Prof Austin Tate is Professor Emeritus of Knowledge-Based Systems at
the University of Edinburgh and from 1985 to 2019 was the Director of
the Artificial Intelligence Applications Institute at the University.
He helped form AIAI in 1984 and since that time has led its efforts to
transfer the technologies and methods of artificial intelligence and
knowledge systems into commercial, governmental and academic
applications throughout the world. He holds degrees in Computer
Studies (B.A. Lancaster, 1972) and Machine Intelligence
(Ph.D. Edinburgh, 1975) and Distance Education (M.Sc. Edinburgh
2012). He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Fellow of
the Royal Society of Edinburgh (Scotland's National Academy), Fellow
of the Association for the Advancement of AI and Fellow of the British
Computer Society. His internationally sponsored research work is focused on
emergency response and involves advanced knowledge and planning
technologies, and collaborative systems especially using virtual
worlds.