Chercheurs

Informatique / ZADEH, LOTFI

zadeh

Position

Professor in the Graduate School, Computer Science Division
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720 -1776

Director, Berkeley Initiative in Soft Computing (BISC)

Thèmes de recherche

The concept of soft computing -- which was introduced by Lotfi Zadeh in 1991 -- serves to highlight the emergence of computing methodologies in which the accent is on exploiting the tolerance for imprecision and uncertainty to achieve tractability, robustness and low solution cost. At this juncture, the principal constituents of soft computing are fuzzy logic, neurocomputing, evolutionary computing and probabilistic computing, with the later subsuming belief networks, chaotic systems and parts of learning theory. What is particularly important about soft computing is that it facilitates the use of fuzzy logic, neurocomputing, evolutionary computing and probabilistic computing in combination, leading to the concept of hybrid intelligent systems. Such systems are rapidly growing in importance and visibility.

Currently, Lotfi Zadeh's work is focused on the development of the methodology of computing with words and the computational theory of perceptions. The computational theory of perceptions may be viewed as a new direction in fuzzy logic.

Summary of principal contributions :
Development of a frequency-domain based theory of time-varying networks, 1949.
Extension of Wiener's theory of prediction, with J.R. Ragazzini, 1950.
Development of the z-transform approach, with J.R. Ragazzini, 1952.
Development of a theory of nonlinear filters, 1953.
Formulation of the problem of system identification, 1956.
Initiation of the state-space approach to the analysis of linear systems, with C.A. Desoer, 1963.
Initiation of the theory of fuzzy sets, 1965.
Development of a theory of decision-making in a fuzzy environment, with R.E. Bellman, 1970.
Introduction of the concepts of a linguistic variable and fuzzy if-then rules, 1973. This work laid the foundation for fuzzy logic control and most of the current applications of fuzzy logic.
Development of possibility theory, 1978.
Development of PRUF - a meaning representation language for natural languages, 1978.
Development of a theory of approximate reasoning, 1979.
Development of a theory of ususality and commonsense reasoning, 1985.
Development of test-score semantics for natural languages, 1986.
Development of the concept of a generalized constraint, 1986.
Development of dispositional logic, 1988.
Initiation of the calculii of fuzzy rules, fuzzy graphs and fuzzy probabilities, 1991.
Development of Soft Computing, 1991.
Development of Computing with Words, 1996.
Development of a theory of fuzzy information granulation, 1997.
Development of a Computational Theory of Perceptions, 1998.
Development of Precisiated Natural Language, 2000.
Development of a perception-based theory of probabilistic reasoning, 2001.
Development of the concept of generalized definability, 2001.

Prix et récompenses

Prizes

Honda Prize, Honda Foundation, 1989.
Kampe de Feriet Prize, 1992.
Grigore Moisil Prize for Fundamental Researches, Romanian Society for Fuzzy Systems, 1993.
Okawa Prize, Okawa Foundation, 1996.

Medals

IEEE Education Medal, 1973.
Eringen Medal, Society of Engineering Science, 1975.
IEEE Centennial Medal, 1984.
IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal, 1992.
Rufus Oldenburger Medal, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1993.
IEEE Medal of Honor, 1995.
Bolzano Medal, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 1997.
Edward Feigenbaum Medal, International Society for Intelligent Systems, 1998.
IEEE Millennium Medal, 2000

Awards

Congress Award, International Congress on Applied Systems Research and Cybernetics, Acapulco, 1980.
Outstanding Paper Award, International Symposium on Multiple-Valued Logic, Winnipeg, 1984.
Premier Best Paper Award, 2nd Int'l Conference on Fuzzy Theory and Technology, Duke University, Durham, NC, 1993.
J.P. Wohl Career Acheivement Award of the IEEE Systems, Science and Cybernetics Society, 1997.
Richard E. Bellman Control Heritage Award, American Council on Automatic Control, 1998.
Information Science Award, Association for Intelligent Machinery, 1998.
Scientific Contribution Memorial Award, Japanese Society of Fuzzy Theory (SOFT), 1999.
ACIDCA 2000 Award for the paper, "From Computing with Numbers to Computing with Words -- From Manipulation of Measurements to Manipulation of Perceptions."
IEEE Pioneer Award in Fuzzy Systems, 2000.
ACM 2000 Allen Newell Award, 2001.

Publications

Why the Success of Fuzzy Logic is not Paradoxical, IEEE Expert, 9(4):43-45, 1994. Soft Computing and Fuzzy Logic, IEEE Software, 11(1-6):48-56, 1994.

Probability Theory and Fuzzy Logic are Complementary rather than Competitive, Technometrics, 37, 271-276,1995.

Fuzzy Logic = Computing with Words, IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems, 2, 103-111, 1996.

Fuzzy Logic and the Calculi of Fuzzy Rules and Fuzzy Graphs, International Journal of Multiple-Valued Logic, 1, 1-39, 1996

From Computing with Numbers to Computing with Words -- From Manipulation of Measurements to Manipulation of Perceptions, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems, 45, 105-119, 1999.

Outline of Computational Theory of Perceptions Based on Computing with Words, Soft Computing & Intelligent Systems, N.K. Sinha, M.M. Gupta, and L.A. Zadeh (eds), 3-22. New York; Academic Press, 2000.