In a post on the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Blog today, Deputy Director for Policy Tom Kalil noted the Administration’s keen interest in Big Data — and singled out the CCC’s recent white papers on data analytics: …Researchers in a growing number of fields are generating extremely large data sets, commonly referred to as “Big Data.” For example, the size of DNA sequencing databases is increasing by a factor of 10 every 18 months!  Researchers need better tools to help them store, index, search, visualize, and analyze these data, allowing them to discover new patterns and connections.   Increases in the ability to make predictions and […]

In today’s New York Times‘ weekly “Science Times,” science writer John Markoff pens a feature about the state of robotics research — including the many challenges to enabling robots to mimic humans’ basic capabilities of motion and perception. The robotics pioneer Rodney Brooks often begins speeches by reaching into his pocket, fiddling with some loose change, finding a quarter, pulling it out and twirling it in his fingers.   The task requires hardly any thought. But as Dr. Brooks points out, training a robot to do it is a vastly harder problem for artificial intelligence researchers than IBM’s celebrated victory on “Jeopardy!” this year with a robot named Watson.   Although […]

Here’s another great talk — by Tony DeRose, Senior Scientist and head of the Research Group at Pixar Animation Studios — at the recent “Computation and the Transformation of Practically Everything” symposium commemorating MIT’s 150th anniversary celebration. DeRose stepped through the 80-year history of computer animation, with examples from Beauty and the Beast, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, etc. Animation started about 80 years ago… with the Walt Disney Studio, where they really invented what later became an art form. Steamboat Willie was one of the first milestones, and, in this era, the only real technology was pencil, paper, and film. So, the artist would draw a complete drawing, including outlines and shading, for […]

NSF/CISE Assistant Director Farnam Jahanian has issued the following letter to the community, describing the National Robotics Initiative (NRI) launched last week: Dear CISE Community,   On Friday, in a speech at Carnegie Mellon University, President Obama announced the plan for major federal investments in next-generation robotics. The National Robotics Initiative (NRI) is a bold program that supports the development and use of robots that work beside, or cooperatively with, people and that enhance individual human capabilities, performance and safety. NSF is the lead agency in this multi-agency program that also includes NASA, NIH and USDA. NRI calls for cross-agency investments of up to $70 million in the first year […]

The National Science Foundation and IEEE Spectrum Radio have partnered to produce a terrific series of reports describing the frontiers of engineering research: These researchers are investigating new phenomena, devising new capabilities and designing new technologies. Innovations in engineering can help us overcome challenges in sustainability, launch whole industries and help people enjoy happier and healthier lives. Through their dedication to creating and discovering cutting-edge solutions, engineers are at the forefront of shaping our new millennium. What’s interesting for us is that there are lots of CISE-related research challenges amidst the featured topics — robotics, sustainability, and energy: Robots are emerging from industrial settings to help humans perform surgery, catch criminals and […]

Fresh on the heels of Friday’s big announcement about a new National Robotics Initiative, I thought now would be a great time to feature a recent talk by MIT CSAIL Professor Leslie Pack Kaelbling. Speaking at the “Computation and the Transformation of Practically Everything” symposium commemorating MIT’s 150th anniversary celebration back in April, Kaelbling described the emerging research frontiers at the intersection of robotics and AI: It used to be that the dream of what robots could do for us was big and romantic and exciting… all these robots from the movies. If you look at the commercial reality of robots… they’re sort of robot automata in factories that will weld whatever […]