Computing Professor Named Distinguished Scientist

The Association for Computing Machinery recently named UT Dallas computer science professor Dr. Balakrishnan Prabhakaran a Distinguished Scientist.

The process includes nomination by another association fellow and several professional references.

“I am sincerely grateful for the time, efforts and encouragement of my colleagues,” Prabhakaran said. “This is an important career milestone for me.”

ACM is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society aimed at advancing computing as a science and a profession.

“My nomination was from ACM Fellow, Dr Hong-Jiang Zhang, who manages operations of Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing,” Prabhakaran said. “He also secured references from other ACM fellows and senior researchers, as well as from Dean Mark Spong.”

Spong is dean of the University’s Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.

“We are very proud of Prabha’s achievements, and this most recent honor reinforces recognition of the excellence of our faculty both nationally and abroad,” he said.

Prabhakaran’s research interests include content-based retrieval of 3D models and motion sequences; streaming of 3D animations and deformable 3D models; content protection and authentication of 3D objects; quality-of-service guarantees for streaming in wireless ad-hoc and mesh networks; and collaborative virtual environments.

ACM’s Distinguished Scientists recognizes members with at least 15 years of professional experience and five years of continuous professional membership who have achieved significant accomplishments or have made a significant impact on the computing field.

Dr. Gopal Gupta, head of the department of computer engineering said of Dr. Prabhakaran’s achievement: “His recognition by ACM is a sign of the strides the Computer Science Department is making as it strives hard to become a leader in the nation in research and teaching in computing.”