Biography:Seth J. Teller

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Short description: American computer scientist (1964–2014)
Seth J. Teller
Born(1964-05-28)May 28, 1964
DiedJune 1, 2014(2014-06-01) (aged 50)
Alma materWesleyan University (BA)
University of California, Berkeley (MA, PhD)
Scientific career
FieldsComputer science
InstitutionsMIT
ThesisVisibility Computations in Densely Occluded Polyhedral Environments (1992)
Doctoral advisorCarlo H. Séquin

Seth Jared Teller (May 28, 1964 – July 1, 2014) was an American computer scientist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, whose research interests included computer vision, sensor networks, and robotics.[1] In his Argus and Rover projects of the late 1990s, Teller was an early pioneer in the use of mobile cameras and geolocation to build three-dimensional models of cities.[2][3]

Early life

Teller's parents are Joan Teller and Samuel H. Teller of Bolton, Connecticut; Samuel Teller is a senior judge in the Connecticut Superior Court in Rockville.[4]

Teller received his undergraduate degree from the Wesleyan University,[4] and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992. His dissertation, Visibility Computations in Densely Occluded Polyhedral Environments, was supervised by Carlo H. Séquin.[5]

Academic career

Teller briefing Ash Carter at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in July 2013.[6]

He was a post-doctoral fellow at the Computer Science Institute of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Princeton University's Computer Science Department.

Teller was awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 1997.[7]

Teller was heading the Robotics, Vision, and Sensor Networks group at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, conducting robotics and artificial intelligence research on developing robots with situational awareness.[8] His work involved, in particular, creating various assistive technology robots and devices for people with disabilities.[9][10][11] Teller's robotics projects included "a robotic, voice-controlled wheelchair, a wearable device for visually-impaired people that provides them with information about their surroundings, a self-driving car and an unmanned forklift".[12] He also worked on developing technology for reducing the danger of first responders being hit by the passing vehicles while stopped to deal with highway accidents.[13]

Teller was part of the MIT group developing software for a DoD robot, "Atlas", in the DARPA Robotics Challenge competition.[14][15] Earlier, Teller's robotic car competed in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge competition.[16]

In 2015, the Robotics Science and Systems Foundation established a Best Systems Paper Award in honor of Teller.[17][18]

Personal life and death

Seth Teller married Rachel Zimmerman, a journalist from New York, in September 2002.[4] They had two daughters.[19]

Teller was involved in neighborhood activism in Cambridge, Massachusetts and helped create the Neighborhood Association of East Cambridge.[20][21]

Seth Teller died on July 1, 2014, at the age of 50.[22] The official cause of death was ruled a suicide, with the cause of death listed as "blunt trauma to head and torso."[23]

References

  1. Teller, S.J.; Séquin, C.H. (1991). "Visibility preprocessing for interactive walkthroughs". ACM Press New York, NY, USA. pp. 61–70. http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=122725. 
  2. Sales, Robert J. (February 24, 1999). "Scanning project puts three-dimensional city models on the map". MIT News. http://news.mit.edu/1999/scanning-0224. 
  3. Stefanidis, Anthony; Nittel, Silvia (2004). GeoSensor Networks. CRC Press. p. 5. ISBN 9780203356869. https://books.google.com/books?id=4Udwoj8_NmgC&pg=PA5. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Rachel Zimmerman, Seth Teller". New York Times. September 8, 2002. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/08/style/weddings-celebrations-rachel-zimmerman-seth-teller.html. 
  5. Seth J. Teller at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  6. "Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter listens to a brief from professor Seth Teller at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory in Lexington, Mass., July 15, 2013." (in en-US). https://www.defense.gov/observe/photo-gallery/igphoto/2001119040/. 
  7. "Alfred P. Sloan Foundation". Chronicle of Higher Education. 1997-07-18. https://www.chronicle.com/article/Alfred-P-Sloan-Foundation/74568. 
  8. "Robot wheelchair finds its own way". MIT News. September 19, 2008. http://news.mit.edu/2008/wheelchair-0919. 
  9. "50 key MIT-related innovations". Beta Boston. May 19, 2014. http://www.betaboston.com/news/2014/05/19/50-ways-that-mit-has-transformed-computer-science/. 
  10. "Andrea Bocelli: Every day they told me 'this is too dangerous'. But I don't care". The Independent. February 17, 2013. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/andrea-bocelli-every-day-they-told-me-this-is-too-dangerous-but-i-dont-care-8498718.html. 
  11. "Un navigatore per non vedenti Bocelli mette al lavoro il Mit". La Repubblica. January 14, 2014. https://www.repubblica.it/salute/medicina/2014/01/14/news/un_navigatore_per_non_vedenti_bocelli_mette_al_lavoro_il_mit-75924641/. 
  12. Ken Gagne; Rebecca Linke (December 30, 2014). "Tech luminaries we lost in 2014". Computerworld. https://www.computerworld.com/article/2862223/tech-luminaries-we-lost-in-2014.html#slide17. 
  13. Hiawatha Bray (April 2, 2012). "MIT engineers help fight roadside perils". Boston Globe. https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2012/04/01/mit-engineers-fight-roadside-perils-that-threaten-police-first-responders/eYiDvavEEfJ5SHHyidKhwI/story.html. 
  14. "Robot rescue: First-responders of the future". Fox News. June 10, 2014. https://www.foxnews.com/tech/robot-rescue-first-responders-of-the-future. 
  15. Erik Sofge (June 6, 2015). "For Autonomous Robots, The School of Hard Knocks Is In Session". Popular Science. https://www.popsci.com/autonomous-robots-school-hard-knocks-session/. 
  16. Jay MacDonald (September 27, 2012). "Robotic Cars Hit the Road in 2 States". Fox Business. https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/robotic-cars-hit-the-road-in-2-states. 
  17. "Robotics Science and Systems Foundation". http://www.roboticsfoundation.org/index.php/awards?id=15. 
  18. "Best Systems Paper Award". Robotics Science and Systems Foundation. http://www.roboticsfoundation.org/index.php/awards?id=15. 
  19. "Death notices: Seth J. Teller". Boston Globe. July 26, 2014. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?n=seth-j-teller&pid=171815681. 
  20. Sara Feijo (July 9, 2014). "Community remembers Cambridge activist, MIT professor Seth Teller". Wicked Local Cambridge. https://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20140709/News/140707064. 
  21. Greg Turner (January 11, 2013). "Let HYM do it, cries E. Cambridge group". Boston Herald. https://www.bostonherald.com/2013/01/11/let-hym-do-it-cries-e-cambridge-group/. 
  22. "Professor Seth Teller dies at age 50" (in en-US). MIT News. July 2, 2014. https://news.mit.edu/2014/professor-seth-teller-dies. 
  23. Xu, Kath (August 5, 2014). "Cause of death of Professor Seth Teller is released" (in en-US). The Tech. https://thetech.com/2014/08/05/suicide-v134-n29. 

External links