4
Friday, October 10, 1986/The Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
search program drawing clients
A&M works on artificial intelligence
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By Curtis Leonard
Reporter
lesearchers at Texas A&rM are
■eloping artificial intelligence
Igiams that are attracting such cli-
as the Chrysler Corp., the U.S.
wee and Scott and White Medi-
§:linic.
rtilicial intelligence is one of the
est areas of research for the
las Engineering Experiment Sta-
I, but it already houses one of the
|(M collections of artificial intelli-
|nu applications development
nil. are in the country,
he artificial intelligence lab,
ivnas the Knowledge Based Sys-
Laboratory, has been in exis-
:efor about a year and a half, di-
etloi Richard Mayer says.
■laver defines artificial intelli-
Bceas“the scientific discipline of
| r people acquire and use know-
e."
SiM researchers are creating
iware and computer systems that
do the mental work of humans,
v are attempting to make com-
rs more productive, easier to
[and, in ef fect, smarter,
y using artificial intelligence ap-
itions software, people in a cer-
tield can access highly valuable
information that has been gathered
by experts, Mayer says. Some infor
mation would be difficult or impossi
ble to obtain in a usable form with
out such systems, he says.
Bill Knappenberger, systems ana
lyst for advanced manufacturing of
Chrysler Corp. in Detroit, says, “The
lab has already completed two proto
type systems that were delivered re
cently to the Chrysler Corp. in the
area of automotive engineering.”
One of the prototype systems, the
cooling systems adviser, aids in the
designing of an automobile’s radia-
tor, shroud and fan, Knappenberger
says.
The other prototype, the fastener
selection adviser, helps engineers
choose the best type of fasteners for
two automotive components, he
says.
“There are about 3,000 to 4,000
different fasteners that range from
evervthing to nuts and bolts to tiny
glue strips,” Knappenberger says.
“There are only three experts on
fasteners, and the AI (artificial intel
ligence) system will take some of the
current tedium out of fastener selec
tion for the experts.”
Both systems are being used in a
verv limited domain, he savs, and
delivery systems are being designed
for widespread use.
Chrysler says it is pleased with the
work done so far, and other projects
for engineering and manufacturing
are planned for the future, Knap
penberger says.
The lab also is working on an in
formation management system for
the U.S. Air Force.
Mayer says A&M researchers are
working on a system with several
other universities and businesses
that will link the different offices
and departments of the Air Force
with businesses. Linking depart
ments will help increase the produc
tivity of white-collar workers, he
says.
The problem now is that most of
the departments have different com-
puters which use different lan
guages and data bases, he says.
For example, he says, it’s hard for
manufacturing and engineering de
partments to share data when their
computing systems are different.
Yet communication between the two
is vital, he says.
Mayer says the biggest problem
with developing a system is getting
different departments to agree on
the meaning of words.
He says “oil well,” for example,
means one thing to engineers, some
thing else to manufacturers and still
something else to an accounting de
partment.
Scott and White Medical Clinic,
which recently opened its doors in
College Station, is working with the
lab to set up a new type of patient in
formation system.
If data on patients could be cross-
listed and a system designed to “read
between the lines,” medical research
would benefit immensely, Mayer
For example, if the patient’s infor
mation sheet says a person was born
and raised in a particular city and
then moved elsewhere to go to col
lege, Mayer says he would want the
artificial intelligence program to re
alize that the person had spent about
17 vears in the city he was born in
and then list that person along with
other asthma patients who lived in
the same city.
This type of record comparison
and research is impractical for a doc
tor to perform manually, Mayer
savs.
ilotorcyle course helps riding skills
a. I
By Greg Bailey
Reporter
/ith the help of the Motorcycle
ling Course offered through the
[lege Station Community Educa-
Project, some students obtain
r operator’s license, others get a
h nee to hone their riding skills,
H all learn some things that could
^their lives.
he course, which is offered
ithly, is given on two consecutive
lays and Saturdays and spon-
d by the Motorcycle Safety
ndation and the Texas Depart-
it of Public Safety. The Friday
ions are devoted to classroom in
struction while Saturdays are re
served for range work — beginning
at 7 a.m.
In order to legally ride a motorcy
cle in Texas, all motorcyclists must
pass vision and driving tests, as well
as a written test, which are issued by
the DPS.
Riders between the ages of 15 and
18 are required to take the MRC and
pass both written and skills tests in
order to take the DPS licensing ex
amination.
Some insurance companies are of
fering those completing the course a
10-percent discount on their liability
premiums.
The eight hours of classwork in
cludes instruction on safety rules,
riding skills, insurance information,
inspections and troubleshooting. At
the end of the class, students take
the MRC Knowledge Test.
“By the end of the day those stu
dents are dragging,” says Christine
Landphair, one of the four course
instructors. “They’ve driven 32 miles
and it’s taken them about eight
hours to do it.”
After their range work, students
take the Motorcycle Operator Skills
Test.
Landphair and her husband Har
low, both course instructors, assume
that students have never ridden a
motorcycle and take their time in fa
miliarizing students with the ma
chines.
The next course will be given on
Oct. 17, 18, 24 and 25. Those inter
ested in taking the course should
contact Alonzo Wood in the College
Station Community Education office
at 696-3820.
There is a $50 fee to take the
course, and students must provide
leather gloves, a long-sleeve shirt or
jacket, and leather boots or shoes
that cover the ankles. Motorcycles
used in the course have been pro
vided by local dealers and helmets
will be provided for those who need
them.
In Advan<
Apartheid protest march scheduled
Students Against Apartheid is
sponsoring a march against
apartheid today at 4:30 p.m. The
protest march will begin across
the street from College Station
City Hall and will go through
campus to Rudder Fountain.
The march is to protest invest
ment by Texas A&M in compa
nies in South Africa.
Dutch soprano to perform at Rudder
Critically acclaimed Dutch so
prano Elly Ameling will bring
German art songs, or “lieder,” to
Texas A&M tonight at 8 in Rud
der Auditorium.
Ameling’s appearance, spon
sored by the Memorial Student
Center’s Opera and Performing
Arts Society, will feature pieces by
Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolf
gang Amadeus Mozart, Franz
Schubert, Robert Schumann, Jo
hannes Brahms, Felix Mendels
sohn and Franz Liszt. Pianist Ru
dolf Jansen will accompany
Ameling.
The “lied,” a combination of
poetry and music written for pi
ano and voice, has its origins in
19th-century Germany. The
lieder were originally written to
be sung and enjoyed in homes
but later became a popular form
of entertainment for the stage.
Germany poetry, particularly the
works of Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe, provided the text for the
lieders that usually dealt with na
ture, legends and love.
Ameling is considered to be
one of the world’s best female
concert singers of the lieder. She
performs in several cities around
the world each year.
This year critics honored
Ameling with the title “La Vestale
Del Lied,” an Italian term that
proclaims she is among the best
of women performers of the Ger
man art song. Ameling has
worked to encourage other sing
ers by establishing the Elly Amel
ing Lied Prize, awarded each year
at the International Vocal Com
petition of s’Hertogenbosch held
in the Netherlands.
Senate to look at evaluation policy
A resolution suggesting uni
form course/instructor evalua
tions be given all Texas A&M
professors will be considered by
the Faculty Senate in its meeting
Monday in 601 Rudder Tower at
3:15 p.m.
A joint committee made up of
faculty and student senators has
compiled a list of recommenda
tions for evaluating teachers and
courses on a University-wide ba
sis, which they hope will be ad
ministered no later than Fall
1987. Currently, some evalua
tions are given at the end of each
semester, but not uniformly
throughout the University.
In other business, the Senate
will elect a deputy speaker from a
list of four nominees. The former
deputy speaker, Dr. Jerry Gaston,
Hfrterl last spring, was chosen as
the new associate provost, at
which time he resigned his Senate
position.
The Senate also plans to dis
cuss requiring graduating seniors
to take Finals at the same time as
other students.
Beginning in Spring 1988, de
gree candidates will be required
to take final exams. But, as the
regulation is now written, finals
for graduating seniors may or
may not overlap with finals for
other students. According to the
Senate, this does not comply with
the intent of the regulation,
therefore it is requesting that the
undergraduate and graduate cat
alogues omit the final exam
schedule as well as the date for re
porting grades for degree candi
dates.
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