George A. Bekey (born 1928) is an American

roboticist Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrat ...

and the Professor Emeritus of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. Bekey was born in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

in 1928 before

immigrating Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

at the beginning of

WW2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

before moving to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

five years later at the age of 17 in 1945. In 1989, Bekey became a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

for pioneering work in computer sciences contributing to biomedical engineering, man-machine systems, and robotics. He is also a Fellow of various professional societies. Bekey is best known for his achievements across multiple technical fields, for which he was designated a USC University Professor, which honors the university's most accomplished, multi-disciplinary faculty. He is also affiliated with the College of Engineering at California Polytechnic State University
/span>, San Luis Obispo, where he teaches a course on world religions. His most recent book is ''Autonomous Robots: From Biological Inspiration to Implementation and Control'' from MIT Press.

Robot Ethics

Lately he has concerned himself with the ethics and social aspects of robots as they play more of a role in different aspects of human life, realising an edited textP.Lin, K.Abney and G.Bekey, "Robot Ethics", MIT Press, 2012 bringing together some of the key thinkers in the field including James Hughes,

Selmer Bringsjord Selmer Bringsjord (born November 24, 1958) is the chair of the Department of Cognitive Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a professor of Computer Science and Cognitive Science. He also holds an appointment in the Lally School of Man ...

Kevin Warwick Kevin Warwick (born 9 February 1954) is an English engineer and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Coventry University. He is known for his studies on direct interfaces between computer systems and the human nervous system, and has also done ...

, Peter Asaro and

Noel Sharkey Noel Sharkey (born 14 December 1948) is a computer scientist born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is best known to the British public for his appearances on television as an expert on robotics; including the BBC Two television series '' Robot ...

Education

* B.S. (Electrical Engineering)

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, 1950. * M.S (Engineering)

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, 1952. * Ph.D. (Engineering) University of California, Los Angeles, 1962.

Professional organizations

*President, IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, 1996–97; Administrative Committee member, 2001-2007 *Editor, Autonomous Robot, 1994-2007 *Founding Editor, "IEEE Transactions on Robotic and Automation" *Co-General

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

. "5th International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems", 2000 *Honorary Chairmen, "IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation", 2008 *Member **

American Association for Artificial Intelligence The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) is an international scientific society devoted to promote research in, and responsible use of, artificial intelligence. AAAI also aims to increase public understanding of artif ...

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) is a non-profit organization founded in 1991, and headquartered in Washington. It represents 50,000 medical and biomedical engineers, and academic institutions, private industry, ...

Association for Computing Machinery The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional member ...

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

**Society for Computer Simulation

Awards

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

Presidential Medallion *USC University Professor award *UCLA School of Engineering: Alumni Achievement in Academia *USC School of Engineering Distinguished Faculty Award *USC Computer Science Department "George A. Bekey lecture series" *

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

*Fellow, American Association for Advancements of Science *Fellow,

*Fellow,

* Engelberger Award for Robotics Education, Robotics Institute of America *"Pioneer in Robotics"Award,

IEEE Robotics and Automation Society The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (IEEE RAS) is a professional society of the IEEE that supports the development and the exchange of scientific knowledge in the fields of robotics and automation, including applied and theoretical issues. ...

*Robotics and Automation Award, IEEE (International) *Honorary Member, Hungarian Academy of Engineering

References

External links

Home page

Profile on National Academy of Engineering's Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bekey, George A. Living people American roboticists Control theorists Fellows of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni University of Southern California faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering 1928 births