Summer School International Conference on Human-Machine Systems, Cyborgs and Enhancing Devices HUMASCEND                       Part of the Advanced Technologies for              Enhanced Quality of Life                        AT-EQUAL                Conference Series SEE OUR NEW PAGE at www.at-equal.org/hss2012 This is the third summer school offered through co-sponsorship of the Advanced Technologies for Enhanced Quality of Life Society (AT-EQUAL) in Iasi, Romania. Previous schools were: -  2009 International Summer School in Robotics and Intelligent Systems (ISRIS) and the -  2010 IEEE-RAS/IFFR School of Robotics Science on Social and Cognitive Robotics (SOCORO). "Human-Machine Systems, Cyborgs, and Enhancing Devices” is an avant-garde theme;  we expect it to be the subject of intensive debates, and to generate many novel ideas. We will explore current technologies used to advance the condition of man- by the use of robots, of devices, and of implants, and we will engage in many discussions and brainstorming on future directions of high interest.  As the name suggests there will be three main topics: • Human-Machine Systems: humans and machines in collaborative relationships • Enhancing Devices: focusing on a next-gen prosthetics, designed to enhance human capabilities • Cyborgs:  focusing on true hybrids that fuse living tissue and artificial structures Each of these themes will be the topic of one day. The other two days will include a school poster session and introduction of student interests and research topics, lectures on state of the art in Humanoid robotics, Future Robots, Advanced prosthetics, and Ethical and Social Implications. The social program includes a tour to N. Moldavia monasteries to allow further development of bonds between school students, setting the basis for future collaborations in international projects. The order of lectures may suffer changes to accomodate the availability of the speakers, and to allow attending common events with the HUMASCEND conference. The current allocation is as follows. Day 1 Robotics and Advanced Prosthetics - State of the art in robotics - Humanoid robotics - Advanced prosthetics - Panel Day 2 Human-Machine Systems - Therapeutic robots - Assistive and caregiving robots - Human-computer and human-robot interaction - Theme discussion and debate Day 3 Enhancing Devices - Design and fabrication of miniature assistive devices - Brain-Machine Interfaces -  Portable devices collecting/processing bio-signals - Exoskeletons - Collective emotional intelligence - Group discussion and brainstorming on enhancing device for Fun/entertainment/edutainment Day 4 Cyborgs - Robotic surgery - Tissue engineering, cell stems, regenerative medicine - Implant engineering and control - Theme discussion and debate Day 5 Social implications - Ethical and Social implication panel - A Clinical Psychology Perspective Social Program including visit of Iasi and tour to N. Moldavia monasteries Confirmed lecturers and invited speakers: Raja Chatila, LLAS-CNRS, France Sukhan Lee, Sungkyunkwan University, Korea Karsten Berns,  U. Kaiserslautern,Germany Paolo Fiorini, U. Verona, Italy Kevin  Warwick, U. Reading, UK Joe Ferguson, CognitiveDevices, USA Kenji Suzuki, U. Tsukuba, Japan Bram Vandergorght, Vrije U. Brussel, Belgium Adriana Tapus, ENSTA-ParisTech, France Luminita Labusca,Univ Hospital Iasi, Romania Daniel David, U. Babes-Bolyai, Cluj, Romania Adrian Stoica, NASA/JPL, USA     Target audience: PhD-level researchers - those currently pursuing the degree, seriously considering, or having completed the PhD and showing interest in the topics of the school. Applicants should submit, in PDF, two documents of 1 page each:  a resume highlighting experience relevant to the school, and a description of research interests. Emails should have the subject :HSS-2012 Application and should be addressed  to Adrian.stoica@jpl.nasa.gov, paolo.fiorini@univr.it,  idorofte@mail.tuiasi.ro The school will be limited to 40 students. Please submit your application before March 25th.  It is recommended that you submit early - applications will be reviewed in the order received.   School Directors: Dr. Adrian Stoica, NASA-JPL, USA , Prof. Paolo Fiorini, University of Verona, Italy Prof. Ioan Doroftei, Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi, Romania Summer School on Human-Machine Systems, Cyborgs, and Enhancing Devices Raja Chatila                   Sukhan Lee              Karsten Berns            Paolo Fiorini                  Kevin  Warwick        Joe Ferguson     Kenji Suzuki           Adriana Tapus         Bram Vandergorght       Luminita Labusca             Daniel David               Adrian Stoica