[IP] Carnegie Mellon Celebrates 50 Years of Computer Science Excellence
Carnegie Mellon Celebrates 50 Years of Computer Science Excellence
PITTSBURGH-Computers were crude, number-crunching machines when the
then-Carnegie Institute of Technology installed its first electronic
computer in the summer of 1956. But professors Herbert Simon and
Allen Newell already had figured out how to make them think.
Their invention, the first artificially intelligent computer
program, only scratched the surface of the computer's potential. So
pioneering researchers from business, psychology, electrical
engineering and mathematics joined together to explore and exploit
the computer's potential, forming the Computation Center headed by
Alan Perlis.
In the process, computation became a science and the institution now
known as Carnegie Mellon University became a leading center for the
new academic discipline.
More than 500 corporate and academic leaders in computer science and
prominent alumni will celebrate those 50 years of innovation in
computing when they gather at Carnegie Mellon April 19-22 for CS50:
Fifty Years of Computer Science, a campus-wide event hosted by the
School of Computer Science.
The impact of computers and computer science on society over the
past half-century has been immense and Carnegie Mellon researchers
have developed many of the operating systems, programming languages
and Internet search methods that are used in today's digitized world.
“Carnegie Mellon showed the world how to think broadly about
computing and all its possibilities, and Carnegie Mellon scientists
have continually revitalized computer science over these decades,”
said Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon. “Their impact is felt
across nearly every discipline and field of endeavor, wherever people
seek to solve complex problems.”
Highlights of the four-day event include a visit from Pennsylvania
Governor Ed Rendell on April 19, reminiscences of founding faculty
members and former students on April 20, and a technical symposium
and preview of the design for the school's new home, the Gates Center
for Computer Science, on April 21. (See page two for more event
details.)
“Preparing for CS50 has given me the opportunity to look into our
past and gain an even greater appreciation for the foresight of our
founders,” said Randal E. Bryant, dean of the School of Computer
Science. “The insights Newell and Simon had into the human thought
process and how it can be implemented by computers set the course for
artificial intelligence that continues to provide research challenges
today. Perlis' energy and enthusiasm can be seen today in the way
computer technology pervades our entire university.”
Carnegie Mellon scientists have built robots that explored active
volcanoes, discovered meteorites in Antarctica and negotiated the 130-
mile Grand Challenge desert race. They have built more than 20
generations of wearable computers, devised machines for the automated
translation of text and speech, and are using linguistic methods to
decode the “language” of the human genome. Today they are seeking to
enhance the quality of life of all people by applying computer
technologies to health- and life-related issues.
The university established one of the first computer science
departments in 1965 and created the School of Computer Science in 1988.
In addition to marking 50 years of computer science, CS50 also
celebrates the 12th anniversary of the Human-Computer Interaction
Institute and the 20th anniversary of the Language Technologies
Institute - two of the six units within the School of Computer
Science. The school's other units are the Computer Science
Department, the Robotics Institute, the Machine Learning Department
and the Institute for Software Research International.
For more information, including registration details and a full
schedule of events, check the CS50 Web site: www.cs50.cs.cmu.edu.
###
CS50 Schedule of Events
April 19: Governor Rendell To Speak; Robot Hall of Fame Announcement
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell will kick off CS50 at 10:30 a.m., April
19, when he will talk about science, technology and innovation in the
“New Pennsylvania.” That evening, this year's inductees into Carnegie
Mellon's Robot Hall of Fame will be announced during an opening-night
reception at the university's Entertainment Technology Center.
April 20: Looking Back on 50 Years
The history of computer science will be the focus of the first full
day of CS50, with alumni speakers including Charles M. Geschke, co-
founder of Adobe Systems; and Edward Feigenbaum, an artificial
intelligence pioneer at Stanford University. Former faculty member C.
Gordon Bell, a computer visionary and Microsoft Corp. telepresence
researcher, will make a virtual appearance. A gala reception is
scheduled in the evening at the National Robotics Engineering
Consortium in Lawrenceville.
April 21: Challenges for the Future
A technical symposium in the University Center's McConomy Auditorium
will look to the future of computer science. Alumna and former
Pentagon research director Anita K. Jones will speak, as will faculty
members Raj Reddy, the Mozah Bint Nasser University Professor of
Computer Science and Robotics and former SCS dean; and Latanya
Sweeney, director of the school's Data Privacy Lab. The design of the
209,000-square-foot Gates Center for Computer Science will be
previewed at 6 p.m. in the CS50 tent next to the University Center.
April 22: Tours, Demos and Open House
The final day will include a number of tours, demonstrations and open
houses, including the Entertainment Technology Center and the new
quarters on Craig Street for the software engineering group.
Anne Watzman, Director
Media Relations, School of Computer Science
412-268-3830
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