of US jobs requiring science and engineering skills is increasing almost 5 percent a year as the number of Americans in those fields is declining, according to a report released this year by the National Science Foundation's National Science Board. The United States has been able to sustain its science and engineering workforce by relying on foreign-born scientists. In 1990, 24 percent of scientists and engineers working in the United States with doctorates were foreign-born. By 2000, that proportion had increased to 38 percent, the report says. But as other countries develop science programs that compete with the United States for students and as tightened security makes it more difficult to get US visas, the number of foreign scientists in the United States is expected to drop. ''The nation's economic welfare and security are at stake," the report warns."
>>> Summer Programs, Careers in AI (@ Resources for Students), Commonsense

July 21, 2004: Company confident in growth of robots - Devices expected to take on more complex jobs. By Julie Dunn. The Denver Post. "In last weekend's $52 million box-office smash 'I, Robot,' robots are employed to do all sorts of menial jobs, including walking dogs and picking up garbage. Bernd Liepert, chief executive of Kuka Roboter, Europe's largest manufacturer of industrial robots, envisions a higher calling for robots - from protecting America's borders to performing emergency surgery. ... This fall, DU will become the first U.S. university to offer undergraduate and master's-level degrees in mechatronics, which integrates mechanical, electric and computer software engineering, according to dean Rahmat A. Shoureshi."
>>> Robots, Law Enforcement, Medicine, Assisitive Technologies, Manufacturing, Household Appliances, Applications, AI Academic Departments (@ Resources for Students), Industry Statistics

July 13, 2004 [issue date]: Pushing The Limits. By Carol Levin. PC Magazine (Volume 23, Number 12). "As PC Magazine editors and analysts, we spend our days staying ahead of the curve so our readers can be the first to learn about the latest technology products for their homes and offices. But once a year, we turn our attention not to products you can buy today but to those technologies that are gathering momentum, poised to make an impact on the future. The past twelve months have delivered an ample assortment of candidates. For our first story, 'Top Ten Tech Trends,' we take you on a tour of what we think are the most promising technologies. ... Technological advancement and cultural change go hand in hand, so this year we explore the intersection of technology and society in four essays. ... In 'The New Geek,' Steve Lohr, a technology writer at The New York Times, speaks with several of the new-generation high-tech workers about computer science as the new liberal-arts degree. Along the way, he shows how technology's impact on productivity is changing. In 'Nowhere to Hide,' business reporter Alan Cohen takes on the emerging collision between privacy and security."

>>> AI Overview, Computer Science, Assisitive Technologies, Machine Translation, Natural Language Understanding, Resources for Students, Ethical & Social Implications, Natural Language Processing

July 6, 2004: Germans win 2004 football title - for robots. Reuters. "German soccer fans, smarting over the nation's failure at Euro 2004, had a little to cheer this week after German teams scooped two footballing titles at the world robot championships, organisers have said. German teams won the soccer titles for four-legged and small-sized robot teams at the 'RoboCup 2004' held in Lisbon, where the Euro 2004 final was held on Sunday."
>>> Competitions (@ Resources for Students), Robots