- Email: [email protected]
Fuzzy systems in Romania
320
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million inhabitants, and one of the former capitals of modern Romania (for two years, after the unification of Moldavia and Valachia, Romania had two capitals: Bucharest and lasi), lasi has the oldest modern university in this part of Europe, and is the traditional cultural capital of Romania. Now, in lasi-rated as the second academic center of Romania - many higher schools are established, more than ten university-level schools, in fact. Moreover, the main Branch of the Romanian Academy is acting in lasi. Thus, lasi has the potential to support the development of fuzzy systems in Romania, and in the Balkans too. So far, BUFSA members are not requested to pay any membership fee. We succeeded in this by getting support from the Romanian Academy - for the headquarters space-and by raising some funds from lasi University and lasi Technical University, to support the journal as well as the organization of annual symposia. For more information of specific activities, please see the second part of this report, as most of the activities and cooperations of the Romanian Society for Fuzzy Systems are developed at the BUFSA level too. Mainly see chapters Editorial Activities, and Cooperation Policy.
Fuzzy Systems in Romania Historical background Romania is one of the very few countries where fuzzy systems were pushed from the very begining. As Professor Dan Butnariu commented on this point, 'Romania was one of the super powers in fuzzy systems, during the period 1965-1980'. Indeed, one of the forerunners of fuzzy systems was Grigore Moisil (1906-1972), the first to have written a book on fuzzy systems. Unfortunately, the b o o k - written in 1972- was published in 1976 only, after the death of Grigore Moisil, by Prof. Sergiu Rudeanu. G. Moisil has studied in the framework of multivalued logics the many topics that were then used to base fuzzy logic. He was one of the early supporters and friends of Professor Lotfi A. Zadeh. Also in Romania was written the third volume on fuzzy systems, and the second to be published: 'Fuzzy Sets', by C.V. Negoita and D. Ralescu (the first published book is authored to Prof. A. Kaufman). Two other Romanian scientists who have much contributed to the development of fuzzy sets and systems theory, mainly after 1980, are Prof. Dan Butnariu and Prof. Vincentiu Dumitru (Bucharest).
Organizations and institutions involved in fuzzy systems research in Romania Apart from the Romanian Society for Fuzzy Systems (R.S.F.S.)-which is a non-governmental, no-for-profit association, some years ago other organizations and institutions became involved in fuzzy systems research and education. The Ministry of Education and Science supported the establishment of the Center for Education and Research in Fuzzy Systems and Artificial Intelligence (C.E.R.F.S.), under the aegis of the Technical University (Polytechnic
Institute) of lasi. The Center has obtained grants from the Ministry of Education and Science, to develop basic and applied research in fuzzy systems and neural networks. The Center has more than ten people involved, including researchers and teachers from the University and from the Technical University of lasi. The Center is already a member of IACEE (the International Association for Continuing Engineering Education), and is recognised by CEPES-UNESCO (Centre Europeene pour I'Ensegnement Superieur-UNESCO). The Center also supports part of the editorial work and part of the publication costs of the Magazine for FuzzySystems and
Artificial Intelligence. Also in lasi, in the Institute for Computer Science (this institute is under the aegis of the Romanian Academy), a Laboratory for Fuzzy Systems and Signal Processing was established. This laboratory includes about 20 people, working on topics such as fuzzy systems and neural network control, fuzzy expert systems, and fuzzy chaotic systems. This institute and CERFS are closely cooperating, and most of their research projects are common projects. This year, a new Commission of the Romanian Academy was established, namely the Commission for Fuzzy Systems and Approximate Reasoning. The Commission is now just getting organized, and we hope to include Romanian scientists who are now established in other countries, for example Professors D. Ralescu and D. Butnariu, in recognition for their contribution to the fuzzy systems theory. The Romanian Society for Fuzzy Systems has already established its own two centers in Bucharest (one in the Academy for Economy, and one in the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest), to foster the education in fuzzy systems. Each of these centers have their own library, for the use of the members of RSFS and of undergraduate and Ph.D. studends. Also this year, with the support of R.S.F.S., of the wives of the late Professors Grigore Moisil and George Moisil, and of a few members of R.S.F.S., the Grigore and George Moisil Foundation was established. The Foundation is aimed to offer international- and nationallevel awards and to support exceptional research projects. The international-level prices will be awarded only to the most remarkable scientists who contributed seminal researchers that definitely advanced the field of fuzzy logic, of fuzzy sets, of fuzzy systems, or related areas. The national awards will be offered to very young Romanian researchers who have contributed a remarkable research. (Two national awards were already won by Mss. L. Pavel, a 25 years researcher, and by Mr. A. Brezulianu, a student in electronics.) The tight cooperation established with the IEEE Romanian Branch has to be mentioned. We hope to develop the cooperation with the IEEE as a whole, and to be able to contribute to its activities, mainly in this region.
Educational activities Without a good education, received in universities before the graduation, there is no hope for serious, large scale development at industrial level of fuzzy systems
Bulletin
and artificial intelligence. So, a great effort is done at this moment to develop appropriate educational tools, such as CAE (computer assisted education programs), for both regular classrooms and for continuing engineering education (CEE). Also, textbooks on fuzzy sets, fuzzy logic, fuzzy systems and their applications are focused, and much work is directed to write, edit and publish these books. Other educational tools are video tapes, sets of slides to support teaching (also accompanied by short textbooks), and devices for laboratory demonstrations. We are much encouraged by, and also get a limited support in these activities from the Romanian Ministry of Education and Science - Direction for Educational Tools, from lasi University and lasi Polytechnic Institute, from the Romanian Academy, and also from other organizations, such as C.E.P.E.S., and R.S.F.S. A good cooperation is established in this respect with the International Center for Engineering Education (I.C.E.E.), lasi. Finally, let us say that no possibility to make fuzzy systems better known is rejected. In this respect, the support of the Radio lasi Broadcasting Company, of the Romian National TV Company, and of the (privately owned) TV-broadcasting lasi Studio are much
appreciated,
Seminars and symposia on fuzzy systems and on neural networks To support research and higher continuing education, regular seminars and symposia are a must, The following standing workshops exists now: • The Grigore Moisil Workshop on Fuzzy Systems and Applications. There are organized weekly seminars (except on holidays and vacation periods), on various topics, from categorical foundations of fuzzy sets to applications in economy, engineering, and biomedical technologies. The seminars were started in 1988, and almost all active researchers in lasi participated in it. The Workshops are supported by all organizations interested in fuzzy systems, that are now existing in lasi. The main organizers are the Polytechnic Institute of lasi and the Institute for Computer Science (CERFS). • The Seminar on Fuzzy Sets. This seminar is held i:~ lasi University (supported mainly by the Algebra Department of the Faculty of Mathematics) and is a continuation of the Workshop led by Prof. Costinescu. • The Seminar on Fuzzy Systems in Economics. This workshop has bi-weekly meetings, and focuses on fuzzy sets and their applications in economy. The seminar is conducted by Prof, V. Dumitru and Prof. M.D. Stoica, from the Academy of Economic Sciences, Bucharest. • The Seminar on Fuzzy Sets at the University of Galati (without well-established periodicity, up to now; organized by Prof. T.T. Buhaescu). • The Seminar on Mathematics of Fuzzy Sets, at the University of Cluj (without a well-established periodicity; organized by Prof. D. Dumitrescu). Apart from the seminars, at least one international or national symposium per year is organized by BUFSA or RSFS.
321
Editorial activities Apart from the Magazine for Fuzzy Systems & A.I., which includes the Magazine of R.S.F.S,, a new international, scientific journal is now under press: Fuzzy Systems & A.L- Reports and Letters, which is aimed to act as a complementary journal to those already established. The first issue includes survey papers by E.P. Klement and D. Butnariu, A, Kaufman and J. Gil Aluja, K. Hirota et al,, and M. Cahunas, M. Delgado, J.L. Verdegay et al.
Cooperation policy Cooperation is the basic policy of R.S.F.S., as well as of the other Romanian organizations, such as the Center for Education and Research in Fuzzy Systems & A.I. (CERFS), lasi, Romania. A great deal of cooperation agreements have already been established. R.S.F.S. has already established cooperations-apart from those based on B.U.F.S.A. - with the Institute for Mathematics, Science Academy, Chisinau, R. Moldova (1990; the years are for the beginning of the cooperation); A.M.S.E. - the Association for Modelling and Simulation in Enterprises (based in France; 1990), BUSEFAL Editorial Board, France (1990), Grey Systems Editorial Board, China (1991; the last two agreements, for editorial cooperation), University of Linz, Austria (1990), University of Granada, Spain (1991), Fuzzy Logic Systems Institute (1991); University of Tiraspol, R. Moldova (1991) a.s.o. Similar Cooperation agreements were signed by C.E.R.F.S. Moreover, we are now establishing new agreements and contracts with private companies from inside Romania and from abroad. Horia-Nicolai Teodorescu
C.E.R.F.S., lasi, Romania
Research on Observables in Fuzzy Quantum Spaces in Slovakia Research on observables in fuzzy quantum spaces started with paper [20] (see also [18,1]) and it was inspired by the Piasecki P-measure ([17]). An observable is a morphism from the Borel o-algebra to a family of fuzzy subsets of a given set. The research was based on the Zadeh connectives and a review has been included in [4] (see also [9, 15]). Motivated by the physical point of view, J, Pykacz suggested to use the Giles connectives ([19]). Observables in this sense have been mentioned first in [21] (see also [14,22]). R. Mesiar and A. Koles~rov& discovered a close relation between observables and the Klement fuzzy random variables ([5], s e e also [7, 8]). This approach is related to the theory of MV algebras ([16]) and has an interesting algebraization in the theory of D-posets introduced by Chovanec and K6pka ([2], see also [3]). Some results achieved by the Slovak mathematicians have been presented on the IFSA congress (Brussels, 1991), on the first and the third IFSA-EC workshop
Bul&tin
million inhabitants, and one of the former capitals of modern Romania (for two years, after the unification of Moldavia and Valachia, Romania had two capitals: Bucharest and lasi), lasi has the oldest modern university in this part of Europe, and is the traditional cultural capital of Romania. Now, in lasi-rated as the second academic center of Romania - many higher schools are established, more than ten university-level schools, in fact. Moreover, the main Branch of the Romanian Academy is acting in lasi. Thus, lasi has the potential to support the development of fuzzy systems in Romania, and in the Balkans too. So far, BUFSA members are not requested to pay any membership fee. We succeeded in this by getting support from the Romanian Academy - for the headquarters space-and by raising some funds from lasi University and lasi Technical University, to support the journal as well as the organization of annual symposia. For more information of specific activities, please see the second part of this report, as most of the activities and cooperations of the Romanian Society for Fuzzy Systems are developed at the BUFSA level too. Mainly see chapters Editorial Activities, and Cooperation Policy.
Fuzzy Systems in Romania Historical background Romania is one of the very few countries where fuzzy systems were pushed from the very begining. As Professor Dan Butnariu commented on this point, 'Romania was one of the super powers in fuzzy systems, during the period 1965-1980'. Indeed, one of the forerunners of fuzzy systems was Grigore Moisil (1906-1972), the first to have written a book on fuzzy systems. Unfortunately, the b o o k - written in 1972- was published in 1976 only, after the death of Grigore Moisil, by Prof. Sergiu Rudeanu. G. Moisil has studied in the framework of multivalued logics the many topics that were then used to base fuzzy logic. He was one of the early supporters and friends of Professor Lotfi A. Zadeh. Also in Romania was written the third volume on fuzzy systems, and the second to be published: 'Fuzzy Sets', by C.V. Negoita and D. Ralescu (the first published book is authored to Prof. A. Kaufman). Two other Romanian scientists who have much contributed to the development of fuzzy sets and systems theory, mainly after 1980, are Prof. Dan Butnariu and Prof. Vincentiu Dumitru (Bucharest).
Organizations and institutions involved in fuzzy systems research in Romania Apart from the Romanian Society for Fuzzy Systems (R.S.F.S.)-which is a non-governmental, no-for-profit association, some years ago other organizations and institutions became involved in fuzzy systems research and education. The Ministry of Education and Science supported the establishment of the Center for Education and Research in Fuzzy Systems and Artificial Intelligence (C.E.R.F.S.), under the aegis of the Technical University (Polytechnic
Institute) of lasi. The Center has obtained grants from the Ministry of Education and Science, to develop basic and applied research in fuzzy systems and neural networks. The Center has more than ten people involved, including researchers and teachers from the University and from the Technical University of lasi. The Center is already a member of IACEE (the International Association for Continuing Engineering Education), and is recognised by CEPES-UNESCO (Centre Europeene pour I'Ensegnement Superieur-UNESCO). The Center also supports part of the editorial work and part of the publication costs of the Magazine for FuzzySystems and
Artificial Intelligence. Also in lasi, in the Institute for Computer Science (this institute is under the aegis of the Romanian Academy), a Laboratory for Fuzzy Systems and Signal Processing was established. This laboratory includes about 20 people, working on topics such as fuzzy systems and neural network control, fuzzy expert systems, and fuzzy chaotic systems. This institute and CERFS are closely cooperating, and most of their research projects are common projects. This year, a new Commission of the Romanian Academy was established, namely the Commission for Fuzzy Systems and Approximate Reasoning. The Commission is now just getting organized, and we hope to include Romanian scientists who are now established in other countries, for example Professors D. Ralescu and D. Butnariu, in recognition for their contribution to the fuzzy systems theory. The Romanian Society for Fuzzy Systems has already established its own two centers in Bucharest (one in the Academy for Economy, and one in the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest), to foster the education in fuzzy systems. Each of these centers have their own library, for the use of the members of RSFS and of undergraduate and Ph.D. studends. Also this year, with the support of R.S.F.S., of the wives of the late Professors Grigore Moisil and George Moisil, and of a few members of R.S.F.S., the Grigore and George Moisil Foundation was established. The Foundation is aimed to offer international- and nationallevel awards and to support exceptional research projects. The international-level prices will be awarded only to the most remarkable scientists who contributed seminal researchers that definitely advanced the field of fuzzy logic, of fuzzy sets, of fuzzy systems, or related areas. The national awards will be offered to very young Romanian researchers who have contributed a remarkable research. (Two national awards were already won by Mss. L. Pavel, a 25 years researcher, and by Mr. A. Brezulianu, a student in electronics.) The tight cooperation established with the IEEE Romanian Branch has to be mentioned. We hope to develop the cooperation with the IEEE as a whole, and to be able to contribute to its activities, mainly in this region.
Educational activities Without a good education, received in universities before the graduation, there is no hope for serious, large scale development at industrial level of fuzzy systems
Bulletin
and artificial intelligence. So, a great effort is done at this moment to develop appropriate educational tools, such as CAE (computer assisted education programs), for both regular classrooms and for continuing engineering education (CEE). Also, textbooks on fuzzy sets, fuzzy logic, fuzzy systems and their applications are focused, and much work is directed to write, edit and publish these books. Other educational tools are video tapes, sets of slides to support teaching (also accompanied by short textbooks), and devices for laboratory demonstrations. We are much encouraged by, and also get a limited support in these activities from the Romanian Ministry of Education and Science - Direction for Educational Tools, from lasi University and lasi Polytechnic Institute, from the Romanian Academy, and also from other organizations, such as C.E.P.E.S., and R.S.F.S. A good cooperation is established in this respect with the International Center for Engineering Education (I.C.E.E.), lasi. Finally, let us say that no possibility to make fuzzy systems better known is rejected. In this respect, the support of the Radio lasi Broadcasting Company, of the Romian National TV Company, and of the (privately owned) TV-broadcasting lasi Studio are much
appreciated,
Seminars and symposia on fuzzy systems and on neural networks To support research and higher continuing education, regular seminars and symposia are a must, The following standing workshops exists now: • The Grigore Moisil Workshop on Fuzzy Systems and Applications. There are organized weekly seminars (except on holidays and vacation periods), on various topics, from categorical foundations of fuzzy sets to applications in economy, engineering, and biomedical technologies. The seminars were started in 1988, and almost all active researchers in lasi participated in it. The Workshops are supported by all organizations interested in fuzzy systems, that are now existing in lasi. The main organizers are the Polytechnic Institute of lasi and the Institute for Computer Science (CERFS). • The Seminar on Fuzzy Sets. This seminar is held i:~ lasi University (supported mainly by the Algebra Department of the Faculty of Mathematics) and is a continuation of the Workshop led by Prof. Costinescu. • The Seminar on Fuzzy Systems in Economics. This workshop has bi-weekly meetings, and focuses on fuzzy sets and their applications in economy. The seminar is conducted by Prof, V. Dumitru and Prof. M.D. Stoica, from the Academy of Economic Sciences, Bucharest. • The Seminar on Fuzzy Sets at the University of Galati (without well-established periodicity, up to now; organized by Prof. T.T. Buhaescu). • The Seminar on Mathematics of Fuzzy Sets, at the University of Cluj (without a well-established periodicity; organized by Prof. D. Dumitrescu). Apart from the seminars, at least one international or national symposium per year is organized by BUFSA or RSFS.
321
Editorial activities Apart from the Magazine for Fuzzy Systems & A.I., which includes the Magazine of R.S.F.S,, a new international, scientific journal is now under press: Fuzzy Systems & A.L- Reports and Letters, which is aimed to act as a complementary journal to those already established. The first issue includes survey papers by E.P. Klement and D. Butnariu, A, Kaufman and J. Gil Aluja, K. Hirota et al,, and M. Cahunas, M. Delgado, J.L. Verdegay et al.
Cooperation policy Cooperation is the basic policy of R.S.F.S., as well as of the other Romanian organizations, such as the Center for Education and Research in Fuzzy Systems & A.I. (CERFS), lasi, Romania. A great deal of cooperation agreements have already been established. R.S.F.S. has already established cooperations-apart from those based on B.U.F.S.A. - with the Institute for Mathematics, Science Academy, Chisinau, R. Moldova (1990; the years are for the beginning of the cooperation); A.M.S.E. - the Association for Modelling and Simulation in Enterprises (based in France; 1990), BUSEFAL Editorial Board, France (1990), Grey Systems Editorial Board, China (1991; the last two agreements, for editorial cooperation), University of Linz, Austria (1990), University of Granada, Spain (1991), Fuzzy Logic Systems Institute (1991); University of Tiraspol, R. Moldova (1991) a.s.o. Similar Cooperation agreements were signed by C.E.R.F.S. Moreover, we are now establishing new agreements and contracts with private companies from inside Romania and from abroad. Horia-Nicolai Teodorescu
C.E.R.F.S., lasi, Romania
Research on Observables in Fuzzy Quantum Spaces in Slovakia Research on observables in fuzzy quantum spaces started with paper [20] (see also [18,1]) and it was inspired by the Piasecki P-measure ([17]). An observable is a morphism from the Borel o-algebra to a family of fuzzy subsets of a given set. The research was based on the Zadeh connectives and a review has been included in [4] (see also [9, 15]). Motivated by the physical point of view, J, Pykacz suggested to use the Giles connectives ([19]). Observables in this sense have been mentioned first in [21] (see also [14,22]). R. Mesiar and A. Koles~rov& discovered a close relation between observables and the Klement fuzzy random variables ([5], s e e also [7, 8]). This approach is related to the theory of MV algebras ([16]) and has an interesting algebraization in the theory of D-posets introduced by Chovanec and K6pka ([2], see also [3]). Some results achieved by the Slovak mathematicians have been presented on the IFSA congress (Brussels, 1991), on the first and the third IFSA-EC workshop