Posts Tagged ‘Singularity University’

Ray Kurzweil Wins The Economist’s 2009 Innovation Award

October 28th, 2009

Great news! SU co-founder and chancellor, Ray Kurzweil was just selected to receive the 2009 Economist Innovation Award, in the category of Computing and Telecoms, for his optical character recognition and speech recognition technology.

Ray is one of just eight individuals worldwide chosen to receive what is described as the “Oscars of Innovation,” to celebrate his work that has had great impact on business and society. Ray will be formally presented with the award during a ceremony on October 29th at The Science Museum in London, England.

We at SU would like to extend our warm congratulations to Ray on the prestigious honor. And, we look forward to congratulating him in person when he comes to kick-off the inaugural 9-day Executive Program on November 6th!

Ray Kurzweil

SU Names GSP-09 Students

July 30th, 2009

  • Singularity University (SU) is announcing the 40 students participating in the inaugural Graduate Studies Program (GSP)
  • Students will use multiple social media channels to share insights and experiences throughout the GSP
  • Home towns, background, and education for each student are included in individual SU profile URLs
  • Twenty-five students received full or partial scholarships from Singularity University, and Singularity University Corporate Founding Sponsors, Google and ePlanet Ventures
  • GSP kicked off at NASA Ames, Moffett Field on June 29, 2009 and concludes August 28, 2009

Summary

Singularity University — the new academic institution with the goal of preparing the next generation of leaders to address “humanity’s grand challenges” — today named the 40 students participating in the inaugural Graduate Studies Program (GSP). Hailing from 13 countries, and from a cross-range of academic and business backgrounds, the students of Singularity University truly represent the next generation of leaders and innovators to address the major issues facing our world. And, throughout the summer program, students will share insights and daily experiences using social media channels, such as WordPress, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Picasa.

The summer class is composed of 26 men and 14 women, ranging in age from 22 to 47 years old. The 13 nations represented are: USA, Canada, Israel, United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil, India, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Turkey, Czech Republic, and Russia.

Singularity University is modeled after the successful International Space University, founded at MIT in 1987, which has become one of the leading interdisciplinary, international and intercultural institutions for the study of space. The GSP is a nine-week graduate-level interdisciplinary curriculum designed to facilitate understanding, collaboration, and innovation across a broad range of carefully chosen scientific and technological disciplines whose developments are exponentially accelerating. SU summer program classes began June 29, 2009, based at NASA Ames Research Park on Moffett Field.
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SU Presents Al Seckel and “Your Mind’s Eye”

July 25th, 2009

Your Mind’s Eye: The World’s Most Powerful Illusions and What they Tell Us about How We Think and Perceive

Come see, experience, and take delight in some of the world’s most powerful visual and other sensory illusions. The illusions presented in this talk will not just be confined to the visual senses, but there will be auditory ones too, including cross-modal examples of sound influencing what you see, and what you see influencing what you hear.

Illusions are a wonderful window into perception, as they can reveal the hidden rules of the human perceptual system in a way that normal perceptual processes do not.

Join us as Al Seckel takes us on an interactive journey through our inner minds. Many of the dynamic illusions presented in this lecture are not available anywhere else, including his books, and cover many different aspects of perception.

Who: Al Seckel, formerly of the California Institute of Technology, is internationally recognized as the world’s leading authority on visual and other types of sensory illusions. He has authored over 18 books on the subject (two have won national book awards), and has lectured extensively throughout the world, including Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, and has given two talks at TED.

alted

To read more about him and his work, please visit www.illusionworks.com

When: Thursday, July 30 at 7pm PT

Where: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field. Building 943, Eagle Room

RSVP: Register at sualseckeljuly30.eventbrite.com

Directions:

  1. Driving North (or South) on HW 101
  2. Exit 398 (Moffett Blvd/NASA Pkwy) off HW 101
  3. End of ramp (or loop) turn Right (East) onto Moffett Blvd
  4. Straight to NASA Research Park gate (200 yards)
  5. Turn Right BEFORE Guard Gate
  6. Park behind large white tent building
  7. Walk to building with blue awning (Public Affairs) Bld 943
  8. Google map