Rob Milne

Timeline

1. 1956–1983

   MIT, Mecho and an AI PhD

   Born in Libby, Montana, in 1956 and raised in Colorado, he earns a BSc in electrical engineering and computer science at MIT in 1978. At Edinburgh, he joins the Mecho project on machine understanding of mechanics problems written in English and completes an AI PhD in 1983.

2. 1982–1986

   AI roles in the U.S. military

   From 1982 to 1985, he serves as an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology. From 1985 to 1986, he serves as chief scientist at the Pentagon, where he founds the U.S. Army AI Center.

3. 1986–2005

   Intelligent Applications and Tiger

   In 1986, he founds Intelligent Applications in Livingston and serves as its managing director through 2005. The company develops Tiger for turbine monitoring and a range of heavy engineering turbine diagnostic systems.

4. 1980s–1990s

   AI consultancy at British Airways

   From the late 1980s through the late 1990s, he consults on projects carried out by British Airways' Artificial Intelligence Unit.

5. 1991–2004

   British and European AI leadership

   He chairs BCS SGAI conferences in 1991, 1992, and 1995. From 1997 to 2002, he serves as a director of the Scottish Software Federation and ScotlandIS. From 2000 to 2004, he serves as president of ECCAI.

6. 2003

   A Royal Society fellowship

   In 2003, he becomes a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for his work in applied AI and leadership in European AI societies.

7. 2005

   Bringing IJCAI to Scotland

   In 2005, he leads the successful bid to bring IJCAI to Scotland and chairs its local arrangements committee.

8. 2005

   I-X expedition support

   His interest in AI leads Edinburgh's AIAI to develop an I-X application for expedition support; the tools plan and coordinate expeditions to remote sites such as Everest. He dies just short of the summit in 2005.