ERCIM News No.25 - April 1996
INRIA p; Alain Bensoussan, current president of INRIA has been appointed
President of CNES (centre national d'études spatiales), the National
French Space Agency. Alain Bensoussan has been President of INRIA since
1984. Under his chairmanship, his institute founded ERCIM in 1989 together
with CWI and GMD.
INESC p; Descartes Prize - INESC and CNIG (Centro Nacional de Informação
Geográfica/National Geographical Information Centre) were the joint
winners of the 1995 Descartes Prize for the GIP-PDM application for the
Computerised Management of Municipal Master Plans (PDM), which was a joint
brainchild of the two institutions and developed by INESC. This is an annual
prize sponsored by the Portuguese Administration with the objective of recognising
the contribution of original works in the field of computer sciences or
use of information systems and technology developed in Public Administrative
Bodies and which represent either a new development or constitute applications
of relevance to society in general and the Administration in particular.
The results of the project will be made available to all local municipalities
in Portugal and is a highly successful example of linkage between INESC's
technical expertise and the needs of Public Administration. The GIP-PDM
application permits a search of all documents and drawings associated with
the PDM to be used for taking planning and construction decisions under
PDM regulations and obtaining indicators on the evolution of changes in
the use of land.
SINTEF p; The Norwegian research organization SINTEF has gone through
a major internal reorganization. As of 1 January this year the different
departments have been grouped in a small number of relatively independent
institutes with a small central admini-stration as an umbrella organization.
The present ERCIM related institute is called SINTEF Telecom and Informatics.
The institute has about 120 employees. Most of the employees are based in
Trondheim at the campus of the Norwegian University for Science and Technology,
whereas the Department for Distributed Information Systems is located in
Oslo.
CWI p; 'Images of SMC Research 1996' (430 pages, full-colour) is a book
composed on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Stichting Mathematisch
Centrum (SMC). CWI is the SMC's research institute. Four articles, written
in a general vein by leading Dutch experts in mathematics and computer science,
are followed by thirty-four contributions from CWI's research groups and
SMC's national working parties in mathematics. The book is targeted at a
readership with a background in mathematics and computer science. However,
an attempt was made to present the subjects in such a way that also non-specialists
can catch a glimpse of what is going on.
INRIA p; INRIA has signed a co-operation agreement with Renault in the
domain of in-car automation and electronics. Work will be carried out, on
one hand on reduction of fuel consumption and polluting emissions, and on
the other, on the improvement of safety and comfort. The agreement is to
last four years. The cooperation agreement will provide INRIA research work
with an industrial application that is principally one of systems automation
and software design. Under the reciprocal agreement, Renault will be able
to make full use of INRIA research for the development of future products.
INESC p; A protocol of cooperation with the Pontificia Universidade
Católica do Rio de Janeiro was recently signed by INESC's Chairman,
Professor José Tribolet. This is considered to be one of the best
Brazilian universities and the objective of the protocol involves cooperation
in technology transfer issues, namely the promotion of INESC's R&D products.
The protocol represents what could eventually develop into a strategic partnership
for activities in Brazil which is one of the markets in which INESC is most
interested in internationalising its activities and in which AITEC (an INESC
business development company) companies, such as SMD, have already made
their mark. The mission to Brazil has helped to establish contacts with
Universities, Business Groups and Public Bodies with the objective of opening
up the market for the adopting or internal use of INESC products and technologies.
GMD p; Dr. Wolfgang Joppich, scientist at the GMD-Institute for Algorithms
and Scientific Computing, has been awarded the medal of honour of the University
of Ni], Yougoslavia, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of its Department
for Electrical Engineering. This medal is awarded every five years for outstanding
contributions to the development of the Department. GMD and the University
of Ni] cooperate in the use of multigrid methods, extremely fast computing
methods, for process simulation. The Department for Electrical Engineering
has developed a simulation program to be used in semiconductor technology.
The program is based on multigrid methods developed by Joppich. During the
last three years, the GMD-Institute which is headed by Prof. Dr. Ulrich
Trottenberg has received seven scientific awards.
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