Nick Lawrence would like me to clarify a couple of points about SBIR grants, mentioned last week. First, any checkbox information on gender or race is supposedly for statistical purposes only. (It doesn't hurt to make the point in your proposal, though -- division directors do try to keep their statistics up.) Second, grants require a certification that "No person or agency has been employed to solicit or secure the contract upon an understanding for compensation except bona fide employees or commercial agencies maintained by the contractor for the purpose of securing business." In other words, you can't pay someone grant funds to help you get the grant. You can, however, budget work to be performed only if you get the grant. Nick sometimes works as a subcontractor and sometimes as the PI on a project that will spin out under other management. He wants to build a synthetic intelligence, and is writing a "Correlithms" book on how to do it via transformational mathematics and "dataware engineering." (Ask for preliminary material and software if you're interested.) Nick's training includes CS, control theory, signal processing, neurophysiology, and linguistics, and he patented his dissertation work on array-processor intercommunication. He's hoping to organize an international GNU-type organization over the net for research projects to spin out as companies, with profits helping to develop a synthetic intelligence. He owns Lawrence Technologies (San Antonio), and has been chief scientist on more than a dozen correlithm-based government R&D contracts in text, signal, and image processing. He's also a private pilot, radio amateur, musician, and electronic composer. [nick@csoftec.csf.com, (210) 349-5666, 5/19/93.]

Curt Jorenby (jorenby@ai.isl.secom.co.jp) is doing AI research -- knowledge engineering, Scheme programming, machine learning, and networking for medical informatics -- for Secom Intelligent Systems Laboratory in Tokyo. He found the job over the Internet, after studying Philosophy, CS, and Asian Studies at St. Olaf College. Curt's wife went to Carleton, and is getting her first book published. Curt enjoys reading philosophy and science fiction, and is into biking, woodworking, and electronics.

Chilukuri K. Mohan (mohan@top.cis.syr.edu), or "Mo," teaches Computer and Information Science at Syracuse University in New York -- particularly neural networks and genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic, pattern recognition and image processing, forecasting, automated reasoning, term rewriting, functional programming, and distributed computing. Mo is also a member of the Computational Science and Computational Neuroscience faculties. His wife, Sudha Kailer, has an MS in AI plus an MBA and marketing experience, and together they are interested in industrial R&D applications. Mo's hobbies include table tennis, badminton, bridge, chess, and other games and puzzles.

Kim Tracy is arranging a Computists' breakfast in DC on 7/13, probably at the elite Hay-Adams Hotel across Lafayette park from the White House. (It's about a 10 minute walk from AAAI at the Convention Center.) Several Computists have expressed interest. AAAI attendees or DC-area Computists (with their spouses) can contact Kim as tracy@ihspa.att.com, (708) 979-4164.

-- Ken