Pervasive Computing

Just how prepared are we for a world where computing moves “off our desk” into the wider environment around us? Join us for a seminar and discussion to explore a world where computing is embedded, nomadic, and largely invisible -- the first event in a new series on The Future of Computing.

Speakers include Rod Adkins, General Manager, Pervasive Computing Division, IBM; Victor Zue, Director, MIT Laboratory for Computer Science; and David Brin, Author of The Transparent Society.

Rod Adkins has been the General Manager of IBM’s Pervasive Computing division since October 2001. Pervasive Computing extends e-business, enabling new access to information and creating new interactions with new devices. Mr. Adkins is responsible for integrating IBM’s technology, software, hardware, and services for wireless and mobile solutions. He joined IBM in 1981 and has held several assignments in the areas of product development, business operations and general management. Mr. Adkins is a member of IBM’s Worldwide Management Council (WMC), a member of the Board of Governors for the IBM Academy of Technology, and serves as co-chairman of both IBM’s Multicultural People in Technology and the National Black Family Technology Awareness initiatives. He is an active member of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and the Executive Leadership Council (ELC). Mr. Adkins earned a B.A. degree in Physics from Rollins College, B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech, and has completed the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development.

Read about pervasive computing at IBM at: http://www-3.ibm.com/software/pervasive/index.shtml

Victor Zue is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, Director of the Institute's Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS), and chair of the steering committee for Project Oxygen. He is also the first holder of the Delta Electronics Chair endowed for senior researchers. Victor's main research interest is in the development of spoken language interfaces to make human computer interactions easier and more natural, and he has written, taught many courses, and lectured extensively on this subject. His work has been covered by several publications internationally including the Discover, Fortune, Time, and The Economist. Outside of MIT, Victor has consulted for many multinational corporations, and he has served on many planning, advisory, and review committees for the U.S. Department of
Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the National Academy of Science.

Read about Project Oxygen at: http://oxygen.lcs.mit.edu/

Read an interview with Victor Zue at: http://www.matr.net/print-3823.html

David Brin, Ph.D. has a triple career as scientist, public speaker, and author. His fifteen novels have been translated into more than twenty languages. His 1989 ecological thriller, Earth, foreshadowed global warming, cyberwarfare and near-future trends such as the World Wide Web. A 1998 movie, directed by Kevin Costner, was loosely based on The Postman. Another novel, Startide Rising, is in pre-production at Paramount Pictures. Brin's 1998 non-fiction book -- The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Freedom and Privacy? -- deals with a wide range of threats and opportunities facing our wired society during the information age. As a scientist, Brin was a fellow at the California Space Institute. More recently, he has been a research affiliate at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and participated in interdisciplinary activities at the UCLA Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life. He now lives in San Diego County with his wife, two infants, and about a hundred very demanding trees.