Google has inaugurated the ML and Systems Junior Faculty Award, and CS professors Charith Mendis and Minjia Zhang have each received awards. Google created the nomination-based award to recognize the significance and promise of the work being undertaken by young faculty members. Mendis was noted for his research in ML Compiler Optimization, while Zhang has been awarded for his work in Highly Efficient ML Systems.
Photo Credit: Holly Birch Photography
Charith Mendis and Minjia Zhang
A group of Google engineers and researchers selected more than 50 recipients from 27 U.S. universities. The award includes $100,000 in unrestricted gift funding to support future research and an invitation to participate in a symposium with fellow award winners.
Zhang says, “I’m definitely thrilled and deeply honored to receive this award. It is a recognition of our work by leaders in both ML and system research at Google. I’m also excited about the potential collaboration this opens up.” Describing his research, he says that “The award supports my lab’s research on building highly efficient ML systems in both data centers and scientific supercomputers.”
Amin Vahdat, Google VP/GM, ML, Systems & Cloud AI, wrote that “We are very excited to see the breakthroughs the next generation of faculty will deliver in the years ahead. We know they will help invent the future and mentor the next generation of talented students, many of whom will become faculty members on their own, start new companies or populate startups and large companies alike.”
Grainger Engineering Affiliations
Charith Mendis is an Illinois Grainger Engineering professor of computer science.
Minjia Zhang is an Illinois Grainger Engineering professor of computer science.