For over two decades, UBC’s Institute for Computing, Information, and Cognitive Systems (ICICS) has promoted collaborative research among its members from the three core departments of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering, and with industry. Since 2000, faculty from across the campus have also been eligible for membership. ICICS now has 150 members from 7 different UBC faculties, who supervise approximately 800 graduate students.
Panos Nasiopoulos (ECE) became ICICS Director on January 1, 2010, and has clear ideas about how to build on these strong foundations. “I plan to act as an ambassador for ICICS,” he says, “to increase our engagement with academia, industry, and government agencies, domestically and worldwide. My ultimate goal is to take ICICS to the next level of international recognition.”
Nasiopoulos has the right mix of industrial and academic experience to make this happen. He spent eight years in industry, notably as President of Daikin US Comtec, which together with Toshiba developed the technology for the DVD. On the academic side, Nasiopoulos is founding director of ICICS’ Master of Software Systems (MSS) program, which equips students with a broad set of software systems skills that make them highly attractive to industry. His expertise in multimedia has kept him at the forefront of his field, both in industry and academia.
“We will continue doing what has worked well for ICICS in the past,” Nasiopoulos states, “but we live in a new economy without borders. It’s time for us to reach out to world leaders in academia and industry. ICICS’ best days are still ahead.”