Contact: Lillian Israel
212-626-0530
israel@acm.org

Chris Morgan
617-262-2044
morgan@acm.org

The ACM noted Dr. Amarel’s "wide-ranging contributions to Artificial Intelligence, especially in advancing our understanding of the role of representation in problem solving, and of the theory and practice of computational planning and design of complex engineering systems."

ACM President Barbara Simons said "Saul Amarel exemplifies the values that Allen Newell held dear, both in his commitment to bringing theory together with experimental development, and in his work on the testing of large systems."

In accepting, Dr. Amarel said "This award is of special significance to me. Allen Newell was a good friend, a remarkable scientist, and a great human being. I have great admiration for his work and for what he did to shape the early steps of computer science and artificial intelligence."

Amarel's contributions to computer science and artificial intelligence extend over four decades. He was one of the first to demonstrate the power of change in representation as a fundamental method in problem solving. His earliest, and memorable, example was a geometric isomorph of the well-known "Missionaries and Cannibals" problem. His contributions have also enriched the processes of theory formation, acquisition of expertise, and model-guided reasoning, planning and design.

In recent years his problem-solving research has focused on the role of computers in the design of large engineering systems. He is Principal Investigator and Director of the Hypercomputing and Design (HPCD) project, a large-scale multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional research project, sponsored by DARPA as part of the national HPCC nitiative. The systems analyzed have ranged all the way from major airplane components to racing yachts, the analysis interweaving artificial intelligence methods and heuristics with theory-based mathematical modeling techniques.

Dr. Amarel organized the Computer Theory Group in the RCA Laboratories, and led it from 1958 to 1969. He then joined Rutgers University as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Computer Science, chairing the Department until 1984. In 1971 he organized the Rutgers Research Resource on Computers in Biomedicine, and in 1977, the Laboratory for Computer Science Research, both of which he directed until 1984.

In addition to his important research, Dr. Amarel has provided significant professional leadership for the field of computer science, serving, from 1985 to 1987 as Director of the Information Science and Technology Office (ISTO) in ARPA. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and of the AAAS, a Founding Fellow of the AAAI, and a member of ACM and SIAM.

Dr. Amarel received his B.S. in 1948 from the Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, and his M.S. in 1953 and his D. Engr. Sc. in 1955 from Columbia University.

About Allen Newell:

The Newell award's namesake, Allen Newell, was a pioneer in artificial intelligence who developed the "rule-based" approach to problem solving. He taught at Carnegie-Mellon and played a key role in developing the computer science department there. Among his many awards are the ACM'sTuring Award and the Franklin Institute's Louis E. Levy medal. With Gordon Bell, Newell wrote Computer Structures, a classic computer science text. Newell died in 1992.

About the ACM:

The Association for Computing (ACM) is a major force in advancing the skills of information technology professionals and students. The ACM serves its global membership by delivering cutting edge technical information and transferring ideas from theory to practice. The ACM, with its world-class journals and magazines, dynamic special interest groups, numerous conferences, workshops, and electronic forums, is a primary resource to the information technology field.

For additional information about the ACM, see http://www.acm.org on the World Wide Web.