This award provides support to establish The Agent Institute (AI), an organization anticipated to become self-sustaining and generally enhance research and development for the State of Maine. The AI will promote interactions between industry and foster computer-technology research, specifically in software development and software-hardware relationships in the area of robotics. Industrial applications in extreme or hazardous environments will be emphasized because agent-based systems are designed to read/sense environmental information, make decisions, and take actions based on the information sensed and processed. The award provides an initial two years of salary support to hire an executive director and an administrative assistant. These individuals will be responsible for developing a series of workshops designed to bring researchers and developers with interests and expertise in agent-based systems together in collaborative projects. Education and outreach efforts will also be part of the AI\u27s mission to bring knowledge about this area to K-12 educators and schools with the goal of encouraging students toward careers in agent-based systems and high technology in general
