Sebastian Thrun @ Stanford University

Sebastian Thrun is a Professor of Computer Science and Electrical
Engineering at Stanford University, where he directs the Stanford
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Thrun's research focuses on
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. He is probably best known for
his victory in the DARPA Grand Challenge, and his second place finish
in the DARPA Urban Challenge - both robotic competition organized by
the US Government to foster the field of autonomous robotics. Thrun
has published 11 books, over 300 technical papers, and has won
numerous awards, including most recently the Science Prize of the City
of Braunschweig, Germany. Thrun is an elected member of the National
Academy of Engineering (USA) and of the German Academy of Sciences.