Personal Background and Interests

Prof. J.A. Makowsky is an Associate Professor at the Computer Science Department of at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology since 1984. He received his Ph.D. in Mathematics at the ETH-Zurich in 1974. He has held previous positions at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, at Stanford University and at the Free University in West Berlin. He has held visiting positions at the Stefan Banach International Mathematical Center in Warsaw, at MIT, Cambridge Ma., at the Universities of Berne and Lausanne and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

Prof. Makowsky is currently engaged in research in Mathematical Logic with its applications to various fields in Computer Science, in particular the foundations of Data Base Theory, Logic Programming, Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence. He has published over 50 contributions in these fields and is currently preparing a monograph on Logic in Computer Science, to appear with Springer Verlag, Heidelberg. Work with his students range from foundational questions to the design and implementation of intelligent user interfaces.

Prof. Makowsky is also engaged in scientific consulting. In this capacity he has been chief scientific advisor of MENTAL IMAGES , Berlin, since the foundation of that company, and worked for ZURICH , Financial Services and Insurance, Switzerland on issues in computer related risks, product liability and professional liability. He was also writing a regular column in FINANZ & WIRTSCHAFT on topics concerning computers and society.