People

Staff | Board of Directors | Advisory Board | Alumni


 LEADERSHIP & STAFF
Managing Director

Dr. Kristinn R. Thórisson has been researching AI in academia and industry for over three decades. His basic research centers on general machine intelligence, advanced cognitive systems and agent-based modeling and simulation. At MIT he pioneered new ideas in the area of communicative, multimodal intelligent agents. He created a cognitive architecture for Honda Motor Corporation’s humanoid robot ASIMO. He is the leader of research on the AERA cognitive architecture – the world’s first system that can learn complex skills by observation in circumstances that are largely unspecified. Dr. Thórisson has consulted for NASA and British Telecom and taught MSc and PhD courses in AI at Columbia University, KTH and Reykjavik University. His NY startup Radar Networks was selected as one of US’s Top 10 Most Interesting Startups by Reuter’s Venture Capital in 2003 and received investment from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2008. Dr. Thórisson is co-founder of CADIA, Iceland’s first AI lab and has authored numerous scientific papers. He is a Professor at Reykjavik University and sits on the editorial board of the Journal of Artificial General Intelligence, the LNCS Transactions on Computational Collective Intelligence, and is Editor-in-Chief of AI Perspectives & Advances, a Springer Nature journal. He is a two-time recipient of the Kurzweil Award for his work on general machine intelligence.

jeff thompsonSenior Research Scientist

Jeff Thompson studied computer science and electrical engineering at MIT, with a focus on microrobotics and automation. Before joining IIIM he worked at the Biomimetic Millisystems Lab at the University of California, Berkeley and as an independent consultant and contractor for numerous software development and network design projects. Jeff’s industry and research experience includes software architecture design, coding and release management for commercial cryptography, tool automation and a cleanroom production tracking database systems for micromachine manufacturing, and open-source networking libraries in multiple programming languages. At IIIM he is responsible for next-generation AI technologies, including causal reasoning, self-programming and self-healing systems.

Goncalo De CarvalhoSenior Researcher

Goncalo De Carvalho received his M.Sc. degree in artificial intelligence from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Before joining IIIM he did AI research at the Cardiology Department at UMCG, Pennie Solutions in Groningen, and worked at the VSNU University Think Tank.

Software Engineer

Sander Kaatee did his studies in artificial intelligence in the Netherlands. Mr. Kaatee has a long career as an inventor and entrepreneur; in addition to software development he has extensive experience in project management, coordination and leadership.

Jackie_MallettSenior Research Scientist

Dr. Jacky Mallett graduated from MIT in 2005. She has over 2 decades of industry experience, designing, building and troubleshooting distributed systems and networks, with extensive experience in real-time critical systems, cybersecurity, high performance computing, signal processing, and wide area networking.

Ágúst HlynurProgrammer & System Administrator

Ágúst Hlynur Hólmgeirsson received his B.Sc. degree in computer science from Reykjavik University in 2007 and was the System Administrator for CADIA during his education. He is one of the founding members and the System Administrator of the Icelandic Society for Intelligence Research.

Pei_WangAffiliate Researcher

Dr. Pei Wang is an Associate Professor at Temple University. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Cognitive Science from Indiana University, and his M.S. and B.S. in Computer Science, both from Peking University, China. Dr. Wang’s NARS (Non-Axiomatic Reasoning System) is one of the world’s main proposals for how to create general-purpose learning system. He has authored several books on AI and is the co-creator of the International Conference on Artificial General Intelligence, and the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Artificial General Intelligence.


Staff | Advisory Board | Alumni

 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
HlynurChairman of the Board

Hlynur Halldórsson, HRL, graduated from the Law School of the University of Iceland in 1994. In year 1999 he received L.LM. degree from Queen Mary & Westfield College at University of London in Computer and Communications Law. He worked as an attorney for Iceland’s largest shipping company, Eimskip for several years before he became an associate and later a partner at LM Logmenn. Halldórsson has been a partner of Landslog since 2010. His areas of expertise are technology law, copyright law, competition law, maritime law and banking law.

HannesBoard Member

Dr. Hannes H. Vilhjálmsson is Professor at the Department of Computer Science, Reykjavik University and member of the Center for Analysis and Design of Intelligent Agents, RU’s AI lab. Dr. Vilhjálmsson is a former Research Scientist at the Center for Advanced Research on Technology for Education (CARTE) at USC’s Information Sciences Institute (ISI) and co-founder, board-member and technical advisor of Alelo Inc. His research focus is intelligent avatars and interactive virtual environments with emphasis on social interaction and collaboration.

SigridurBoard Member

Dr. Sigríður Ólafsdóttir is Director Regulatory Surveilance at Alvotech, Iceland, and Chairman of the board of Icelandic Infrastructure Fund. Dr. Ólafsdóttir holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry with expertise in biotechnology, drug development, research and leadership. She has professional experience as a CEO and research group leader in drug development companies and as an independent consultant. Dr. Ólafsdóttir’s has served on the Board of Nordic Innovation, the Council of the University of Iceland, Board of the Icelandic Technology Development Fund, and board memberships of various start-up biotech companies.

thorunn-sigfusdottir-thumbBoard Member

Þórunn Sigfúsdóttir has over 20 years of experience in the IT industry in the area of computer science and software development. She has worked closely with many startup businesses in their sprouting phase, from product design to prototype to product launch as Director of Software Development at Daedalus Technology Group, based in New York, bridging an R&D team with venture capital stakeholders. Þórunn is currently Director of Workforce Services at Trackwell Software overseeing the product strategy and business development of MRM solutions.

kristinnBoard Member

Dr. Kristinn R. Thórisson

See BIO at top of page.

 

 


Staff | Board of Directors | Alumni

ADVISORY BOARD

Dr. John B. Vander Sande, is the Cecil and Ida Green Distinguished Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and co-founder of American Superconductor Corporation (AMSC). Dr. Vander Sande was Associate Dean and Acting Dean of Engineering at MIT from 1992 to 1999 and was founding Executive Director of the Cambridge (England)-MIT Institute from 1999 to 2003. He served the position of Acting Provost for two years Reykjavik University (2009-2010).

Dr. Jörg Siekmann, is Co-Founder & of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and served as its Scientific Director. Dr. Siekmann was a founding Chairman of the German AI Society, a Fellow of the German Computer Science Society (GI), Chairman of the Collaborative Research Centre on Resource-Bounded Cognitive Processes, among others.

Dr. Stacy Marsella is Professor and Associate Dean of Research at Northeastern University, College of Computer and Information Science, United States. Before joining NU he was a Research Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southern California, Associate Director for Social Simulation Research at the Institute of Creative Technologies, and Co-Director of the USC Computational Emotion Group. He leads projects on virtual humans, social simulation, interactive drama, emotions and theory of mind.

Dr. Rosalind Picard, Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory. She has served on dozens of international science committees and recently chaired the National Science Foundations Committee of Visitors for the Information and Intelligent Systems Division. She has also worked as a consultant for companies such as Apple, AT&T, BT, HP, iRobot, and Motorola.

Dr. Yngvi Björnsson, is Professor at the Department of Computer Science at Center for Analysis and Design of Intelligent Agents, Reykjavik University and was its Dean for several years. Dr. Björnsson is the co-founder and current Director of the Center for Analysis and Design of Intelligent Agents, Reykjavik University’s AI lab. Before joining RU he was a Research Associate with the GAMES research group at University of Alberta, Canada and he is the world’s only three-time winner of the international General Game Playing Competition. His research focus is AI, in particular informed search methods, learning of search-control and machine learning.

Dr. Eythor Ivar Jonsson, DBA, was CEO of Klak, Reykjavik, Iceland, where he directed one of he primary incubation outfits in Iceland. Before joining Klak he held an Associate Professor position at Copenhagen Business School. He is Chairman of the Board of over a dozen Danish companies.

Dr. Gísli Hjálmtýsson is the Managing Partner of the venture capital company Thule Investments and is a former IIIM Board Member. Dr. Hjálmtýsson has a Ph.D. in computer science from University of California, Santa Barbara and has been involved in numerous ventures in Iceland and elsewhere. He has served as Dean of Computer Science at Reykjavik University (2001-2007) and was a researcher at AT&T Labs – Research in the US (1995-2000).

Dr. Finnur Oddsson, CEO of Nýherji, Reykjavik, Iceland. Former Managing Director of Iceland Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Oddsson works with many of Iceland’s largest organizations, public and private, in various capacities. Prior to his current post he was Director of MBA Programs at Reykjavik University, and Director of Executive Education and Assistant Professors.

Dr. Ipke Wachsmuth, was Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) in Bielefeld, Germany and Chair of Artificial Intelligence, University of Bielefeld. Dr. Wachsmuth has a strong multidisciplinary publications in several fields, including cognitive learning research, intelligent tutoring systems, virtual reality and multimodal interaction. He is former president of the German Cognitive Science Society and served as co-director of the Collaborative Research Center “Alignment in Communication”.


Staff | Board of Directors | Advisory Board

 ALUMNI

Sofia Basílio, M.Sc., Researcher

Maxime Houssin, M.Sc., Researcher

Hjörleifur Rörbeck, M.Sc., Senior Researcher / Senior Programmer

Brendan Ruff, PhD, Affiliate Researcher

Harris Dindo, PhD, Affiliate Researcher

Ragnhildur Sigurðardóttir, Project Manager

Lena Hilger, Research Intern

Davíð Örn Jóhannesson, M.Sc., Research Scientist, Programmer

Pierre Zanchetta, M.Sc., Research Scientist, Programmer

Jessica Chambers, M.Sc., Research Intern

Throstur Thorarensen, M.Sc., Researcher

Guðný R. Jónsdóttir,  M.Sc., Researcher Scientist, Principal Programmer

Mary Felkin, Ph.D., Affiliate Researcher

J. Deon Garrett, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist

Juliane Hanel, Research Intern

Hrafn Th. Thórisson, Research Specialist

Anton Laukemper, Research Intern

Magnús Pálsson, Research Intern

Ildefons Magrans de Abril, Ph.D., Research Scientist

Laura Nesaule, Administrative Assistant

Eric Nivel, Dipl. Eng., Director of Industry Liaisons

Erik Parr, Specialist

Ólafur Guðmundsson, M.Sc., Affiliate Researcher

Claudio Pedica, M.Sc., Research Scientist

Hamid Pourvatan, M.Sc., Research Assistant

 

Catalyzing innovation and high-technology research in Iceland