Dr. Peter Wurman is Assistant Professor of Computer Science at North Carolina State University. He teaches Electronic Commerce Technology, a course that gives students the technological know-how for building e-commerce Web sites, with topics such as Internet infrastructure, databases, cryptography and game theory.
As a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, Wurman helped create the Michigan Internet AuctionBot, an academic experiment designed to accommodate different types of auctions, at the user’s request. Now, as auction sites and shopping helpers proliferate, he’s researching how to design agents to perform the many tasks assigned to them.
Wurman earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was also MVP and co-captain of the varsity wrestling team. At the University of Michigan, he earned master’s degrees in mechanical engineering and computer science, and a doctoral degree in computer science. The IBM Institute for Advanced Commerce Fellowship recognized him for the Best Dissertation Proposal in Electronic Commerce in 1998-99. Wurman is co-organizer of the Trading Agent Competition.
[ Interview held in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 17, 2002 ]
Interview conducted by Holly Bao and produced by Meeta Yadav.