Scott Cutler came to Rice University in 2001 after 25 years in the PC industry culminating as Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Compaq Computer’s PC Group. He currently holds the title of Professor in the Practice, Emeritus.

He is interested in consumer electronic technology including smartphones, other smart home devices, speech enabled digital assistants like Alexa and Google Home as well as connected electric vehicles.

Recent cruise lectures have included:

1) History & Future of Computers and Smartphones
(A look back at the origins of computers and the Internet leading to the rise of Smartphones and the Cloud which have permeated our lives)

2) The Smart Home – with a little help from Alexa
(The rapid evolution of smart electronics into new and old homes along with phenomenal voice recognition skills of Amazon, Google, Apple, and Microsoft have brought many aspects of the Jetsons and Star Trek to life)

3) To the Cloud – with a Little Artificial Intelligence
(The recent rise and ubiquitous use of Artificial Intelligence and your life moving to the Internet “Cloud” is both amazing and frightening at the same time. This talk covers a brief history of AI, the rapid growth of gigantic server farms (the cloud), and how the 20th and 21st centuries are filled with disruptive technologies that change lives.)

Other Lecture Topics
• When your car can drive itself and is always online.
• Virtual and Augmented Reality
• How Smartphones Cameras get such Great Pictures
• Disruptive Technologies – how new technology enables startups to displace established companies
• Online privacy and security

5 lectures on Silversea including:
- History and Future of Personal Computers and Smartphones
- The Smart Home with a little help from Alexa
- To the Cloud - with a little Artificial Intelligence