ABSTRACT:

The computer age's centralized mindset has successfully produced machines that have changed our lives. A central unit processes and dispatches information, while a memory stores it. Simple and powerful. But today's computer isn't the only possible tool for computing. Machines can process information in other ways. One way is "swarm intelligence." Forget centralization and control. Forget programming. Forget the concept of a big, omniscient computer. Think of a hive, or an anthill. Social insect colonies aren't centrally controlled; they're composed of thousands or even millions of insects with limited cognitive repertoires. Individually, one insect can't do much, but collectively, social insects can achieve great things-build a nest, forage for food, take care of the brood, allocate labor, and so on. The collective intelligence of social insects, swarm intelligence, offers a powerful new model for computing. At a time when the world grows so complex that no single human being can understand it, when information, and not the lack of it, threatens our lives, when users can no longer master bloated software, swarm intelligence offers an alternative way of designing computing systems. In swarms, autonomy, emergence, and distributed functioning replace control, preprogramming, and centralization. Applications to manufacturing scheduling, supply chain optimization, routing and others will be presented.

Full schedule (so far)

Goal of seminar series

The idea of this seminar series is to bring in top-level speakers whose work has very broad applicability and which has already, or will likely, stimulate an interdisciplinary flow of ideas to or from natural systems, including research which might hold valuable lessons and new insights for Industrial engineering, and business/industry more generally.
 

Useful info

If you have any questions, please do not hesistate to contact the organiser, Carl Anderson (carl@isye.gatech.edu)

How to get to MaRC
 
 

Dan McShea

Eric Bonabeau

We are very thankful for support for this seminar series from funds from the

Anderson/Interface Chair in Natural Systems here in ISyE at Georgia Tech