Annual Telluride Workshop on Neuromorphic Cognition 2007-2012

Telluride神经形态认知工程研讨会神经形态工程师设计和制造人工神经系统，其详细的架构、设计和计算原理基于生物神经系统。在过去的12年里，这个研究界一直专注于对低级感觉处理和系统基础设施的理解；现在正在扩大努力，将这些知识和基础设施应用于解决感知、认知和学习的高级问题。一年一度的为期三周的强化研讨会(在科罗拉多州特勒里德举行)包括背景讲座(来自生物、认知、计算、工程和学习科学的领先研究人员)、实践教程(来自最先进的实践者)、动手项目(涉及现有研究人员和新手/学生)和特殊兴趣讨论小组(由研讨会参与者提出)。对于这个社区的研究人员来说，这是培训学生、发起合作和深入讨论科学问题的首要研讨会。在这个研讨会上，通过神经形态工程研究所(INE)，任务是促进高级和初级研究人员之间的互动；教育社区的新成员；向社区介绍新的使能领域和应用；促进研讨会正在进行的合作活动，并促进一个自我维持的研究领域。2007-2012年期间的具体目标：毫无疑问，研讨会的使命非常成功，但为研讨会确定了三个新的挑战：1)随着美国和欧洲的社区迅速扩大，研讨会的体验需要接触到更多的人，而不增加研讨会的规模；2)随着更大和更具挑战性的项目的解决，全年需要更多的小组互动机会；以及3)随着在系统级别提出更复杂的问题，为了迎接这些新的挑战，需要来自认知神经科学的更多声音。为了迎接这些新的挑战，设想了一个新版本的研讨会：1)扩大主题，专注于感知、认知和学习；2)扩大选民范围、教育任务和研究重点，纳入NSF科学学习中心(SLC)的成员；3)创建一个由两部分组成的研讨会系列(允许为期一年的合作和对大型项目的更深入调查)，一次在美国举行，由美国资源资助，另一次在欧洲举行，由欧洲资源支持，以及4)修改研讨会时间表，在研讨会开始时强调培训，为初学者和专家提供必要的教育重点。注入新的研究人员(来自SLC)，专注于多个尺度(从突触到课堂)的学习，将提供所需的知识、新的合作和新的视角，将社区推向认知水平的神经形态系统。讲习班对公众的更广泛影响：Telluride神经形态认知工程讲习班将继续其公众互动的传统。特别是，将继续为K-12学生(基于神经形态/机器人设计工具包)、本科生和研究生(讲习班课程、参与者的新课程/讲座)提供教育方案。大学和皇家大学)，以及现有的研究人员(接触该领域的新领域)。研讨会还将继续通过关于该领域最新发展/问题的公开讲座来教育Telluride社区。将通过在各大学，特别是HBCU(摩根州立大学、MD、林肯大学、宾夕法尼亚州莫尔豪斯学院、亚特兰大、佐治亚州等)组织讲座，继续让少数族裔和妇女重返该领域。通过将演讲者送到所在大学所在的机构，只需最少的资金，并为未来的合作提供最有可能的联系。目前设在马里兰大学(马里兰州学院公园)的神经形态工程研究所将安排后勤工作。讲习班上编写的讲座和其他教材也将提供给所有感兴趣的各方，并张贴在国家教育研究所的网站上。最后，讲习班将继续培养生物启发系统、认知/学习系统、机器人和植入式电子学等新兴领域的研究人员和领导者。各个机构和政府已经认识到，模仿生物的智能设备(如交互式人形机器人)在未来将具有巨大的学术和商业价值。

The Telluride Workshop on Neuromorphic Cognition EngineeringNeuromorphic engineers design and fabricate artificial neural systems whose detailed architecture, design, and computational principles are based on those of biological nervous systems. Over the past 12 years, this research community has focused on the understanding of low-level sensory processing and systems infrastructure; efforts are now expanding to apply this knowledge and infrastructure to addressing higher-level problems in perception, cognition, and learning.The annual three-week intensive Workshop (held in Telluride, Colorado) consists of background lectures (from leading researchers in biological, cognitive, computational, engineering and learning sciences), practical tutorials (from state-of-the-art practitioners), hands-on projects (involving established researchers and newcomers/students), and special interest discussion groups (proposed by the workshop participants). For researchers in this community, this is the premier workshop for training students, initiating collaborations, and in-depth discussions on scientific issues.In this workshop and through the Institute for Neuromorphic Engineering (INE), the mission is to promote interaction between senior and junior researchers; to educate new members of the community; to introduce new enabling fields and applications to the community; to promote on-going collaborative activities emerging from the Workshop, and to promote a self-sustaining research field.Specific Goals for the period of 2007-2012: While there is no question that the Workshop has been very successful in its mission, three new challenges have been identified for the Workshop: 1) with a rapidly expanding community in both the U.S. and Europe, the Workshop experience needs to reach more people without increasing the size of the Workshop, 2) as larger and more challenging projects are tackled, more opportunities for group interactions are needed throughout the year, and 3) as more complex questions are asked at the system-level, more voices from cognitive neuroscience are needed.To meet these new challenges, a new version of the Workshop is envisioned with: 1) an expanded theme to focus on Perception, Cognition, and Learning, 2) an expanded constituency, educational mandate and research focus to incorporate members of the NSF Science of Learning Centers (SLC), 3) to create a two-part Workshop series (to allow yearlong collaborations and deeper investigation into large scale projects), one held in the U.S. and funded by U.S. resources and the other held in Europe and supported by European resources and 4) a modified Workshop schedule to emphasize training at the beginning of the workshop to provide a needed focus on education for both beginners and experts alike. The infusion of new researchers (from the SLCs) that focus on learning at multiple scales (from synapses to classroom) will provide the needed knowledge, new collaborations, and new perspectives to move the community towards cognitive-level neuromorphic systems. Broader impact of the Workshop to the public: The Telluride Neuromorphic Cognition Engineering Workshop will continue its tradition of public interaction. In particular, there will be a continuation of the educational program for K-12 students (based on neuromorphic/robotics design kits), undergraduate and graduate students (Workshop courses, new classes/lectures at participants? universities and REU), and to established researchers (exposure to new areas in the field). The workshop will also continue to educate the Telluride community with public lectures on the latest developments/issues in the field.Recruitment of minorities and women to the field will be continue by organizing lectures at various Universities, particularly HBCUs (Morgan State U., MD, Lincoln U., PA, Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA, and others). By sending presenters to institutions local to their home universities, minimal funding will be required and provide the most likely connections for future collaborations. The Institute for Neuromorphic Engineering, currently housed at the University of Maryland (College Park, MD), will arrange the logistics. The lectures and other teaching materials developed at the workshop will also be made available to all interested parties and posted on the INE website. Lastly, the workshop will continue to develop the researchers and leaders for the emerging field of biologically-inspired systems, cognitive/learning systems, robotics and implantable electronics. Various agencies and governments have recognized that smart devices (such as interactive humanoid robots) that mimic living organisms will have great academic and commercial value in future.