John M. Wozencraft, professor of electrical engineering emeritus, is the 2006 recipient of the Alexander Graham Bell Medal of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The medal is one of the most prestigious awards of the IEEE, and recognizes Wozencraft for his pioneering work in the development of sequential decoding and the signal space approach to digital communication. Wozencraft invented sequential decoding in 1957, providing the first practical technique for the reception of convolutional error-correcting codes, thus spurring the use of error correction in digital communications.
Three MIT undergraduates have won scholarships from the National Italian American Foundation. Diana Lusk, a sophomore majoring in brain and cognitive sciences, Steven Russo, a sophomore majoring in mathematics, and John Thomas, a junior majoring in physics, received the National Italian American Foundation Eleanor and Anthony DeFrancis Scholarship.
Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Music Evan Ziporyn is one of 20 composers commissioned by Carnegie Hall to have their music performed during Carnegie Hall's 2006-2007 season. As part of Carnegie Hall's mission to nurture talent, two emerging composers will join Ziporyn and three other established composers to write new works for string and percussion instruments indigenous to the ancient trade route known as the Silk Road. The works will be performed in Zankel Hall by Yo-Yo Ma and members of the Silk Road Ensemble. In addition, Carnegie Hall has announced that its 2006-2007 season will include a new composition by Institute Professor John Harbison.
Devavrat Shah, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science and engineering systems, recently received an Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation's Division of Computer and Network Systems. The award, which grants $90,000 per year for five years, will be used to fund Shah's research in implementable network algorithms, randomization, belief propagation and heavy traffic.
Daniel D. Frey, the Robert N. Noyce Career Development Professor and assistant professor of mechanical engineering and engineering systems, has received the 2005-2006 Junior Bose Award for Excellence in Teaching. Established in 1995-96, this honor is presented annually to outstanding contributors to education from among the School of Engineering faculty members who are being proposed for promotion to associate professor without tenure. MIT's Engineering Council selects the recipient as part of its promotion deliberations. The award includes a prize of $3,000.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on March 1, 2006 (download PDF).
