Speaker: Dr. William A. Wulf, President, National Academy of Engineering

Title: Challenges for Computing and Information Technology in the Twenty First Century

Date and Time: September 7 (Tuesday), 2004, 1pm
Place: Bio Science Annex Auditorium

Reception: Immediately follow the seminar at the Bio Science Annex Lobby

 

Abstract:

Information Technology, the convergence of computing and communications technologies has had an enormous impact on all aspects of life in the developed world. It will have even more impact in both the developed and developing world as we enter the 21st century . Powered by the unprecedented and continuing advances in microelectronics and photonics, the power and capacity of our expanding information infrastructure has risen exponentially while simultaneously its cost has fallen, also exponentially. At least for the foreseeable future, the exponential pace of technology improvement is likely to continue. In this lecture I will explore some of the non-technical, societal challenges and opportunities posed by information technology as we enter the twenty-first century. I will not provide answers for these challenges or guarantees we will exploit the opportunities but hopefully, by asking some of the right questions it will provoke serious thought about them.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Wulf was elected President of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in April 1997. Together with the National Academy of Sciences, the NAE operates under a congressional charter and presidential executive orders that call on it to provide advice to the government on issues of science and engineering.

Dr. Wulf is on leave from the University of Virginia, where he is a University Professor and the AT&T Professor of Engineering and Applied Science. In 1988-90, Dr. Wulf was on leave from the University to be Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) where he headed the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE). Prior to joining Virginia, Dr. Wulf founded Tartan Laboratories and served as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He was also a Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie-Mellon University, where he was Acting Head of the Department from 1978-1979.

Dr. Wulf is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a Fellow of five professional societies: the ACM, the IEEE, the AAAS, IEC, and AWIS. He is the author of over 100 papers and technical reports, has written three books, holds two US Patents, and has supervised over 25 Ph.D.'s in Computer Science.