Biography: Mihai Nadin founded and heads the Computational Design Program--the first in the world--at the University of Wuppertal in Germany. The Program provides undergraduate and graduate credits. It also houses Ph.D. candidates. The Program introduces a pro-active, integrative perspective of design to students, as well as to the business community and government institutions in Europe.

adin's professional development integrates science, technology, and humanities. His involvement with digital technology dates back to 1964 when he generated several of the first known computer graphics images. At the same time, he also looked into synthetic sound generation. The main focus of his career is the study of the processes through which creativity, aesthetic creativity in particular, is made possible, in particular through the use of digital technology. His post-doctoral dissertation, Sign and Value (Munich, 1980), is a semiotically based investigation of the cognitive and sign (semiotic) processes that facilitate human interaction.

Nadin's arrival in the USA (1980) was an intellectual and cultural turning point. He became involved in new foundations for design. Results of this preoccupation were several: publications, lectures, consulting for the computer industry and for higher education institutions, and the design of new products.In MIND--Anticipation and Chaos (1991), Nadin ascertains that the mind exist only in relation to other minds, and that mind activity is anticipatory in nature.

The Civilization of Illiteracy, Nadin's most recent book, addresses the causes making the digital revolution possible and necessary. It also suggests means and methods for a new type of education and for a new economic and political focus corresponding to multimedia interaction in a global, networked society.