Kenneth Ford, founder and CEO of the Institute for Human & Machine Cognition is coming to UCCS at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 8, in the upper level of the Lodge. He will discuss human-centered computing.
Ford is the latest speaker featured by EPIIC Nights, an El Pomar Institute for Innovation & Commercialization monthly lecture series. El Pomar endowed chairs select the speakers, and Michael Larson, associate vice chancellor, Research and Innovation, invited Ford to speak.
“Ken Ford has been wildly successful in establishing an institute at the University of West Florida that could serve as a model for how we at UCCS could expand our own research enterprise,” Larson said.
Ford established IHMC as an ambitious entrepreneurial and academic model for interdisciplinary research institutes. IHMC is a not-for-profit center internationally recognized for engaging in profound scientific research and technological innovations. Current research activities include knowledge modeling and sharing, adjustable autonomy, robotics, advanced interfaces and displays, communication and collaboration, computer-mediated learning systems, intelligent data understanding, software agents, expertise studies, work practice simulation, knowledge representation, and other related areas.
Ford is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Computing Machinery, the IEEE Computer Society and the National Association of Scholars, among others, and a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.
After joining the NASA Advisory Council in 2007 Ford was named chairman in 2008 and served in that capacity until Oct. 2011. He was awarded the highest honor NASA confers — the Distinguished Public Service Medal — in Aug. 2010.
According to Ford, his topic of human-centered computing is an emerging concept that represents a significant shift in thinking about intelligent machines and about information technology in general. His discussion will provide a survey of selected IHMC research activities. These groundbreaking technologies are aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities, he said. Human-centered computing research requires a broader interdisciplinary range than is typically found in one organization. IHMC staff includes computer scientists, cognitive psychologists, neuroscientists, physicians, philosophers, engineers and various social scientists among others.
Seating for the event is limited; reservations are required and should be made by May 4. Complimentary food and beverages will be served. For questions or to reserve a space, contact Bev Wasinger, program assistant, [email protected] or 255-3631. For more information, visit http://epiic.uccs.edu/ or http://www.ihmc.us/.
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