Download Nicholas Negroponte, Chairman Nicholas is founder and chairman

Nicholas Negroponte, Chairman
Nicholas is founder and chairman of the One Laptop per Child non-profit association. He is
currently on leave from MIT, where he was co-founder and director of the MIT Media Laboratory,
and the Jerome B. Wiesner Professor of Media Technology. A graduate of MIT, Nicholas was a
pioneer in the field of computer-aided design, and has been a member of the MIT faculty since
1966. Conceived in 1980, the Media Laboratory opened its doors in 1985. He is also author of the
1995 best seller, Being Digital, which has been translated into more than 40 languages. In the
private sector, Nicholas serves on the board of directors for Motorola, Inc. and as general partner in
a venture capital firm specializing in digital technologies for information and entertainment. He has
provided start-up funds for more than 40 companies, including Wired magazine.
Mary Lou Jepsen,CTO
Mary Lou Jepsen has been has been a pioneer in developing display technologies -- from flat-panel
televisions, to holography, to laser displays and day-lighting. She was most recently director of
technology development in Intel's Display Division. Previously, she co-founded the MicroDisplay
Corporation and served as its CTO. Her recent emphasis has been on single-panel LCOS systems,
and her leadership in this area has brought her worldwide recognition as a top innovator in the
industry. Jepsen also contributed to several breakthroughs in diffractive optics and holographic
display technology, including building the world's first holographic video system, and the largest
hologram in the world, one that spanned a city block (in Cologne). Jepsen holds a PhD in optics, a
BS in electrical engineering, and a BA in studio art, all from Brown University. She also holds an
MS from MIT, where she studied in the Media Lab's Spatial Imaging group.
Walter Bender, President, Software and Content
Walter Bender is former executive director of the Media Lab. After receiving his BA from Harvard
University, he joined the Architecture Machine Group at MIT, and received his MS from MIT.
Bender was a founding member of the Media Lab. He studies new information technologies,
particularly those that affect people directly; much of this research addresses the idea of building
upon the interactive styles associated with existing media and extending them into domains where a
computer is incorporated into the interaction. He has participated in much of the pioneering
research in the field of electronic publishing and personalized, interactive multimedia.
Michail Bletsas, Chief Connectivity Officer
Michail Bletsas was director of computing at the MIT Media Laboratory. He designed and deployed
most of the Internet network infrastructure systems at the Media Lab. His research involves
experimenting with wireless networks that are implemented using off-the-shelf, low-cost
components to provide broadband Internet access to underserved areas. Before joining the Media
Lab, he was a systems engineer at Aware, Inc., where he designed and wrote high-performance
software libraries for Intel's distributed-memory parallel supercomputers, and was involved in the
development of one of the first ADSL Internet-access test beds. He holds a diploma in electrical
engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and an MS in computer engineering
from Boston University.
Robert Fadel, Director of Finance and Administration
Robert Fadel has worked in various administrative positions at MIT for 10 years. For the past two
years he served as the Director of Finance at the Media Lab leading its financial, contracts and
intellectual property operations. Robert has also been active in organizational development and
process improvement. At OLPC Robert is managing the administrative functions, and assisting in
strategic planning and relations with partner organizations and governments. He holds a masters
degree in Energy and Environmental Policy from Boston University and an MBA from Boston
College.
Mark Foster, VP of Engineering/Chief Architect
Mark Foster has joined OLPC as the VP of Engineering/Chief Architect. Mark's first foray into
computing was programming the Intel 8008 while in high school, and he's been developing systems
ever since. Previously heading portable computers engineering at Apple, DEC, and Zenith, Mark's
consistently pushed the leading edge, shipping the first notebook with Ethernet (the Z-Note), the
first true subnotebook (the Z-Lite), the thinnest system in the world (the HiNote Ultra), one of the
first portable desktop replacement machines (the HiNote Ultra 2000), the first consumer portable
(the iBook), and the first high-volume wireless networking product (the AirPort). He holds 27
patents, with an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.
Jim Gettys, Vice President, Software Engineering
Jim Gettys is interested in open-source systems for education on very inexpensive computers. He
was previously at HP's Cambridge Research Lab working on the X Window System with Keith
Packard, both on desktops and embedded systems such as the HP iPAQ. He helped to start the
handhelds.org project and has also contributed to freedesktop.org efforts. Gettys continues to serve
on the X.org Foundation board of directors and served until 2004 on the Gnome Foundation board
of directors. Gettys worked at W3C from 1995-1999; he is the editor of the HTTP/1.1 specification
(now an IETF Draft Standard). He is one of the principle authors of the X Window System, edited
the HTTP/1.1 specification for the IETF, and and one of the authors of AF, a network transparent
audio server system.
David Cavallo, Director for Central and South America
David Cavallo is the co-head of the Lab's Future of Learning group, which focuses on the design
and implementation of new learning environments and on the design of new technologies that will
change the way we think about "learning" and "school." Prior to joining the Media Lab, he led the
design and implementation of medical informatics at Harvard University Health Services, was a
software engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation's Artificial Intelligence Technology Center,
founded and led the Advanced Technology group for Digital's Latin American and Caribbean
region. Cavallo has advised numerous heads of state and ministries of education on the adoption of
advanced technologies for learning and the reform of educational institutions. He received his BS in
computer science from Rutgers University, and MS and PhD in media arts and sciences from MIT.
Khaled Hassounah, Director for Middle East and Africa
Khaled's experience has been primarily focused on establishing large-scale, distributed
organizations spanning the United States, India, the Middle East, and China. Most recently, Khaled
was a founding member of IMlogic, an enterprise instant messaging company, that was acquired by
Symantec in early 2006. Khaled was raised in Jordan and holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical
Engineering from the University of Jordan. Khaled is interested in technology solutions for
education in developing countries. Khaled assists in establishing the needed relationships with
government officials and NGOs, and stimulating the spread of information to the general public
about the project and its goals. He also engages with the open source community and content
providers, focusing on the benefit of maximizing their contribution to the project and its success.
Khaled also helps with content creation and sharing, instant messaging communication, and other
deployment infrastructure.
ADVISORS
Rebecca Allen, Media Artist, Professor, Department of Design | Media Arts, University of
California Los Angeles
Rebecca Allen is an internationally recognized artist and designer inspired by the potential of
advanced technology. She is a pioneer in 3D computer graphics, human motion simulation,
artificial life and augmented reality. Allen recently served as senior research scientist and director
of the Liminal Devices group at MIT's Media Lab Europe before returning to UCLA. She was
founding chair of her department at UCLA and director of the Intel funded Emergence Project.
Previously, Allen was creative director and executive producer at video game company Virgin
Interactive; senior researcher at the world-renowned NYIT Computer Graphics Laboratory; and
researcher at MIT's Architecture Machine Group. Allen has designed and directed cutting-edge
projects for numerous clients including TimeWarner, Island, Mattel, Philips, Nintendo, CBS, NBC,
FOX, PBS, Seville World Expo, Apple and DARPA. Her artwork is in the permanent collection of
the Whitney Museum and Centre Georges Pompidou. Awards include an Emmy Award for Design.
V. Michael Bove, Jr., Director, Consumer Electronics Laboratory, MIT Media Laboratory
V. Michael Bove, Jr. heads both the Media Lab's Consumer Electronics Laboratory (CELab) and
Object-Based Media research group. He is the author or co-author of over 50 journal and
conference papers on digital television systems, video processing hardware/software design,
multimedia, scene modeling, visual display technologies, and optics. He holds patents on inventions
relating to video recording, hardcopy, interactive television, and medical imaging. Bove is on the
board of editors of the Journal of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, and
associate editor of Optical Engineering. In 2002 he was named a Fellow of the International Society
for Optical Engineering. He was a founder of and technical advisor to WatchPoint Media, Inc. Bove
holds a BS in electrical engineering, an MS in visual studies, and a PhD in media technology, all
from MIT.
Benjamin Mako Hill, Research Assistant, MIT Media Laboratory
Benjamin Mako Hill has worked for more than a decade on Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
projects. He is a developer and leading member of the Debian Project and a member of the founding
development team for the Ubuntu project -- an initiative that created a complete, Linux-based
operating system that is freely available with both community and professional support. He also
focused on building and sustaining the Ubuntu community during its first year. Since then, Hill has
worked as a consultant on issues of FOSS development and project management, and for Canonical
Ltd. He has published a book and numerous articles on FOSS, and is a frequent speaker at FOSS
conferences globally. Hill, who holds a BA from Hampshire College, is currently a research
assistant in the Electronic Publishing group at the MIT Media Lab.
Joseph Jacobson, Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, MIT Media Laboratory
Joseph Jacobson, head of the Media Lab's Molecular Machines research group, is working to
reinvent microelectronics by developing processes for directly and continuously printing
communication, computation, and displays onto arbitrary substrates. He received a PhD in physics
from MIT and was a postdoctoral fellow in physics at Stanford. Jacobson is the author of more than
40 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers and holds several patents and patent pendings in
display technology and printed electronics. A technical founder of E Ink Corporation, he received a
2001 Discover magazine award for technological innovation, and in 1999 he was named as one
ofTechnology Review magazine's 100 most influential innovators under the age of 35 for his work
on "microsphere" technology -- research that has led to the development of "e-ink" and technologies
for electronic books.
Alan Kay
Alan Kay is known for his early work on object-oriented programming and user-interface design.
At Xerox PARC, he was one of the key developers of prototypes for networked workstations using
Smalltalk, the first fully dynamic, object-oriented programming language; this work influenced the
user interface and programming of modern desktop computers. He created the Dynabook, which
defined the basics of the laptop and tablet computer, and he is considered the architect of the
modern graphical user interface (GUI). Kay worked at Atari, was a fellow at Apple Computer, was
a Disney fellow at Walt Disney Imagineering, worked at Applied Minds, and was a senior fellow at
Hewlett-Packard. He worked on the Croquet project, an open-source, networked 3-D environment
for collaborative work. Kay earned a BS in mathematics and molecular biology from the University
of Colorado, and an MS and PhD in computer science from the University of Utah.
Tod Machover, Professor of Music and Media, MIT Media Laboratory
Tod Machover is head of the Media Lab's Hyperinstruments/Opera of the Future group. In 1995, he
received a "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres," one of France's highest cultural honors,
and in 1998 he was awarded the first DigiGlobe Prize from the German government. He has
composed five operas and is the inventor of Hyperinstruments, a technology that uses smart
computers to augment virtuosity. Hyperinstruments have been used by performers such as Yo-Yo
Ma, Prince, and Peter Gabriel. Machover is also the creator of the Toy Symphony, an international
music performance and education project. His research group is currently examining ways to use
music in therapy for emotionally and physically challenged individuals. Machover was formerly
director of musical research at Pierre Boulez's IRCAM institute in Paris. He received both his BA
and MA from the Juilliard School in New York.
Seymour Papert, Professor of Education and Media Technology, Emeritus, MIT Media Laboratory
A mathematician by training, Seymour Papert was a pioneer of artificial intelligence. He is
internationally recognized as the seminal thinker regarding computers and pedagogy for children.
His collaboration with Jean Piaget at the University of Geneva led him to consider using
mathematics to help understand how children can learn and think. In the early 1960s, Papert came
to MIT, where, with Marvin Minsky, he founded the Artificial Intelligence Lab and co-authored
their seminal work Perceptrons. With former Governor of Maine Angus King, he worked on the
Maine Learning Technology Initiative, a program that provided a laptop for every middle-school
student in Maine. He is the author of Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas; The
Children's Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer; and The Connected Family:
Bridging the Digital Generation Gap.
Mitchel Resnick, LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research, MIT Media Laboratory
Mitchel Resnick explores how new technologies can help people (especially children) learn new
things in new ways. His Lifelong Kindergarten research group at the MIT Media Lab has developed
a variety of educational tools, including the "programmable bricks" that were the basis for the
award-winning LEGO MindStorms robotics construction kit. Resnick co-founded the Computer
Clubhouse project, an international network of after-school centers where youth from low-income
communities learn to express themselves creatively with new technologies. Resnick's group
recently developed a new programming language, "Scratch," which makes it easier for kids to
create their own animated stories and interactive art. Resnick earned a BS in physics from
Princeton, and an MS and PhD in computer science from MIT. He is the author or co-author of
several books, including Turtles, Termites, and Traffic Jams.
Ted Selker, Benesse Career Development Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, MIT Media
Laboratory
Ted Selker directs the MIT Media Lab's Context-Aware Computing group, and the Lab's Counter
Intelligence/Design Intelligence special interest group, focused on domestic and product design of
the future. He is also the MIT director of the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project. Before
coming to MIT, he was an IBM fellow and directed IBM's User Systems Ergonomics Research Lab.
He has served as a consulting professor at Stanford University, taught at Hampshire College, the
University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Brown University, and worked at Xerox PARC and
Atari Research Labs. Selker's research has contributed to products ranging from notebook
computers to operating systems; his work has resulted in many products (e.g., the TrackPoint inkeyboard pointing device), and numerous patents and papers.
Barry Vercoe, Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, MIT Media Laboratory
Barry Vercoe heads the Media Lab's Music, Mind and Machine group, which has developed
structured audio technology capable of delivering the most complex, high-quality digital sounds
quickly and at lower bandwidths, without losing quality. This technology has recently been
incorporated into MPEG-4, the world's first international standard for sound synthesis. Vercoe is
credited with training virtually an entire generation of young composers in computer sound
manipulation. He pioneered the creation of synthetic music with the development of the Csound
software-synthesis language. Before coming to MIT, Vercoe taught at Oberlin College
Conservatory and Yale School of Music. He is author of several languages for digital audio
processing, and has hosted numerous workshops for composers and technology at MIT.