UW News

September 26, 2011

Dieter Fox to co-lead new Intel Science and Technology Center

University of Washington computer scientist Dieter Fox will co-lead an Intel Science and Technology Center that will focus on “pervasive” computing, which aims to incorporate computing and sensing into everyday devices and environments.

Fox, a UW associate professor of computer science and engineering, will join Intels Anthony LaMarca in operating the center, which Intel announced today will receive $2.5 million annually for operations.

Dieter Fox, UW

“This is an honor and we look forward to working with Intel to continue our quest toward making computing systems better able to respond to people,” said Fox, who is well-known for research in artificial intelligence and robotics, and has worked with Intel in prior collaborations.

The UW has shown remarkable strength in innovations related to pervasive computing, and this collaboration with Intel reinforces that leadership, Fox said.  As an example of that strength, the UWs Shwetak Patel, also part of the new center, won a MacArthur “genius” award last week for his innovative sensor work.

UWs Intel Science and Technology Center will be housed in the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering. The center will develop technologies that allow pervasive computing systems to be trustworthy, richly aware of their users and continuously learning and adapting. Experts in wireless communication, artificial intelligence, computer vision and other disciplines will collaborate to enable this next generation of pervasive computing systems.

Other collaborators are from the Georgia Institute of Technology and one each from Cornell and Stanford universities, the University of Rochester and the University of California, Los Angeles.

This new Intel center is the fifth to open this year and is part of a larger commitment by Intel to establish university collaborations to fuel discoveries in key areas, the firm said. Earlier this year, the company announced centers for visual computing, secure computing, embedded computing and cloud computing.

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For more information, contact Fox at 206-685-2517 or fox@cs.washington.edu.