Work of Erol, Nau, Hendler earns honorable mention for ICAPS Influential Paper Award

A 15-year-old paper written by ISR alumnus Kutluhan Erol (CS Ph.D. 1995) and his two advisors, Professor Dana Nau (CS/ISR) and Professor James Hendler (CS/ISR) has won honorable mention for the ICAPS Influential Paper Award.

The award honors significant and influential automated planning and scheduling papers published at least 10 years earlier in one of the ICAPS family of conferences (ICAPS, ECP, EWSP, AIPS). ICAPS is the International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling (ICAPS).

The paper is “A sound and complete procedure for hierarchical task-network planning,” published in Proc. International Conf. on AI Planning Systems (AIPS), pp. 249-254, June 1994. The work of Erol, Nau and Hendler is considered pioneering in the formalization and analysis of hierarchical task-network (HTN) planning systems, which since has become an integral part of artificial intelligence curriculum.

Erol is currently the Vice President of Mindlore Inc., a company that develops advanced software technologies to enhance human efficiency and optimize human computer interaction, with specialties in usability and automated decisioning. Erol’s research interests include artificial intelligence, knowledge management and decision support systems. Prior to working for Mindlore, Erol was employed by Intelligent Automation, Inc.

Hendler left the University of Maryland in 2007. Currently he is assistant dean for information technology and the Tetherless World Constellation Chair in the Computer Science Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.

Published August 25, 2009