The IEEE is recognizing U.S. Army-funded researcher Dr. Rama Chellappa for his work in the field of signal processing. The distinguished university professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Maryland will be formally honored with the 2020 IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal in May 2020 at an awards ceremony in Vancouver, BC. The IEEE board of directors specifically cited Chellappa’s “contributions to image and video processing, especially applications to face recognition.” The IEEE established the award in 1995 to honor Jack S. Kilby a pioneer in digital signal processing (DSP). Chellappa is part of a research team funded by the Army and led out of Johns Hopkins University. Its research on data analysis has potentially far-reaching impact on machine learning (ML) and data science, attempting to develop improved algorithms for facial and general object recognition to enhance computer decision-making and situational awareness.
“The ability to break down data into semantic nuggets is profoundly important to quickly interpreting scene images and to making informed and intelligent decision making for autonomous agents,” said Dr. Hamid Krim, program manager, information processing and fusion at the Army Research Office. “That could hence lead to new technologies for reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence, robotic perception, precision targeting, counter-terrorism and homeland security.” Chellappa has a permanent appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, where he does much of his research.