Romanian MIT professor named science and technology advisor at the White House

Romanian researcher Daniela Rus, director of MIT’s Computer Science andArtificial Intelligence Laboratory, has been selected to serve on President Donald Trump’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), according to MIT News.

PCAST provides advice to the White House on topics critical to U.S. security and the economy, including policy recommendations on the future of work, American leadership in science and technology, and the support of U.S. research and development. It operates under the aegis of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), which was established in law in 1976.

“I’m grateful to be able to add my perspective as a computer scientist to this group at a time when so many issues involving AI and other aspects of computing raise important scientific and policy questions for the nation and the world,” Daniela Rus said.

Daniela Rus moved to the U.S. with her family in the 1980s and has a Ph.D. in computer science from Cornell University. She has been working at MIT since 2003, where she helped develop robots. She is now director of the university’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), deputy dean of research for the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, and the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT.

Rus’ research in robotics, artificial intelligence, and data science focuses primarily on developing the science and engineering of autonomy, with the long-term objective of enabling a future where machines are integrated into daily life to support both cognitive and physical tasks, according to MIT News. The applications of her work are broad and include transportation, manufacturing, medicine, and urban planning.

(Photo source: Jason Dorfman/MIT CSAIL)**