Fraunhofer FIRST, Berlin

The Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Architecture and Software Technology (FIRST) was established in 1983 and belongs to the Information and Communication Group of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Today, it has a total staff of approximately 120, employed in the three departments Embedded Systems, Interactive Systems and Intelligent Data Analysis as well as in administration. Fraunhofer FIRST offers support to its research and industrial partners in developing efficient information technologies. FIRST provides analysis, modelling and simulation tools to help understand and master complex systems. FIRST builds fast, reliable hardware and software systems as well as tools for constructing and evaluating them. FIRST develops innovative, scalable visualization and interaction interfaces for human-computer systems based on inexpensive standard components.

People: Nikola Serbedzija, Gerd Kock, Manuel Schiewe

Web:  http://www.first.fraunhofer.de/

Ferrari S.P.A, Maranello

Ferrari is a symbol of technical excellence thanks to its reputation as a pioneer in automotive engineering. Since its foundation in 1947, Ferrari S.P.A has pursued a policy of growth and innovation from its original factory site in Maranello (Italy) and has recently been awarded the A.T. Kearney "Best Innovator 2005" prize for "culture and organization of innovation" Ferrari S.P.A, with its 2800 employees, constantly pushes the envelope of performance, driving emotions, technology and design on its road cars and is the only car constructor to have competed in every single season of the Formula 1 World Championship since 1950. For many years it was also the only team to build every part of its own single-seaters, from the chassis to the engine, gearboxes and suspension. Ferrari currently builds over 4,500 cars a year with production split between the V8-engined cars (F430 and F430 Spider) and the V12-engined cars, the 599 GTB Fiorano 2-seater berlinetta and the flagship 2+2 612 Scaglietti.

People: Alessandro Ragnoni

Philips Research, Eindhoven

Philips Research has become one of the world's major private research organizations. With laboratories in five different countries (The Netherlands, England, Germany, China and the United States) and staffed by around 2,100 people, our common vision is to create technologies that will lead to products for improving people's lives. Our activities have led to the award of some 100,000 patent and design rights, and the publishing of many thousands of technical and scientific papers. Scientists from a wide range of disciplines, from electrical engineering and physics to chemistry, mathematics, mechanics, information technology software and psychology, work in close proximity, influencing and broadening each other's views.

At the Philips High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, Philips Research has developed an experience research centre called HomeLab. HomeLab is a rebuilt living environment comprising a two-stock house with a living, a kitchen, two bedrooms, a bathroom and a study. Double walls and ceilings hide technology that simulates new product concepts; in the case of the REFLECT project, concepts regarding pervasive adaptive living room environments are foreseen. Equipped with 34 cameras throughout the home, HomeLab also provides behavioural researchers a perfect instrument for studying user human behaviour inside a "normal" living room environment.

People: Joyce Westerink, Marjolein van der Zwaag

Web:   http://www.research.philips.com/

LMU, Munich

The Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich is one of the three top ranked German universities. It enjoys a centuries-old tradition and today is one of the most internationally renowned and strongest research universities in Germany. Its 18 faculties give around 700 professors and 3,000 academic staff room to research and teach. They offer a wide and well-rounded range of learning opportunities that cover all areas, whether humanities and culture studies, law, economics and sociology, or medicine and the sciences. In addition to its many faculties, LMU-Muenchen is home to many special research centers, facilities, interdisciplinary projects and national and transnational initiatives.

The group on Programming and Software Engineering (PST) has expertise in object-oriented software development, in Java programming and the design of Web-based software systems. PST researchers have developed UML extensions for mobile systems, the first formal semantics for multi-threading in Java and the first provably correct code generation algorithm, generating concurrent Java programs from UML designs. Products of PST are a workflow driven CASE tool, a model checker for real-time UML, and an adaptive hypermedia training system. Currently, PST is coordinating the FET Global Computing project SENSORIA on Software Engineering for Service-Oriented Overlay Computers and is involved in several other sponsored projects.

People: Martin Wirsing, Andreas Schroeder, Gilbert Beyer, Christian Kroiss, Shadi Al Dehni

Web: http://www.pst.ifi.lmu.de/

LJMU, Liverpool

Founded in 1825, Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) has grown into one of the UK's most dynamic and progressive universities. LJMU is the 15th largest university in the UK with over 24,000 students in Liverpool and internationally plus 2,500 staff. The University has annual turnover of more than £110m per year. LJMU is a leading partner in a development of the £6.9 million Liverpool Science Park. Harnessing the research excellence of Liverpool's universities, it will provide a new business location for companies specialising in the life sciences, new media, bioinformatics.

The School of Psychology is part of the Faculty of Science, one of six Faculties in the University. Psychology, situated in the Henry Cotton Building, is one of six academic departments within the Faculty. Formerly the Centre for Applied Psychology, the department became the School of Psychology in August 2002, joining the newly-formed Faculty of Science. The School of Psychology currently has 26 academic staff members, four teaching assistants, ten research staff and 20 postgraduate research students.

People: Stephen Fairclough, Elena Spiridon, Katie Ewing

Web:   http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/

RuG, Groningen

The University of Groningen, founded in 1614, is the second oldest university of the Netherlands. At present there are about 21,000 students registered at the university, and the university has an academic staff of over 2300 FTE. The Unit of Experimental and Work Psychology at the University of Groningen is involved in education and research programs in an area that can be classified as "Experimental Psychology and its Applications". About 25 researchers (senior and junior) work on fundamental and applied aspects of human task performance. Several research programs are related to brain control of task performance as well as to the physiological effects of task performance

People: Dick de Waard, Ben Mulder, Chris Dijksterhuis, Arjan Stuiver

Web:   http://www.rug.nl/

University of Pavia

University of Pavia is one of the oldest universities in Europe founded in 1361. The Department of Computer Science (DIS), where the work will be carried on, was founded in 1982 within the School of Engineering. DIS hosts the Microprocessors and Biomedical Instrumentation Laboratory, a centre of excellence in the field of sensors/instruments for biomedical measurements and human-adaptable ambient and products. Besides working on R&D, the Laboratory works for a number of projects for industrial companies and healthcare institutions. DIS has a long experience in EU funded projects' management, especially in the field of ICT applied to medicine (e.g. AIM GAMES I and II General Architectures for Medical Experts Systems). DIS is currently leading a Leonardo da Vinci project focused on e-learning for visually impaired users (eYES project).

People: Remo Lombardi, Gian Mario Bertolotti, Andrea Cristiani

Web:   http://www.unipv.eu/

Institute Mihajlo Pupin, Belgrade

The Mihailo Pupin Institute is a leading Serbian R&D institution in information and communication technologies, the biggest and the oldest in the whole South Eastern Europe area. The institute was founded in 1946 and has 250 researchers. At the Mihailo Pupin Institute, the projects of critical national importance have been conducted, combining systems engineering and information technology to develop innovative solutions in the area of knowledge and content technologies and applications, Web services, telecommunications and computer networks, management information systems, e-government, e-business, e-education, electrical power system management, water supply management, traffic control, etc. For projects on a large scale, the Mihailo Pupin Institute assembles a team with the best mixture of expertise appropriate to that specific engagement. IMP also provides a wide range of products and services. Its service scope covers customized IT solutions, HW/SW outsourcing, technology consulting, engineering, prototyping, and system design and integration. ISO 9001 Quality Assurance Certificate that IMP holds guaranties that it meets the value and quality expectations of its customers. Leading world companies such as Raytheon, BASF, NCR and Philips had benefited from IMP's solutions and services. IMP is currently involved in three running FP6 projects (SARIB, PROMETEA and Web4WeB), two EC Interreg/CADSES projects (I2E and STRIM) and 29 national R&D projects.

People: Sanja Vranes, Mladen Stanojevic, Marko Ribaric, Nikola Tomasevic

Web:  http://www.pupin.rs/