EMTM Presents:

“Smart Robots: What’s Next?”

Daniel D. Lee, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Dept. of Electrical and Systems Engineering
Dept. of Bioengineering (Secondary)
GRASP (General Robotics, Automation, Sensing, Perception) Lab

Thursday, November 12, 2009
7:00-9:00 pm
Ritz-Carlton — Tysons Corner
McLean, VA 22102

We have grown up with the prospect of “intelligent” robots, cyborgs, Terminator-inspired minions capable of super strength, seemingly indestructible, yet completely controlled by their human masters. However, robots are increasingly endowed with the ability to synthesize data, to juggle information and to actively solve problems as independent mechanical beings. The field of robotics seems on the brink of a major breakthrough, one which will be marked by their use in the home, workplace, health care setting, environmental assessment and remediation, the military and even within schools and universities.

Dan Lee is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering & Applied Sciences. His research focuses on topics like “why is it that if computers have gotten so much faster and cheaper, that they have not become any better at understanding what we actually want them to do?” How can we get machines to intelligently process non-numeric information? Dan believes that researchers can learn much from the way biological systems compute and learn. His research focuses on applying knowledge about biological information processing systems to building better artificial sensorimotor systems that can adapt and learn from experience. Research in his lab looks at computational neuroscience models, theoretical foundations of machine learning algorithms, as well as constructing real-time intelligent robotic systems.

Dan Lee studied physics and received his A.B. from Harvard in 1990, and received a PhD in condensed matter physics from MIT in 1995. After completing his academic studies, Prof. Lee joined Bell Labs, the research and development arm of Lucent Technologies, where he was a researcher in the Theoretical Physics and Biological Computation departments. After six years in industrial research, Dan joined the faculty at Penn in 2001 where he is currently doing research and teaching in the Electrical and Systems Engineering Department and at the GRASP Lab.

EMTM Presents is for anyone interested in trends and issues at the intersection of technology and business. The evening includes the opportunity to meet and talk with EMTM faculty, students and alumni at an informal reception that precedes the lecture and Q&A.

We welcome your interest, and invite you to learn more about the Executive Master’s in Technology Management program.

Leadership in the management of technology and innovation in business.

Executive Master's in Technology Management (EMTM)
An MSE offered by Penn Engineering
Co-sponsored by the Wharton School
University of Pennsylvania