This year, four UCR Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering professors were named Fellows in recognition to their contributions and extraordinary achievements to advancing science. Electrical and computer engineering professor Albert Wang has been named Fellow of the National Academy for Inventors (NAI), computer science and engineering professor Stefano Lonardi was named Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and electrical and computer engineering professors Amit Roy-Chowdhury and Roger Lake have been named Fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Lonardi was recognized by AAAS for his contribution to the field of computational biology, bioinformatics and data mining, particularly for developing algorithms for the analysis of genomics, epigenetics and time-series data. AAAS is the world’s largest multi-disciplinary scientific society and leading publisher of cutting-edge research. This year’s fellow cohort represent a broad array of scientific disciplines and were selected for their diverse accomplishments that include pioneering research, leadership within their field, teaching and mentoring, fostering collaborations and advancing public understanding of science. Lonardi was recognized as an Association for Computing Machinery Distinguished Scientist in 2017, an IEEE fellow in 2016, and was a National Science Foundation CAREER awardee in 2005.
The NAI recognized Wang for his incredible impact on the innovation sphere on a global scale. Wang currently serves as director of the Ubiquitous Communication by Light (UC-Light) Center, which focuses on enabling wireless communications by embedding signals into the light emitted by next-generation LEDs in systems for illumination, traffic control, advertising, and other purposes. Election as an NAI fellow is the highest professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on society. Wang has more than 240 peer reviewed publications, 13 U.S. patents, was named an IEEE Fellow in 2009, an AAAS Fellow in 2011, and was awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2002.
Each year, following a rigorous evaluation procedure, the IEEE Fellow Committee recommends a select group of recipients for evaluation to IEEE Fellow. Less than 0.1% of voting members are selected annually for this member grade honor.
Roy-Chowdhury was recognized by IEEE for contributions to video-based tracking and behavior analysis. He began working at UCR in 2004 and now leads the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as chair. His research focuses on the foundational principles of computer vision, image processing, and vision-based statistical learning, with applications in cyber-physical, autonomous and intelligent systems. He is a Fellow of the International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR).
Lake was recognized for his contributions to quantum mechanical electronic device modeling. He joined UCR in 2000 after working for five years in the Central Research Labs of Texas Instruments and two years for the Applied Research Labs of Raytheon both in Dallas. He served as chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering from 2006-2011 and his current research focuses on device and computing applications of magnetic, topological, and quantum materials.
The college now has 100 faculty members who have been recognized as Fellows.
