Essex opens intelligent computing centre

Essex University has opened an inter-disciplinary research centre focussed on advancing the development of intelligent computer systems.

The Computational Intelligence Centre involves experts from a variety of fields including biological sciences, business and entrepreneurship, mathematical sciences and computer and electronic systems.

It aims to use an inter-disciplinary approach and existing skills at Essex to conduct research into computational intelligence - a new perspective on what was formerly known as artificial intelligence. It draws on advances in a range of techniques such as neural networks, fuzzy logic and evolutionary computing and combines these with insights from nature to create programs that appear to display intelligence.

Prof Hani Hagras, director of the centre, said: ‘We believe that by taking an inter-disciplinary approach to research, the centre will break down barriers between the different disciplines and sciences contributing to computational intelligence. In doing so our findings will have the potential to address numerous real world problems that traditional computing methods cannot resolve.’