Koutsougeras heads Department of Computer Science and Industrial Technology
Contact: Rene Abadie
8/21/06
HAMMOND -- Cris Koutsougeras, a highly regarded specialist in artificial intelligence and robotics, has been appointed head of the Southeastern Louisiana University Department of Computer Science and Industrial Technology.
A former associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Tulane University, Koutsougeras had been affiliated with the Tulane program since 1994. His areas of expertise include artificial intelligence systems, neural nets, machine learning, hardware and software design for computer interfacing, and robotics. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Department of Defense, Department of Energy and the Louisiana Board of Regents.
“Retaining a scientist with Dr. Koutsougeras’ credentials is a significant step forward for the department and for the college itself,” said Dan McCarthy, dean of the College of Science and Technology. “His interests and areas of expertise are so varied, and he has a genuine enthusiasm for the program at Southeastern.”
Koutsougeras served as leader of Tulane’s DARPA Grand Challenge team, which competed in a race involving autonomous vehicle over a 132-mile course in the Mojave Desert. The team – which included himself and 11 undergraduate students – joined with technologists associated with the Gray Insurance Company to compete in the national event and was one only five groups to complete the course, beating teams from institutions such as MIT and Princeton University. Originally 195 teams had entered the competition.
The author of numerous journal articles and conference papers, Koutsougeras holds a doctorate in computer science from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, a master of science degree in computer engineering from the University of Cincinnati, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens in Greece.More News...
