Katy Dickinson

SEED Mentoring Term Open for Applications

While we are in discussions about a proposed extension of the SEED Engineering mentoring program, we have also just announced a new worldwide term for Established Staff. The new term will run January through June 2008. Applications are due 16 November. The opening of the application period was announced by Sun's CTO Greg Papadopoulos on 1 November 2007. We have received 13 applications so far.

SEED's four basic General Selection Criteria are:

1. All Participants are in Engineering.
2. Only regular Sun employees may participate.
3. Superior annual performance ratings are preferred.
4. Manager support is required.

In addition, there are two specific selection criteria for Established Staff:

1. Hold a senior position: they must be at a Principal job level or above.
2. Have been with Sun for two or more years as of the term start month. That is, this term's applicants must have been hired before 2006.

SEED Preferred Accomplishment Areas for Established Staff
(applicants are expected to excel in many but not all of these areas):

SEED plans to accept up to 40 participants for this Established Staff term. More information on SEED is available at http://research.sun.com/SEED/

Posted at 02:11PM Nov 05, 2007 by katysblog in Mentoring & Other Business  | 

Carnegie Mellon Bot Wins DARPA Urban Challenge

We were delighted to hear that the CMU robot car "Boss" won the DARPA Urban Challenge last weekend. We watched several hours of the race from Baker Hall at CMU on 3 November 2007 during our Parents' Weekend visit with Jessica. Even though Stanford University's "Junior" car crossed the finish line first with CMU Tartan Racing a few minutes behind, since the cars had staggered start times, CMU's "Boss" actually finished the course about 20 minutes ahead of the second-place Stanford. By lunchtime yesterday, we were told that CMU was the probable winner on points. Then, DARPA's press release yesterday confirmed that CMU's "Boss" car had turned in the top performance points and won the $2 million cash prize as the first-place winner. CMU's victory over the 2005 race winner Stanford was sweet.

The race was not just about speed since the bots had six hours to navigate over 60 miles of urban streets in Victorville following California driving laws, operating in a safe and stable manner, and completing three missions with six parts each. Good driving counted. DARPA's description of the Urban Challenge:

The DARPA Urban Challenge is an autonomous vehicle research and development program with the goal of developing technology that will keep warfighters off the battlefield and out of harm's way. The Urban Challenge features autonomous ground vehicles maneuvering in a mock city environment, executing simulated military supply missions while merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles, negotiating busy intersections, and avoiding obstacles. ... This program is an outgrowth of two previous DARPA Grand Challenge autonomous vehicle competitions. The first Grand Challenge event was held in March 2004 and featured a 142-mile desert course. Fifteen autonomous ground vehicles attempted the course and no vehicle finished. In the 2005 Grand Challenge, four autonomous vehicles successfully completed a 132-mile desert route under the required 10-hour limit, and DARPA awarded a $2 million prize to "Stanley" from Stanford University.

Despite the military context of the race itself, and the inclusion of two cars from Germany in the 11 finalists, all six cars which finished the Urban Challenge were from US universities: CMU, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Cornell, Univ. of Pennsylvania and Lehigh University, and MIT.

Posted at 10:35AM Nov 05, 2007 by katysblog in News & Reviews  |