Honors & Awards

2009 – University of Michigan, College of Engineering Alumni Society Award for Computer Science & Engineering

The college merit awards honor our alumni who “personify Michigan Engineering’s tradition of excellence and who have achieved significant accomplishments in their professional lives.

2007 – Fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)

Elected as ACM Fellow in June 2007 at a special honors meeting of the ACM in San Diego, CA. Awarded in recognition for significant contributions to machine learning, data mining and knowledge discovery (See ACM site: http://fellows.acm.org/homepage.cfm?alpha=F&srt=alpha ).

2007 – ACM SIGKDD Innovation Award

Top technical recognition award in the field of Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining: ACM plaque and cash award. Awarded in August 2007 in San Jose, CA – Formal citation:  seminal work on the development data mining, machine learning algorithms and their scalability to massive database systems, and fundamental applications of data mining in scientific discovery and commercial database systems. (See ACM SIGKDD website for the full citation: http://www.sigkdd.org/awards_innovation.php#2007i).

2006 – AAAI Fellow

Elected a fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, AAAI, July 2006. Fellowship citation: “For significant original research contributions to machine learning, data mining and KDD, exceptional service in establishing a new field of AI,  and for successfully fielding and commercializing AI and KDD technologies in  analysis of massive data sets and in mass market applications”. (See AAAI website: http://www.aaai.org/Awards/fellows-current.php).

2003 – ACM SIGKDD Service Award

awarded to individual who has contributed significantly to establishing the field and building up its reputation, ACM plaque with cash award. Awarded August 2003 at the annual meeting of the International ACM Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, August 2003, Washington, D.C. (See full citation at ACM SIGKDD website: http://www.sigkdd.org/awards_service.php#2003s)

2002 – 40 Under 40 Pacific Northwest

Awarded to acknowledge business achievement and influential business success for executives under 40 years old.

2001 – MIT TR-10 Awardee

Selected by MIT Technology Review as one of 10 researchers whose work is most likely to have most impact.

1995 – NASA Group Award

Awarded for outstanding achievements in applications of advanced data mining and data analysis algorithms in science data applications in planetary and Earth sciences (SKICAT and JPL Adaptive Recognition Tool projects).

1994 – NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal – U.S. Government Medal

U.S. Government medal and plaque awarded for the citation: “In recognition of pioneering work in machine learning and advanced software technology to support the development of scientist-trainable automated image analysis systems.” May 1994 in Pasadena, CA.

1993 – Lew Allen Award for Excellence in Research

Highest honor JPL/Caltech award to scientists in the early years of their professional careers for “recognizing and encouraging significant individual accomplishments, leadership in scientific research, and technological innovation.” Includes a $25,000 research grant.

1992 – Ph.D. Thesis Nomination

Ph.D. thesis nominated by The University of Michigan for the 1992 ACM Distinguished Dissertation Award.

1990 – DeVlieg Industrial Fellowship

Awarded in recognition of “high academic potential and interests related to manufacturing.”

1990 – Hughes Aircraft Company, Unrestricted Grant

Stipend and tuition. Granted to conduct research on decision tree generation for semiconductor manufacturing.

1990 – Sigma Xi

The Scientific Research Society – a National honor society.

1989 – DeVlieg Industrial Fellowship

Awarded in recognition of “high academic potential and interests related to manufacturing.”

1988 – Rackham Pre-Doctoral Fellowship 1988-89

The most competitive and prestigious fellowship in Michigan graduate school, awarded for “promise of academic excellence.” Includes tuition expenses plus monthly stipend.

1985 – University of Michigan EECS Department Grant (1985-1988)

Covering all tuition expenses. Awarded for “excellent academic standing in graduate school.”

1985 – Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society

1984 – Eta Kappa Nu National Honor Society of Electrical & Computer Engineers