DOHA: Former Google vice-president Andrew W Moore, now Dean of School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), highlighted the role of future computer scientists, including those studying at the Qatar campus, in building the world of the 21st century.
Moore served as a professor of computer science and robotics at CMU before becoming founding director of Google’s Pittsburgh engineering office in 2006. This is his first visit to the Qatar campus since he was appointed dean in 2014.
Moore offered insights into the rapid evolution of computer science in a lecture to a group of 18 Qatari high school students interested in the field:
“Computer science and the creation of new algorithms are changing our global digital economy and graduates from top computer science schools in the world, such as the school at CMUQ, are responsible for making this happen.”
Moore discussed augmented human technology to illustrate the positive impact of Carnegie Mellon’s work. He described a type of robotic arm mounted on a motorised wheelchair, a project Carnegie Mellon is helping develop to offer greater independence to those with mobility and upper extremity impairments.
Moore said: “Although we are witnessing exponential growth of artificial intelligence and augmented humans, human involvement remains key in implementation of new technologies.”
When asked the ethical implications of technological advance, he acknowledged that there are repercussions to rapid change and said: “Carnegie Mellon produces thoughtful, smart computer scientists who care about the world.”
Moore met leaders in the high-tech sector and CMU-Q alumni working in the field. As one of five programme at CMUQ, the computer science programme has grown since its inception in 2004.
Graduates work in emerging fields, including language technology, computational biology, human-computer interaction and robotics for organisations such as Google, Microsoft, Ooredoo, Qatar Computing Research Institute, Qatar National Research Fund, Qatar Petroleum and Shell Qatar. The Peninsula
