Nissan Names Maarten Sierhuis To Lead New Silicon Valley Research Center

SUNNYVALE, CA--Feb. 18, 2013: Nissan today announced the hiring of Dr. Maarten Sierhuis as research director to lead the newly opened Nissan Research Center Silicon Valley (NRC-SV). Sierhuis, a recognized expert in the field of artificial intelligence, will lead the new center's efforts in the areas of autonomous driving and connected-vehicle systems.

Sierhuis joins Nissan following a career in research and software engineering spanning 25 years, including time with NASA, Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, NYNEX Science & Technology, IBM Corporation, and as a founder of startup Ejenta, as well as a visiting professor and fellow with the Interactive Intelligence group at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

Carla Bailo, senior vice president, Research and Development – Nissan Americas said: "Maarten's extensive experience in artificial intelligence and human-machine interface, along with his relationships within the Silicon Valley tech community, make him the ideal candidate to lead our new Silicon Valley research team."

Nissan announced the opening of NRC-SV at an event today. The new center aims to expand Nissan's global research capability through collaborative partnerships with companies and research institutions in one of the world's top technology hubs.

Sierhuis has a bachelor of science in Computer Science from The Hague University and a Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence/Cognitive Science from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.