Janet Murdock, Ph.D., is a senior computer scientist in SRI’s Artificial Intelligence Center. Her research interests include applications of formal methods to static and dynamic code analysis, knowledge representation and reasoning, evaluation of machine learning systems, and mixed-initiative systems.

Murdock was a co-leader of evaluation efforts for the CALO (Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes) project, a large, multi-institutional, DARPA program focused on applying machine learning techniques to office workers’ desktop applications to improve the quality and quantity of work output. The CALO system underwent “Go—No Go” tests to measure its learning ability and determine if the team had made sufficient progress to receive the next year’s funding. She guided researchers’ efforts to meet test requirements so that the CALO team successfully secured the full five years and $200 million of funding available on the program.

Murdock also stepped in as evaluation leader for an SRI-led team of researchers on IARPA’s Knowledge Discovery and Dissemination program after they struggled with their first evaluation. She assisted the team in bringing performance up so that SRI was one of two teams selected (from a field of four teams) to continue in the next year of the program.

Prior to joining SRI, Murdock developed monitoring and optimization solutions for coal-fired power plants at Praxis Engineers, Inc. and then General Electric after General Electric acquired Praxis Engineers in 2001. She also developed design automation applications at Design Power, Inc. Design Power developed products that were integrated with AutoCAD and MicroStation CAD software to assist engineers with plant design and pipe routing for chemical plants and co-generation facilities. Design Power was acquired by Bentley Systems (the maker of MicroStation) in 2007.

Prior to obtaining her degrees in computer science, Murdock was a chemical engineer and did product development of specialty polymer-based products for Raychem corporation and process design of petrochemical plants for Chevron Research and Technology.

Murdock has a Ph.D. and M.S. in computer science from Stanford University, an M.S. in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a B.S. in chemical engineering from Purdue University.