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A shockwave passed through the singularity community today with the public launch of Singularity University at the NASA Ames campus in Silicon Valley. Singularity University aims to assemble a world class community of thought leaders, academics, and entreprenuers across the many fields of exponentially advancing technologies (nanotechnology, genetics, medicine, artificial intelligence, etc.) in order to address humanity’s grand challenges.
With significant backing from Google and NASA, and with the participation of a renowned cast of faculty and advisors, Singularity University is poised to literally overnight become a world class institution for the innovation, collaboration, and leadership that will allow the world to capitalize on the great promise of technology to solve the world’s greatest problems
Renowned futurist Ray Kurzweil will officially announce the launch of Singularity University at the TED conference later today in Long Beach, CA. “We are now in the steep part of the exponential trajectory of information technologies in a broad variety of fields, including health, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence,” said Kurzweil. “It is only these accelerating technologies that have the scale to address the major challenges of humanity ranging from energy and the environment, to disease and poverty.
The University has been founded by a group of leaders including renowned author and futurist, Dr. Ray Kurzweil, space entrepreneur and chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation, Dr. Peter Diamandis, and Director of NASA’s Ames Research Center, Pete Worden. The list of faculty and advisors includes several distinguished individuals, including nobel laureates and key players from major universities.
Kurzweil will act as chancellor and trustee of the University. He’ll be joined by Diamandis, who will act as vice chancellor and trustee, and Salim Ismail, a former Yahoo executive, who will work as executive director.
“The exponentially increasing power of computers and optical networks, when combined with developments in AI, nanotechnology, and other technologies, will create extraordinary opportunities,” said Dr. Larry Smarr, Harry E. Gruber Professor, Computer Science and Engineering at UCSD, and Director at California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology. “Singularity University is uniquely positioned to prepare students for these coming innovations.”
Singularity University will offer the world a first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary curriculum and institution.
“We are reaching out across the globe to gather the smartest and most passionate future leaders and arm them with the tools and network they need to wrestle with the grand challenges of our day,” said Diamandis. “There is no existing program that will offer the breadth and intensity that SU will offer.”
The first Corporate Founder is Google, and several more will soon be named. Speaking on behalf of Google, Mr. Chris DiBona said, “Google is proud to be a founding Corporate Sponsor for the Singularity University. By focusing on exponentially growing technologies and their ability to address the world’s grand challenges, this interdisciplinary institution will fill a critical need.”
The University will offer several academic programs, serve as a networking hub for interdisciplinary study, and ultimately become an incubator for tomorrow’s world-altering companies.
Singularity University (SU) (www.singularityu.org) will open its doors in June 2009 on the NASA Research Park campus with 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. The curriculum will be broken out into 10 tracks as follows:
- future studies and forecasting
- networks and computing systems
- biotechnology and bioinformatics
- nanotechnology
- medicine, neuroscience and human enhancement
- AI, robotics, and cognitive computing
- energy and ecological systems
- space and physical sciences
- policy, law and ethics
- finance and entrepreneurship.
Those who successfully navigate the curriculum will receive certificates of completion. The school also hopes to arrange for students to receive class credits that can be transferred to fully accredited universities.
Applications will be accepted through the school’s Web site beginning Tuesday.
In addition to the nine-week graduate level summer session, the University will offer several 10-day and 3-day executive level programs throughout the year. These programs will educate and prepare today’s leaders to build and adapt their businesses to the major technological changes that will are on the horizon.
Singularity Hub’s Keith Kleiner is a founding member of Singularity University. Singularity Hub will have several followup posts about the latest developments regarding Singularity University in the coming months as the University evolves and grows.
Tags: singularity, su
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While this is very exciting, I hope that SU will have some of their biggest critics on their list of faculty and advisers.
The domain you list as being the University’s web site is suspended.
Yes, the site is down from too much traffic
We are working on it right now earnestly!
I sort of figured that was the case. I’ve had the same issue with Bluehost in the past and ended up switching to a different ISP. When the site comes back up I look forward to getting involved – it’s an exciting concept.
Kurzweil seems to be in denial about the ravages that the declining oil supply will have on our society. And as a result, most unfortunately, efforts like this will never be fully realized.
Fortunately, we will return to being humans, which, as I understand (see Joel Garreau’s Radical Evolution), is quite OK…
Are there any women or minorities of note that are part of the founding administration and/or faculty? Startin to look like another old white men’s club …. with very serious implications for the rest of us ..
Hi Keith,
it is I think an important new element of SU, and its site, that now all material is explicitly licensed under a liberal Creative Commons Attribution license. This enables the most rapid viral distribution of the content created by SU, and its faculty worldwide!
David
If women and minorities are competent in the disciplines of the singularity, they should be included. If not, they shouldn’t. Already someone wants the school to be politically correct, which is one of the major problems with every other socialist school in the country.
The BIG issue to my mind is $25K tuition. That certainly puts it within reach of most people–Not.
[...] Singularity Hub
Any good faith effort to further develop the human knowledge is valuable, but this seems to me a PR campaign a bit more sophisticated that “Ray and Terry ” pills (sorry the irony), 25,000 US for 10 weeks course, or 3 days courses seems not serious to me.
Knowledge production has its own ways to expand, this center perhaps will help to it but I do not believe that singularity (in the Kurzweil definition) will be nearer or will accelerate “the infection ” of the Universe.
Places like Oxford, Cambridge or MIT where methodology and TIME are organized in a way that promotes thinking, has been more valuable over time for this objetive that 9 weeks courses….. 25,000 USD, in addition to that a Science man that dyes the color of his hair….is suspicious to me
HOW ABOUT A ‘CLEDAN GREEN” COURSES, PLANNING FOR SUSTAIANBLE GREEN ENERGY? ALSO,HOW ABOUT THE STUDENT BOIDY SINGULARIETY UNI. CELEBRATING GLOBAL EENRGY INDEPENCDE DAY ON JUL 10TH NIKOLA TESLAS BIRTHDATE SEE THE TESLA MEMORIAL SOCIETY,www.teslasociety.com, GLOBAL ENRGY INDEPENDENCE DAY. MAYBE EVEN CLASSES,COURSES IN TESLAS TECH.WIRELESS ELETRIC TRANSMISSION ETC. THANKS! DR. EDSON ANDRE’ JOHNSON D.D.UYLC HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA.
[...] This past week… A shockwave passed through the singularity community today with the public launch of Singularity University at the NASA Ames campus in Silicon Valley. Singularity University aims to assemble a world class community of thought leaders, academics, and entreprenuers across the many fields of exponentially advancing technologies (nanotechnology, genetics, medicine, artificial intelligence, etc.) in order to address humanity’s grand challenges. [...]
It is a shame that this is clearly designed for the “elite.” I guess I shouldn’t be to surprised. What amazes me is the arrogance of the “top thinkers” of the world that assume the best ideas only come out of the best minds (as defined by academics). It is the same problem we have with government especially with the economy – they surround themselves with the same products of the same “economics” and they come up with the same ideas/results.