Four UMIACS Faculty Receive Academic Promotions

Four faculty in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) have been promoted in recognition of their ongoing excellence in research, scholarship and outreach.

(Pictured clockwise from bottom left) Pratap Tokekar, John Dickerson, and Abhinav Bhatele—who also hold appointments in the Department of Computer Science—were promoted from assistant professor to associate professor with tenure; while Associate Research Scientist Corneila Fermüller was promoted to Research Scientist, the highest professional track title.

“Pratap, John, Abhinav, and Cornelia are enormous assets to this institution and the university as a whole,” says Mihai Pop, director of UMIACS. “All of them consistently produce cutting-edge research and are dedicated to educating and mentoring students.”

Tokekar is a robotics expert with a third appointment in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is also a member of the University of Maryland Center for Machine Learning and the Maryland Robotics Center. Tokekar specializes in developing algorithms for aerial, ground and marine robots to communicate with each other and gather data.

Dickerson’s research intersects at computer science and economics, with a focus on solving practical problems using stochastic optimization and machine learning. His work has been applied to a variety of markets, including organ donor exchanges and ridesharing. Dickerson is a core member of the University of Maryland Center for Machine Learning.

Bhatele leads the Parallel Software and Systems Group. His research spans systems and networks, with a focus on parallel computing and data analytics. Specifically, Bhatele has published work on parallel programming models and runtimes, network design and simulation, parallel deep learning, and more.

An expert in computer vision, robotics and human vision, Fermüller is focused on developing software and biological-inspired solutions for active vision systems. Her work is applicable to several areas, including imaging sensors for better motion and shape recovery, visual motion tasks in navigation and robotics, and video computing. She is a member of the Center for Automation Research and the Computer Vision Laboratory.

—Story by Maria Herd