Baruah Earns Award For
Technical Achievement and Leadership
Professor Sanjoy Baruah of the UNC Department of Computer Science was recognized by the IEEE Technical Committee on Real-Time Systems (TCRTS) with the Outstanding Technical Achievement and Leadership Award for 2014.
The award, which was presented this year to Baruah in Rome, Italy, is given to recognize individuals for their outstanding long-term technical achievement and leadership in the field of real-time and embedded systems. It is the highest recognition bestowed on an individual by the IEEE TCRTS. The first award was made in 1999.
Steve Goddard, chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Real-Time Systems and associate vice chancellor for research at the University of Nebraska, said, “Dr. Sanjoy Baruah is widely recognized within the real-time research community as possessing one of the sharpest and most creative minds tackling scheduling problems today. His modesty with regard to his research accomplishments is genuine but misplaced. Throughout his career, Dr. Baruah has consistently developed new seminal theoretical results and opened new research avenues in real-time systems research for others to follow. He is widely respected and admired for his technical accomplishments, while also being sought out for his friendly demeanor and good company.”
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. IEEE and its members inspire a global community through IEEE’s highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities.
Fuchs Named IEEE Fellow,
Given Steven A. Coons Award
Dr. Henry Fuchs, Federico Gil Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, has been named an IEEE Fellow. He is being recognized for contributions to computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality.
The IEEE Grade of Fellow is conferred by the IEEE Board of Directors upon a person with an outstanding record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest. IEEE Fellow is the highest grade of membership and is recognized by the technical community as a prestigious honor and an important career achievement.
Fuchs was further honored at ACM SIGGRAPH this summer, where he was awarded the 2015 Steven Anson Coons Award for Outstanding Creative Contributions to Computer Graphics. The award recognized his contributions in augmented and virtual reality, telepresence, and graphics hardware, and his lifetime of contributions in leading and educating the leaders in the field of computer graphics.
“In his earliest work, Henry described one of the first 3D digitizing technologies, and went on to contribute much of the foundational work on visibility computation. From there, he developed some of the earliest specialized hardware for computer graphics. The multiple Pixel-Planes and Pixel Flow systems developed at UNC introduced novel architecture and algorithms, influencing the evolution of graphics hardware and systems for interactive graphics that is now ubiquitous today.”
Fuchs is co-director of the NTU-ETH-UNC “BeingThere” International Research Centre for Tele-Presence and Tele-Collaboration. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery and a recipient of both the 1992 ACM-SIGGRAPH Achievement Award and the IEEE VGTC 2013 Virtual Reality Career Award.
Mahaney Receives Catherine G. Perry
Staff Excellence Award
Jim Mahaney was named the recipient of the Catherine G. Perry Staff Excellence Award for 2015.
The Catherine G. Perry Staff Excellence Award is given annually to recognize outstanding performance by a staff member during the previous year. The award was established in 2011 and designed to honor a department staff member for excellence in performing his/her job duties.
Mahaney is a senior research associate in the Department of Computer Science, and he has served as interim director of the Applied Engineering Laboratory since April 2015. Mahaney supports a number of research grants in the Department, providing a range of services from logistics to engineering. Mahaney carries out his job with professionalism as well as humor, and he can often be found in the building after hours.
The Catherine G. Perry Staff Excellence Award comes with an honorarium of $1,000, placement of the honoree’s name on the permanent plaque in the Sitterson lobby, and recognition at the annual Department Awards luncheon.
Mehra Earns Recognition for Dissertation
Doctoral student Ravish Mehra received the 2015 Dean’s Distinguished Dissertation Award in Mathematics, Physical Sciences and Engineering for his dissertation titled Efficient Techniques for Wave-Based Sound Propagation in Interactive Applications.
Mehra completed his dissertation under the supervision of Dr. Dinesh Manocha, who leads the GAMMA research group with Dr. Ming Lin.
The Distinguished Dissertation Award recognizes the scholarly contributions of UNC Chapel Hill doctoral students in their dissertation projects. The award highlights original and innovative work. One award is granted annually in each of four subject areas: Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Engineering; Biological and Life Sciences; Social Sciences; and Humanities and Fine Arts.
Awardees receive a $1,000 cash award and a plaque and are recognized at the Annual Graduate Student Recognition Celebration.
Clawges Honored with University Award for Advancement of Women
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has recognized senior Maegan Clawges with a University Award for the Advancement of Women for 2015.
The award is presented to three recipients annually, one faculty member, one staff member, and one student. The award recognizes contributions to the advancement of women at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and, in particular, for women and men who have elevated the status of women on campus in sustainable ways; helped to improve campus policies affecting women; promoted and advanced the recruitment, retention, and upward mobility of women; participated in and assisted in the establishment of professional development opportunities for women; and/or participated in and assisted in the establishment of academic monitoring for women.
Clawges, a computer science and graphic design double-major, was recognized for her work as founder of Pearl Hacks, a coding competition (known as a hackathon) aimed at increasing the number of women in computer science and other STEM fields. Pearl Hacks invites women with any level of coding experience to develop skills by attending workshops and working on projects with fellow students. Mentors from technology companies are also on hand to help educate and inspire attendees. The second Pearl Hacks event drew more than 400 high school- and college-aged women from across the mid-Atlantic region on March 21 and 22, 2015.
“University-wide recognition for Pearl Hacks means a lot, especially for female students at UNC. The event focuses on building community in a field that can be lonely. Support from the university community will be essential in continuing the mission of Pearl Hacks in the years to come. I am honored to represent the computer science department, journalism school, and my organizing and volunteer teams in receiving this award.”
Clawges was selected to receive the award by a committee made up of faculty, staff, and students from across campus. She was honored by Chancellor Carol Folt during the Carolina Women’s Center’s annual Gender Week Celebration on March 23, 2015, where she received a check for $2,500 and a framed certificate.