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Kurzweil and friends launch Silicon Valley university
Calling all problem solvers, thinkers and entrepreneurs

By Daniel Terdiman

Published: Tuesday 03 February 2009

Starting this summer, some of the world's leading thinkers in exponentially growing technologies will be gathering annually at Nasa Ames Research Center, in the heart of Silicon Valley, for 10 weeks of discussions on how to change the future - and anyone can apply to join them.

The gatherings will be part of what is known as Singularity University, a brand-new academic institution co-founded by inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil, X Prize chairman and CEO Peter Diamandis, and former Yahoo! Brickhouse head Salim Ismail.

Singularity University is an institution that will feature intensive 10-week, 10-day, or three-day programmes examining a set of 10 technologies and disciplines, such as future studies and forecasting; biotechnology and bioinformatics; nanotechnology; AI, robotics, and cognitive computing; and finance and entrepreneurship.

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The founders anticipate that students will come from all over the world and they hope the programme results in the founding of new companies, the evolution of scientific and technological thinking, and the solidifying of professional and personal networks.

To Kurzweil, Singularity University is a place to problem-solve and talk about the results of the most recent iterations of the exponentially growing technologies that have shaped modern life. Among them, he said, are vacuum tubes, integrated circuits, chips and microprocessors. According to Kurzweil, we are on the threshold of an explosion of the newest such technology, including 3D and self-organising molecular circuits. And to Kurzweil, the ability to bring together the leaders in this wide range of fields is a rare opportunity to jump-start the future.

In addition to the core 10-week course, which will be open to graduate and post-graduate students, Singularity University will also offer three-day and 10-day executive programmes. The shorter version will be targeted at CEOs and CTOs, while the 10-day programme will be aimed at rising-star executives who want to add to their knowledge and networks.

"These programmes are there to give executives a look at what's in the lab today," said Diamandis, "and what is likely to hit the marketplace in the next five to 10 years".

This summer, Singularity University will kick off with just 30 or so students and will piggyback on the International Space University, which will host 120 students at Nasa Ames. But in following years, the new institution is expected to expand to about 120 students.

"If we do our job correctly," Diamandis said, students "will meet, [discover their] common visions, and start companies together. They'll have a chance to match a nanotech expert from Russia with an AI expert from Silicon Valley and see what magic happens at the boundaries."

Among the faculty are George Smoot, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics; Vint Cerf, Google's chief internet evangelist; and Stephanie Langhoff, Nasa Ames' chief scientist.

The base fee for the 10-week programme is $25,000, though Diamandis said there will be a significant number of full and partial scholarships available, funded by private companies, and other contributors.

Ultimately, the results of Singularity University won't be known for some time. But given the people behind it and the likelihood of a steady stream of highly talented students, the odds of it producing the kind of deep thinking and world-changing technology the founders hope for are good.