Ora Lassila
Encyclopedia
Ora Lassila is a Finnish
computer scientist
who lives and works as a Research Fellow at the Nokia
Research Center, in Cambridge, Massachusetts
, U.S.
. He has been conducting research into the Semantic Web
since 1996, and was co-author, with Tim Berners-Lee
and James Hendler
, of the article "The Semantic Web" which appeared in Scientific American
in 2001, now the most cited paper in the Semantic Web area. His early work in this area included proposing the original RDF Specification
with Ralph R. Swick and he has been an elected member of the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C) Advisory Board since 1998. He also belongs to the steering committee of the Semantic Web Science Association.
In 1996-1997, he was a Visiting Scientist at MIT Laboratory for Computer Science, working with W3C, and has also held positions at the Robotics Institute
of Carnegie Mellon University
and Research Scientist at the CS Laboratory of Helsinki University of Technology
.
His work includes a frame-based Knowledge Representation
system (dubbed "SCAM") that he developed (first at HUT
and later at CMU
) and which flew on board the NASA
Deep Space 1
probe that passed the asteroid belt
in 1999. The system served as the KR
substrate for an on-board planner used in an experiment to have the probe perform its functions autonomously.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
computer scientist
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
who lives and works as a Research Fellow at the Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
Research Center, in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He has been conducting research into the Semantic Web
Semantic Web
The Semantic Web is a collaborative movement led by the World Wide Web Consortium that promotes common formats for data on the World Wide Web. By encouraging the inclusion of semantic content in web pages, the Semantic Web aims at converting the current web of unstructured documents into a "web of...
since 1996, and was co-author, with Tim Berners-Lee
Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Timothy John "Tim" Berners-Lee, , also known as "TimBL", is a British computer scientist, MIT professor and the inventor of the World Wide Web...
and James Hendler
James Hendler
James Hendler is an artificial intelligence researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA, and one of the originators of the Semantic Web.-Background and research:...
, of the article "The Semantic Web" which appeared in Scientific American
Scientific American
Scientific American is a popular science magazine. It is notable for its long history of presenting science monthly to an educated but not necessarily scientific public, through its careful attention to the clarity of its text as well as the quality of its specially commissioned color graphics...
in 2001, now the most cited paper in the Semantic Web area. His early work in this area included proposing the original RDF Specification
Resource Description Framework
The Resource Description Framework is a family of World Wide Web Consortium specifications originally designed as a metadata data model...
with Ralph R. Swick and he has been an elected member of the World Wide Web Consortium
World Wide Web Consortium
The World Wide Web Consortium is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web .Founded and headed by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations which maintain full-time staff for the purpose of working together in the development of standards for the...
(W3C) Advisory Board since 1998. He also belongs to the steering committee of the Semantic Web Science Association.
In 1996-1997, he was a Visiting Scientist at MIT Laboratory for Computer Science, working with W3C, and has also held positions at the Robotics Institute
Robotics Institute
The Robotics Institute is a division of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is considered to be one of the leading centers of robotics research in the world....
of Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
and Research Scientist at the CS Laboratory of Helsinki University of Technology
Helsinki University of Technology
Aalto University School of Science and Technology , was the temporary name for Helsinki University of Technology during the process of forming the Aalto University...
.
His work includes a frame-based Knowledge Representation
Knowledge representation
Knowledge representation is an area of artificial intelligence research aimed at representing knowledge in symbols to facilitate inferencing from those knowledge elements, creating new elements of knowledge...
system (dubbed "SCAM") that he developed (first at HUT
Helsinki University of Technology
Aalto University School of Science and Technology , was the temporary name for Helsinki University of Technology during the process of forming the Aalto University...
and later at CMU
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
) and which flew on board the NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Deep Space 1
Deep Space 1
Deep Space 1 is a spacecraft of the NASA New Millennium Program dedicated to testing a payload of advanced, high risk technologies....
probe that passed the asteroid belt
Asteroid belt
The asteroid belt is the region of the Solar System located roughly between the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter. It is occupied by numerous irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids or minor planets...
in 1999. The system served as the KR
Knowledge representation
Knowledge representation is an area of artificial intelligence research aimed at representing knowledge in symbols to facilitate inferencing from those knowledge elements, creating new elements of knowledge...
substrate for an on-board planner used in an experiment to have the probe perform its functions autonomously.