SINGULARITY UNIVERSITY BRAINS MEET THE FUTURE

Posted on August 21, 2009 by Jeffrey Newman

Singularity University is a unique course of studies founded by Ray Kurzweil, Peter Diamandis and Salim Ismail. This rigorous nine week course in Mountain View California,  looks at exponentially growing technologies including biotechmology; bioinfirmatics; nanotechnology; AI and robotics. A class of 40 students is chosen from over 1200 applicants from around the world , based on their top-level academic skills or those already at the top of their fields or  those who have demonstrated leadership and interest in global issues. The resulting class was filled this  first year with doctors, CEO’s and start-up founders. The 40 students are split into four teams and have three weeks to come up with a project that could impact a billion people over the next 10 years. One project proposed this year called GETTAROUND, set up a car sharing program which incentivizes car owners to rent their vehicles to fellow club members. It uses an iphone application  enabling members to locate available vehicles and start the engines with a low priced kit installed in the car. The focus of the University is to teach students how various disciplines will converge in the near future and to help them envision how to turn these technologies into  sustainable businesses. Tuition for the program is $25,000 but it features superstar teachers like Dan Kammen co-director of the Berkeley Institute of the Environment and Ethernet co-inventor Bob Metcalfe as well as many others. Thought is being given to expanding the program globally if it proves successful.