Two University of Texas at Dallas professors in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science have been named IEEE fellows.
Dr. Yiorgos Makris, professor of electrical and computer engineering, was honored for his pioneering contributions to machine learning-based design of trusted and reliable integrated circuits.
Dr. Weili (Lily) Wu, professor of computer science, was recognized for her contributions to the study of data communication and processing in wireless sensor networks.
IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization, has more than 460,000 members in 190 countries. The rank of fellow is conferred for outstanding accomplishments in any IEEE field and is the highest grade of membership. Fewer than 0.1% of IEEE voting members are selected annually for the distinction.
Dr. Yiorgos Makris
Makris has served as an associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, the IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security and the IEEE Design & Test magazine, and as a guest editor for the IEEE Transactions on Computers.
“Dr. Makris is a pioneer in applying machine learning to semiconductor manufacturing and testing, which is immensely important for the quality and reliability of integrated circuits,” said Dinesh Bhatia MS’87, PhD’90, professor and department head of electrical and computer engineering. “His leadership in the security and trustworthiness of circuits is well recognized.”
Makris also served as general chair and a program chair for IEEE’s VLSI Test Symposium, and as a program committee member for most IEEE conferences in the areas of VLSI testing, hardware security and electronic design automation. He has received honors including the 2006 Sheffield Distinguished Teaching Award from Yale University, IEEE best paper awards and best hardware demonstration awards. He is also a recipient of the Jonsson School’s 2020 Faculty Research Award.
“Recognition of our contributions by IEEE is a small but meaningful token of appreciation that signifies the societal impact of our efforts and motivates us to continue,” Makris said. “It is particularly rewarding to see the machine learning-based integrated circuit manufacturing and testing solutions, which we developed and championed long before the recent resurgence of artificial intelligence, become indispensable in the semiconductor industry.”
At UTD, Makris is the director of the Trusted and RELiable Architectures Lab, the leader of the Safety, Security and Health Care thrust of the Texas Analog Center of Excellence, and a co-founder of the Center for Hardware and Embedded Systems Security and Trust, a National Science Foundation Industry-University Cooperative Research Center.
Dr. Weili (Lily) Wu
Wu studies algorithms and optimization problems specifically for wireless network environments and database systems. She has received several awards supporting projects related to wireless mesh networks, wireless sensor network deployments, intrusion detection and infrastructure for time-critical embedded systems. The algorithms help wireless networks operate more efficiently in complex systems such as those used underwater, across great distances or in remote areas.
“I am proud and thankful to receive this recognition,” Wu said. “My work over the years at UT Dallas has become a milestone in the study of lifetime coverage, motivating several new research issues and open problems.”
Wu, who has been a faculty member at UT Dallas since 2002, leads the Data Communication and Data Management Laboratory with Dr. Ding-Zhu Du, also a professor of computer science. Her areas of research include social computing and big data; machine learning; blockchain technologies and the Internet of Things; distributed systems and mobile computing; wireless sensor networks; and data management.
One of Wu’s papers on the coverage of wireless sensor networks has received more than 1,400 citations and led to several new research directions. Wu also discovered new techniques to deal with greedy algorithms, or algorithms that choose the best available option without considering the entire problem.
“Since Weili joined UTD, she has become a lead researcher in algorithms for wireless sensor networks and a top expert in social computing and analyzing influence in social networks,” said Dr. Ovidiu Daescu, professor and department head of computer science and a Jonsson School Chair. “With her election as an IEEE fellow, she joins a group of a selected few. I am proud of her accomplishments and look to see many more contributions and successes in the years ahead.”
Accolades is an occasional News Center feature that highlights recent accomplishments of The University of Texas at Dallas faculty, students and staff. To submit items for consideration, contact your school’s communications manager.