PIERO SCARUFFI

E-mail

Web site: http://www.scaruffi.com

SYNOPSIS

Published 16 books, on topics ranging from cognitive science to music.
Managed software projects in the Silicon Valley for over 20 years.
Taught dozens of courses and seminars in three continents.
Instructor at UC Berkeley Extensions since 1999 on "Nature of Mind" and "History of Knowledge".
Main areas of research:

Artificial Intelligence
Cognitive Science
Self-organizing Systems
Philosophy of Mind
Consciousness

Strong background in Physics and Mathematics.
30 years of journalism: music, cinema and literature.
Visited 95 countries of the world.

CAREER HISTORY

1999-Present: Lecturer

Lecturing at UC Berkeley Extensions on "The Nature of Mind" and "A History of Knowledge" (Paradigm Shifts).

1997-Present: New Media Editor

Providing and managing the entire content of www.scaruffi.com, a multilingual website that includes sections on history, music, cinema, etc, as well as the entire content of www.thymos.com, a website devoted to Cognitive Science. A major feature of the latter is the annotated bibliography on mind, consciousness and life, one of the largest in the world.

1989-Present: Author

Published four books on Cognitive Science (latest: "Thinking About Thought", 2003), eight books on Music (latest "A History of Rock Music", 2003), one on History, two of Poetry, and contributed to several popular science magazines and daily newspapers.

Editor of own websites: www.scaruffi.com (music, cinema, literature, politics, art) and www.thymos.com (science).

2003-Present: Independent Consultant

Consulting for European and USA companies on object software technologies and e-Commerce. Developed own website.

1999-2003: Senior architect, IntelliCop, Mountain View

Designed Artificial Intelligence-based systems for eCommerce solutions.

1995-1996: Visiting Scholar, Stanford University

Research on adaptive, self-organizing systems and theories of consciousness. Produced a comprehensive on-line bibliography of books related to mind, life and consciousness.

1991-1995: Manager, Olivetti Scientific Center, Cupertino

Established the Olivetti Scientific Center, with operations in the Silicon Valley and Italy. Research projects included knowledge-based systems, neural networks, natural language processing. Staff of 62 engineers.

1985-1990: Manager, Olivetti Artificial Intelligence Center, Cupertino

Established the Olivetti Artificial Intelligence Center, with operations in Italy and California. Manager of both sites, reporting directly to the vice-president of R&D. Helped shape the center as the company's technological bridge to the international research community (started cooperative research programs between Olivetti and universities worldwide). Research projects included knowledge-based systems, neural networks, natural language processing. Joint projects with Yale, CalTech and Stanford.

1982-1984: Senior Software Engineer, Olivetti (user interfaces, operating systems, e-mail system)

1977-1982: Software Consultant, SofTec, Italy (consulting jobs in several European countries, ranging from databases to communications)

EDUCATION

1974: Computer Science diploma with honors from the Peano Institute of Turin, Italy. G.P.A. 60 of 60.

1980: Graduated in Mathematics "summa cum laude" from University of Turin, Italy. G.P.A. 110 of 110. Major in General Theory of Relativity. Thesis on a model for quark dynamics.

1984: Visiting scholar, Harvard University. Research on Artificial Intelligence.

1995: Visiting scholar, Stanford University. Research on Theories of Mind.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Italian (native), English (fluent), Spanish (working), French (school-level), German (school-level).

PUBLICATIONS and TEACHING ACTIVITIES

Author of 16 books

Published more than one hundred articles in newspapers and computer magazines.

Lectures and invited talks since 1980 in several European, South American and U.S. institutions.

Co-tutored theses of graduate students in a number of Italian universities.

Held many industrial seminars at major corporations.

List of publications, talks and research projects available upon request.