Partner:	UPC
Organisation's Full Name:	Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya
Location:	Carrer de Jordi Girona 31, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
Website:	http://www.upc.edu
Main Responsibilities:	Support the ICT R&D policy dialogues and synergies with key EU ICT R&D stakeholders
Type of Organisation:	University
Contact Person:	Mr. Ulises Cortes
Email:

The Knowledge Engineering and Machine Learning Group (www.lsi.upc.edu/~webia/KEMLG) within the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) has 8 researchers (all with tenure tracks), 3 post doctoral researchers, 10 Ph.D. students and more than 15 students doing their final projects. Our main fields of interest are Autonomous Agents, Case-Based Reasoning, Knowledge-Based Systems, Knowledge Engineering and Management, Machine Learning, Data Mining and Integrated AI architectures. We have been making contributions mainly in Case-Based Reasoning, Knowledge-Based Systems, Multi-Agent Systems, Causal Reasoning using Possibilistic approach and Non-supervised Learning. One of our major areas of expertise relays in the development of Intelligent Decision Support Systems (IDSS) using Artificial Intelligence Techniques, and especially in IDSS applied to Environmental Systems (IEDSS). From the point of view of Artificial Intelligence applied to the project needs and specification, we have a specific expertise in the areas of Case-Based Reasoning, Knowledge-Based Systems, Multi-Agent Systems, Non-Supervised Machine Learning, Data Mining and its application to intelligent agents.

The group has been active in the Artificial Intelligence field since 1988. The group has been part of the Human Capital Mobility (HCM) Virtual Multicomputer for Symbolic Applications (VIM) under contract No.: ERBCHRXCT930401, and also of the project Telematics, Hypermedia and Artificial Intelligence (THAI) that is a proposal for a cross-disciplinary Masters level programme within the framework of the SOCRATES programme. The team is or has been involved in EU funded projects as: Agentlink III (Semantic Knowledge Based Systems), ASPIC (Semantic Knowledge Based Systems) and Provenance (Grid computing. Previous EU project work under framework V included Agentlink II, A-TEAM (IST-1999-10176) Advanced Training System for Emergency Management, and in EU project Agencities.RTD (IST-2000-28385) and Agencities.NET (IST-2000-28386). Steve Willmott and Ulises Cortés were the coordinators of the "Agentcities" (DEP-2003-00024) finalist application to the Descartes Prize 2003 Outstanding Scientific and Technological Achievements Resulting from European Collaborative Research.

The group is also a node member of MLnet: Machine Learning Network of Excellence and Mlnet 2, funded by EU in (ESPRIT 29288). In addition to European Project activity, the group participates is a wide range of national / international initiatives including: “An Intelligent Decision Support System for minimisation and forecasting of volcanic activity impact” (R31971-A.), funded by CONACYT in México, Spanish and Catalan funded research projects such as in the current project entitled “Development of an Intelligent Data Analysis System for Knowledge Management” in Environmental Data Bases (GESCONDA, TIC2000-1011) funded by Spanish CICyT entity, the Application of knowledge-based systems to the management of wastewater treatment plants biotechnological processes: simultaneous elimination of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous. (AMB97-889) funded by Spanish CICYT, 1997-2000 and Development of a knowledge-based architecture for the supervision and (re)design of biotechnological processes: application to an activated sludge process (BIO94-679) funded by Spanish CICYT, 1994-1997.