Ever since his grad student days at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Amir Ronen, now a scientist at IBM Research - Haifa, has been thinking about the intersection of game theory and computer science. In fact, he’s one of the leaders in a sub-discipline, called algorithmic game theory, which lies at the intersection of the two fields.
Ronen believes that this line of thinking could lead to important breakthroughs that will help us improve everything from transportation systems in cities to environmental protection regimes. “I’m dreaming of an ultimate game theory engine–a miracle engine that helps us make better decisions,” he says.
He is one of six scientists who recently received the prestigious Godel Prize, which is awarded each year by the Association for Computing Machinery for academic papers what contribute significantly to scholarship concerning algorithms and computing theory. The ACM cited Ronen and his co-author, Noam Nisan, along with the authors of two other papers, for laying the foundation for growth in algorithmic game theory.
Posted by
Steve Hamm in
Like many serial inventors, mathematician Dimitri Kanevsky looks for solutions for problems that he faces in his own life. In his case, some of his biggest challenges are related to the fact that he has been deaf since age 3.
Dimitri Kanevsky demonstrates an Internet-based system for capturing real-time transcripts of teleconferences.
Kanevsky, a member of the speech and language algorithms department at IBM Research, has invented a long string of hearing- and speech-related technologies. They include a system for helping people improve the effectiveness of lip-reading, a method that enables deaf people to converse on the telephone and an Internet-based system for capturing real-time transcripts of phone conferences. “I like to solve challenging problems, and I get a thrill from creating novel math concepts and making discoveries,” he says.
Today, Kanevsky will get another kind of thrill–when he’s honored with a Champion of Change award at the White House. The award recognizes individuals who make a positive impact on science, technology, engineering and math for people with disabilities. Here’s a livestream video link for the event.
While Kanevsky has a long record of achievements as an inventor, including 152 US patents, it’s clear from talking to him that some of his most important inventions may come in the future.
Posted by
Guest in
By Clay Luthy, Global Distributed Energy Resource Leader, Energy & Utilities Industry, IBM
With gas prices hovering at $4.15 per gallon where I live, the talk of electric vehicles (EVs) has increased with vigor. More of my neighbors and friends are toying with the idea of making the switch – much of their reluctance though stems from the fear of inconvenience – will I find a charging station as easily as a gas pump, how will this impact my energy bill, how far can I go on a single charge? These consumer concerns are driving new innovations – uniting forward thinking players to perfect and deploy a smarter EV driving experience.
7:21
Posted by
Guest in
By Jonathan Marshall, Chief, External Communications
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Electric vehicle (EV) owners and electric utilities may soon enjoy a much closer and more fulfilling relationship than traditional car owners have with gas stations, thanks to a new pilot project announced today by IBM, Honda Motors, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). This collaboration aims to demonstrate the ability to optimize the charge schedule for each customer’s EV battery so that the needs of customers and the electric grid are satisfied on an ongoing basis. That’s still a stretch for most utilities. Continue Reading »
0:01
Posted by
Steve Hamm in
Credit: NASA
Just over 50 years ago, on February 20, US astronaut John Glenn blasted into space in his tiny Friendship 7 capsule. His three quick trips around the Earth made him the first American to orbit the planet.
A team of more than 70 IBMers headed by Arthur Cohen as manager of the IBM Space Computing Center in Washington, D.C., had developed the computing systems to manage the launch, orbit and reentry for NASA’s Mercury program. IBM systems manager Saul Gass watched the launch from a grandstand at Cape Canaveral . “Think about the time, 1962. This had never been done before” says Gass, who is professor emeritus at the University of Maryland. ” There was a man in the loop whose life depended on our calculations. It was a demonstration of real-time computing.”
Beginning in the mid-1940s and continuing after the Glenn flight, IBM’s scientists and engineers have contributed substantially to astronomy and manned space exploration, but, today, they’re entering an exciting new phase of discovery. IBM scientists in Zurich, Switzerland, and the Netherlands are working with the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) to develop a massively powerful computing system for harvesting a huge quantity of data gathered by the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope.
The project demonstrates once again the belief that major advances in human achievement and knowledge come through a combination of big bets and bold scientific inquiry.
9:55
Posted by
Guest in
by Marcela Adan, IBM Redbooks Project Leader – ITSO
I live in Rochester, Minnesota also known as Med City because it is home to the world famous Mayo Clinic and other research institutions, biotech organizations, and companies that build high-tech medical instruments. Over 10 years ago, I was assigned to a life sciences project, working with an IBM team of software developers and scientists and a client team, all of them scientists, with either PhD degrees or MDs. It was a very different project from my previous assignment. I spent most of my career in IBM as a Systems Engineer, IT Specialist, and IT Architect helping business clients to size, set up, manage, and run their IT infrastructures. Continue Reading »
0:01
Posted by
Steve Hamm in
Back in 1995, when PC companies were experimenting with small laptops called subnotebooks, designers faced a conundrum. If they made the machines as small as users seemed to want them, the keyboards would be tough to touch-type on–especially for guys with big hands. IBM engineer John Karidis came up with a solution that became part of tech industry lore. He invented a two-piece keyboard that folded up when the computer was closed and spread out to full size when it was opened. IBM produced a computer based on the design, the ThinkPad 701C, nicknamed the “Butterfly.”
The Butterfly has long been in the permanent collection of the design department of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and will be featured in an exhibition, Born out of Necessity, that’s running from today until January 28, 2013. The show contrasts designs like the Butterfly, which were created out of immediate necessity to address a problem, and designs that anticipate a problem that may be coming years in the future.
Credit: Jason Evan
A number of the items in the exhibition are examples of Critical Design–where designers focus on the possible consequences of new technologies and new policies. Paola Antonelli, the show’s curator, explains that the Critical Design process does not immediately lead to useful objects. Instead, it produces concepts and artifacts that show the promise of new developments or warn of their potential negative side-effects. The MOMA exhibition features Foragers, a project by designers Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, which explores the idea of future humans, short of food, outsourcing their digestive tracts to machines so they can consume barely edible things. (See photo on left.) “It’s important to show the predictive and conceptual aspects of design. It’s useful to policy makers, politicians and corporations,” says Antonelli.
Which got me thinking: How might IBM Watson-type technologies help people anticipate problems in the future so we can plan and design for them?
Posted by
Steve Hamm in
This is the latest in an occasional series of posts about A New Era of Computing. A monumental shift is coming. Computing will be ubiquitous and machines will learn from their interactions with data and humans–essentially programming themselves. This leap will be enabled by advances in artificial intelligence, data analytics, computing systems and nanotechnology. It will result in a smarter, better planet.
Quantum computing has been a Holy Grail for researchers ever since Nobel Prize physicist Richard Feynman in 1981 challenged the scientific community to build computers based on quantum mechanics. For decades, the pursuit remained firmly in the theoretical realm. But now scientists and entrepreneurs believe they’re on the cusp of building systems that will take computing to a whole new level. “The work we’re doing shows it’s no longer just a brute force physics experiment. It’s time to start creating systems based on this science,” says IBM scientist Matthias Steffen, part of a team at IBM Research that’s focused on developing quantum computing to a point where it can be applied to real-world problems.
Here’s Steffen explaining the latest breakthroughs:
This is the first in an occasional series of posts about The Next Era of Computing. IBM envisions a monumental shift over the coming years to a new paradigm where computing will be ubiquitous and machines will learn from their interactions with data and humans–essentially programming themselves. This quantum leap will be enabled by advances in artificial intelligence, data analytics, computing systems and nanotechnology. It will result in a smarter, better planet.
Ever since the dawn of the nanotechnology era, IBM scientists have been pushing atoms around in an effort to discover the possibilities of doing big things in the smallest of physical spaces. Continue Reading »
People power will come to life
Click here to view the video and vote for this as the coolest IBM 5 in 5 prediction by clicking the “Like” button below the video.
You will never need a password again
Click here to view the video and vote for this as the coolest IBM 5 in 5 prediction by clicking the “Like” button below the video.
Mind reading is no longer science fiction
Click here to view the video and vote for this as the coolest IBM 5 in 5 prediction by clicking the “Like” button below the video.
The digital divide will cease to exist
Click here to view the video and vote for this as the coolest IBM 5 in 5 prediction by clicking the “Like” button below the video.
Junk mail will become priority mail
Click here to view the video and vote for this as the coolest IBM 5 in 5 prediction by clicking the “Like” button below the video.
