Knowledge Science & Technology

Modelling and supporting knowledge processes
in individuals, communities, societies and civilisations

  • Objectives of This Web Site

    Our aim has been to make a our publications and related material donated to the Kula Academy of the University of Victoria Library available in digital form, annotating them with the circumstances that motivated them.

    Research Studies

    We were born in the 1940s during the second world war and are very much children of the digital age and knowledge economy that emerged in the ensung decades, both contributing to its development and studying its impact on individuals, scholarship and society. Our research over the past sixty years has been part of the evolution of information technology, ranging from semicoductor devices and computer architectures, through computer language and compiler design, real-world applications in medicine, psychiatry, stock exchanges, manufacturing, and printing, to neuromorphic systems, machine learning, pattern recognition, conceptual modelling, and the foundations of software engineering, knowledge-based systems, system theory, mathematics, and logic.

    Motive for Commentaries

    Hubel and Wiesel's studies of the neural structures underlying colour perception were inspirational in our early studies, and the publication in 2005 of their collected works enhanced by commentaries and biographical details made fascinating reading. It inspired us to do likewise and document some of the baskground to our own studies in terms of the motivation they expressed so well. Hence, we have grouped our studies and publications by topic and provided a background commentary on how we became involved in the research that is reported. The order is roughly chronologiclal, although some studies extended over longer time scales than others so there is substantial overlap.
    Brian & Mildred in retirement
    (click for more)
    Our home & view
    Every room a library
    Our cats

    The book that inspired us to add commentaries and biographical details to our archives:

    This book is about a scientific collaboration that began in 1958 and lasted until 1983. It consists of reprints of papers we published over those years, with introductions and afterthoughts to each paper and an overall introduction and final summary. We had several motives for compiling it. Having put our writing energies into our main papers, avoiding as far as we could the temptation to write reviews or to contribute to symposia and book chapters, we hated to see our work get lost in bound journals on library shelves. But more than just that, we have always felt that scientific papers in the styles of today go out of their way to keep concealed the very things a reader may most want to know. What led the authors to ask the questions in the first place? In what order were the different parts of the research taken up? To what extent was luck involved? What were the surprises? Was it fun? How much competition was there? And above all, perhaps, who were the authors and what were their lives like?...Today most papers seem dry, their juices sucked out, with little sense of the delight that can accompany discovery.

    Hubel & Wiesel, 2005, Brain and Visual Perception, OUP, p.2


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    Publications
    (click to open)
    Conceptual modelling software
    (click to open)
    WebGrid Serverr
    (click to open)

  • Brian

    In 1959 I was awarded a State Scholarship to study Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Trinity College, Cambridge, and obtained a BA degree in 1963. I then took a second BA degree in Psychology, and undertook research on the human adaptive controller, receiving an MA and PhD from Cambridge in 1967 and 1972, respectively. I was appointed Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering Science, University of Essex, from September 1967, Senior Lecturer in 1969, Reader in 1971, and Professor in Computer Engineering and Chairman of Department in 1975. Whilst on study leave in 1978 I consulted for the National Enterprise Board on re-structuring the Monotype Corporation, and became the Technical Director and Deputy Chief Executive of Monotype Holdings Ltd in 1978.

    In August 1982 I emigrated to Canada and establishd Cadre Information Transfer Systems Inc in Toronto with developmental funding from the Canadian Government, and also established Inforite Corporation in the USA as a joint venture with Toppan-Moore of Japan. I also took up positions as adjunct Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto and of Computer Science at the University of Calgary. In 1984 I was appointed Professor of Computer Science at York University.

    In 1985 I moved to Calgary to take up the Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Chair at the University of Calgary. I established the Knowledge Science Institute, an inter-disciplinary center for the study of the role of knowledge and scholarship in society and development of knowledge-based systems. In 1988 I also became Director of the Software Research and Development Group at the University, a center primarily concerned with the support of industry. In 1997 I was appointed Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate Vice President (Research), and in 1998 also became Acting Associate Vice President (Academic and Planning) and Coordinator Strategic Transformation. In 2000 I retired and became Professor Emeritus at the University of Calgary. In 2004 I was appointed Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at the University of Victoria.

    I was adviser to the Chief Scientist on the Computer Research and Development Committee of the Department of Health and Social Security. I represented NSERC on the Ministry of State for Science and Technology Inter-Agency Committee on Strategic Planning for Information Technology. I was Chairman of the NSERC Industrial Engineering Grant Selection Committee. I was a member of the Alberta Science and Research Authority. I have directed research contracts with the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Technology, Department of Health and Social Security, National Research and Development Council, Employment and Immigration Canada, and various industrial bodies, and has been a consultant to several industrial companies, including ITT, Plessey, George Kent, Moore Corporation and the New York Stock Exchange. I have been a founder Director of a number of companies, and was Technical Director of Questel Ltd, and Micro Computer Systems Ltd., a computer manufacturing subsidiary of Brown Boveri Kent. I am responsible for a number of commercial computer designs, and hold some 15 patents on digital systems including that for stochastic computing systems

    I was a founder of the International Journal of Man-Machine Studies in 1968 and Knowledge Acquisition in 1988, and was editor in chief of both journals from their inceptions until 2005. I have been on the editorial boards of the International Journal of General Systems, Systems Research, Journal of Fuzzy Sets and Systems, International Journal of Intelligent Systems, Expert Systems: Research and Applications, Expert Systems with Applications, Journal of Intelligent Information Systems and Knowledge-Based Systems. I am a founder and co-chairman of the three series of annual Knowledge Acquisition Workshops, that in North America sponsored by AAAI, in Europe sponsored by various European professional associations, and on the Pacific Rim sponsored by various Japanese and Australian professional associations.

    I have authored over 450 technical papers on topics including stochastic computing, digital differential analyzers, computer architecture, software engineering, databases, language implementation, human factors in computing, machine learning, adaptive control, algebraic system theory, automata theory, system identification, computational, theoretical and philosophical logic, fuzzy systems, expert systems, knowledge acquisition, technological forecasting, information technology industry, socio-technical impact of information technology, the role and creation of expertise in society, portfolio management, printing systems and factory automation.

    I am or have been a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered Psychologist, a Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, the British Computer Society and the British Psychological Society. I or have been a member of: Society of Manufacturing Engineers; Association for Computing Machinery; Association for Symbolic Logic; British Society for the Philosophy of Science; Experimental Psychology Society; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; Mind Association; and Philosophy of Science Association. I was President of the Society for General Systems Research.

    Primary Research Areas

    • Computer system design and application, particularly the interaction of hardware and software in system design for ease of ongoing development and overall system reliability;

    • Special-purpose computer design for low-cost or high-complexity applications, including stochastic computers, analog/digital hybrids, graphic computers, database systems and knowledge-processing systems;

    • Person-computer systems engineering, particularly the interaction between users who are not computer-oriented and database systems, and programming interactive dialog;

    • Expert system development and application to management, administrative, and production functions;

    • Knowledge acquisition and representation systems, theory, development and application;

    • Hypermedia system development and application to skills training and information management;

    • Digital journal and book publication, technologies extending the medium, and its impact on scholarship and knowledge dissemination;

    • Social implications of developments in information technology, particularly microprocessors and communication networks affecting the office and home environments;

    • Economic and social infrastructure of generations of computing systems, their development, impact and future trends;

    • Algebraic system theory and its application to system modeling, stability and control, and to computer architecture and protection structures;

    • Systematic acceleration of scientific research through computer support of collaboration among distributed research groups;

    • Technology-based learning, collaborative learning and distance and workplace delivery of education;

    • Modeling and forecasting the information highway and other convergence phenomena;

    • The history and philosophy of science and its role in the evolution of human civilization;

    • The foundations of logic and mathematics and their roles in scholarly disciplines;

    • The evolution of scholarship from the earliest recorded time to the present, its cultural and economic role in society, and its support through institutions and technology.

    I have supervised a wide range of PhD and MSc projects in topics including: pattern recognition; stochastic computing; incremental computers; emulation; chemical simulation; automated design; human perception; speech recognition; textual analysis; naive user characterization; human controller modeling; analogical reasoning; ray tracing; process migration; group writing; human factors in virtual reality systems; deductive databases; class libraries for parallel processing.

    Mildred

    I am Professor Emerita of the University of Calgary, having retired in December 1999. I was previously Professor in the Department of Computer Science, Associate Dean in the Faculty of Education, and member of the Faculty of Graduate Studies in Psychology at York University in Toronto.

    I am author or editor of 5 books on aspects of computing and psychology, and have published a wide range of papers on human factors in computing, over 250 in refereed books, journals and conference proceedings.

    I developed a range of interactive computer programs based on personal construct psychology in widespread use internationally in knowledge engineering, management, clinical and educational studies.

    I have consulted widely for industry and government agencies on computer-based problem-solving techniques, including the development of networked participant systems.

    I have a first degree in mathematics and a masters in computer science from the University of London, and a doctorate on computer-based systems for knowledge elicitation from Brunel University.

    I am a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, and have been a Fellow of the British Computer Society, an Associate Member of the British Psychological Society, a Member of the American Psychological Association, and a Member of the Association for Computing Machinery.

    Primary Research Areas

    • Human and organizational aspects of knowledge and requirements engineering, their modeling and support through advanced information systems;

    • Requirements engineering developments and applications;

    • Software process engineering;

    • Personal construct psychology, theory and applications;

    • Automation of repertory grid techniques and analysis;

    • Human-computer interaction, study, modeling and improvement;

    • Knowledge engineering for expert systems;

    • System-theoretic modelling of the interaction between personal models of the world and social determinants;

    • Applications of knowledge engineering methodologies and tools to requirements engineering and collaborative learning.

    Industrial Engineering Chair

    In 1996 the University of Calgary established an Industrial Research Chair to undertake research in Software Engineering/Manufacturing, aimed at strengthening the software manufacturing capabilities of Alberta and Canada. The Chair is held in the Department of Computer Science, in the Faculty of Science, and collaborates with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, in the Faculty of Engineering. In 1997 I was appointed as the first holder of this Chair and as an Adjunct Professor of Electrical engineering. Funds and infrastructure support for the Chair and related research costs (including additional personnel, student scholarships, and equipment) were provided by Motorola Inc., Computing Devices Canada, Perigon Solutions Inc., Nortel Networks, the Alberta Provincial Government, and the University of Calgary.

    I developed a research program in consultation with the industrial sponsors that addressed the highest priority issues foreseen for the software industry over the next decade. It focused on the need for repeatable, defined, managed and optimized software manufacturing processes throughout the software manufacturing life cycle from requirements to replacement.

    The main objectives and activities were:

    • To establish research and graduate training activities at the University of Calgary that will develop highly qualified personnel in industrial software manufacturing; as Industrial Research Chair in Software Engineering and Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Calgary.

    • To establish an organizational infrastructure at the University of Calgary supporting a long-term program of university-industry collaborative research on software manufacturing;

    • To establish a centre of excellence at the University of Calgary in research and development concerned with the knowledge flows and processes underlying the software manufacturing lifecycle;

    • To undertake fundamental research on requirements elicitation, specification and tracking methodologies in an industrial setting;

    • To undertake fundamental research on modeling and tracking software manufacturing processes in an industrial setting;

    • To develop knowledge-level workflow tools applicable to requirements engineering and software manufacturing processes;

    • To evaluate the methodologies and tools in industrial software organizations.

    This program has further expanded and continues today under my successors after I retired.





  • This site is in an early stage of development as we transition from an earlirer version that provided access to a substantial number of publications of ourselves and close associates to one with additonal material and associated background information.

    We will be gradually extending it and hope to have it substantially complete by Spring of 2026.

    If you have any suggestions or comments please contact Brian at gaines@uvic.ca

    b&m Sep-2025