12/9/2008 4:46:00 AM ITI Staff
Written by ITI Staff
Information Trust Institute researcher P. R. Kumar has received a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich). He was one of seven recipients of the award, which recognizes extraordinary scientific work or significant achievements in science, education, or a synthesis between research and practical work.
Kumar, who accepted the award at a Nov. 22 ceremony in Zurich, was selected for his "pioneering contributions in the fields of adaptive control, manufacturing systems, and wireless networks."
"Professor Kumar is world-renowned for his research on control theory, wireless networks, sensor networks, and network embedded control systems," said William H. Sanders, Director of the Information Trust Institute. "We are so pleased that ETH Zurich has recognized his enormous contributions with this distinguished award."
In his distinguished career, Kumar has studied stochastic control and randomized strategies in zero-sum dynamic stochastic games; adaptive control; dynamic systems in scheduling large manufacturing plants; simulated annealing methods for global optimization; and wireless networking.
More recently, with his students, he has studied in-network computation in sensor networks, and the role of time in networks, particularly clock synchronization and quality of service. In addition, he and his students are working on developing software architecture for networked embedded control systems, the third generation of control systems. He is investigating hybrid systems with logical and differential dynamics, such as fully automated traffic systems.
Kumar is the Franklin W. Woeltge Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, a faculty researcher with the Coordinated Science Laboratory and the Information Trust Institute, and an affiliate in the Computer Science department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the India Institute of Technology in Madras (1973) and master's and doctoral degrees in systems science and mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis (1975 and 1977). He joined the Illinois faculty in 1985.
In addition to the honorary doctorate, Kumar has received the Donald P. Eckman Award of the American Automatic Control Council (1985), the IEEE Field Award for Control Systems (2006), and the IEEE Communications Society Fred W. Ellersick Prize (2007). He is a Fellow of IEEE and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Writers: Kim Gudeman, Coordinated Science Laboratory, 217/333-9735, kgudeman AT illinois.edu, with contributions from Jenny Applequist, Information Trust Institute, 217/244-8920, applequi AT iti.uiuc.edu
Contact: Jenny Applequist, Information Trust Institute, 217/244-8920, applequi AT iti.uiuc.edu
Released December 9, 2008