IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Magazine - July 2020 - 3

Editorial

by Saeid Nahavandi

ince time immemorial, humans
have tr ied to predict the
future and, in some cases,
have done so with great accuracy. We
are often fascinated about exploring what is beyond the unknown. An
innate tendency to embrace research
and discovery feeds the curiosity of
every human being from the day he
or she arrives into this world. What
helps us achieve all this is the human
brain; yet, we have a long way to go
in discovering how the brain thinks,
exactly how it functions, how to create interfaces with it, and how to use
our thinking to directly power and
control our machines.
Some people consider this a
frightening idea, but many scientists are on the road to achieving
this, albeit by taking small steps.
Only recently, we witnessed how a
brain-controlled exo--skeleton has the
potential to help paraplegics walk.
This is definitely within reach after
further research and development.
Hopefully, one day soon, we can truly
enhance one's quality of life through
-technologies.
In our January issue of IEEE Systems,
Man, and Cybernetics (SMC) Magazine, many readers enjoyed the article, "Brain-Inspired Systems." It
was a great contribution by our thought
leaders. In this issue, we build on that
concept through a number of relevant
and topical articles. This issue also includes an article prepared comprehensively on the visual assessment of a
tendency family of algorithms.
Earlier this year, our Society appointed three new editors-in-chief.
Two will serve its key journals, namely,

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MSMC.2020.2993344
Date of current version: 15 July 2020

The Power
of the Brain

delivered by young and very energetic
innovators who took research ideas
from their university laboratories and
set off on the journey into the world
of the commercialization of technologies that matter to industry and users.
It was so good to see how research
outcomes from university labs can find
their way into the product lists of successful start-ups. We need to see more
of such endeavors.

Saeid Nahavandi

Philip Chen with IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics and Robert
Kozma with IEEE Transactions o n
S y s t e m s , Ma n , and Cybernetics:
Systems. I had the honor of being appointed as the editor-in-chief for IEEE
SMC Magazine.
Well before the COVID-19 lockdown, I attended a small workshop
with only 150 participants, and it
held great potential to make a difference. The speakers included people
from well-respected multinational
companies and top researchers from
academia with very high technical
standards. However, this was complemented by several short presentations

Ju ly 2020

About the Author
Saeid Nahavandi (saeid.nahavandi
@deakin.edu.au) earned his Ph.D.
degree from Durham University, United Kingdom, in 1991. He is an Alfred
Deakin professor, pro-vice-chancellor,
chair of engineering, and the founding
director for the Institute for Intelligent
Systems Research and Innovation at
Deakin University, Australia. His
research interests include the modeling of complex systems, robotics, and
haptics. He has published more than
900 scientific papers in various international journals and conferences. He
is a fellow at the Australian Academy
of Technological Sciences and Engineering and a leading authority on
haptically enabled robotics. He is a
Fellow of the IEEE and the editor-inchief of IEEE Systems, Man, and
Cybernetics Magazine.

IEEE SYSTEMS, MAN, & CYBERNETICS MAGAZINE

IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Magazine - July 2020

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