Bio
Ashok K. Goel is a Professor of Computer Science and Cognitive Science in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. He is Director of the School's Ph.D. Program in Human-Centered Computing, Coordinator of the faculty consortium on Creativity, Learning & Cognition, and Co-Coordinator of the faculty consortium on Interactive Intelligence. He is also Director of the School's Design & Intelligence Laboratory and a Co-Director of Georgia Tech's Center for Biologically Inspired Design.
Ashok conducts research into human-centered computing, artificial intelligence and cognitive science, with a focus on conceptual modeling, design, and creativity. The goals of his research are to model human creativity in practical tasks such as conceptual design of complex systems, to develop interactive tools for aiding people in creative tasks, and to invent computational systems that are themselves creative. His research explores analogical thinking, systems thinking, visual thinking, and meta-thinking as fundamental processes of creativity. His current projects investigate analogical thinking and systems thinking in biologically inspired engineering design, analogical thinking and visual thinking on intelligence tests, and systems thinking and meta-thinking in self-adaptation of game-playing agents. Related projects focus on systems thinking and meta-thinking in learning about ecological systems in middle school science, analogical thinking and systems thinking in learning about biologically inspired design.
Ashok is a member of the Organizing Committee of the conference series on Advances on Cognitive Systems, and the Steering Committee of the conference series on Theory and Application of Diagrams. He is an Associate Editor of IEEE Intelligent Systems; Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing; Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures; and Advances in Cognitive Systems. He also serves on the editorial boards of AAAI's AI Magazine, Advanced Engineering Informatics (AEI), and Design Creativity and Innovation. He is presently co-editing a special issue of ASME Journal of Mechanical Design on Biologically Inspired Design, and a special issue of AIEDAM on Analogical Thinking.
Ashok serves on the Board of Directors of the Biomimicry 3.8 Institute, and is a member of BID Community Think Tank that publishes the Bioinspired! digital magazine. He is a life member of the Association for Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and a member of ACM, IEEE, ASME, the Cognitive Science Society and the Design Society SIG on Design Creativity.
