Jonsson School Celebrates MTBC Tech Honors

 Sep. 18, 2012


Dr. Farokh Bastani leads the UT Dallas effort for the Net-Centric Software and Systems Industry/University Cooperative Research Center.

Several members of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science were recognized this year in the Metroplex Technology Business Council’s Tech Titan awards.

The Tech Titan of the Future, University Award went to the Net-Centric Software and Systems Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. The center, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, is a collaboration between the Jonsson School, the University of North Texas, Southern Methodist University, Arizona State University and Missouri University of Science and Technology. Faculty members and students in the center collaborate on innovative research projects with industrial partners from such companies as Boeing, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard Co., Lockheed Martin, NTT Data, Raytheon Co., Tektronix and Texas Instruments.

Dr. Farokh Bastani, professor of computer science, leads the UT Dallas site.

“UT Dallas graduate and undergraduate students have achieved impressive results in several Net-centric related research areas, including cloud computing simulation and benchmarking, high-throughput network processers using FPGA semiconductors, power management for mobile devices, real-time anomaly detection, service-oriented distributed governance, software safety, and other research topics,” Bastani said.

Other UT Dallas engineering programs and professors were also honored:


Jonsson School Dean Mark W. Spong (center) is shown with some members of the UTDesign team (left to right): Rod Wetterskog, Nancy Finch, Dr. Marco Tacca, Dr. Robert Hart and Dr. Jey Veerasamy.

UTDesign, a capstone senior design course that allows students to work on projects for high-technology companies, was a finalist in the same category. The UTDesign team includes Rod Wetterskog, assistant dean of corporate relations and UTDesign program coordinator; Drs. Jey Veerasamy, Marco Tacca and Robert Hart, all senior lecturers and program coordinators;  Andrea Turcatti, assistant program coordinator; and Nancy Finch, who is responsible for corporate care.

Dr. Gil Lee, professor of electrical engineering, was a finalist for the Tech Titan Community Hero Award for his efforts to teach mathematics to underprivileged children in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This past year, volunteers in Dr. Lee’s nonprofit company IntelliChoice taught more than 200 elementary, middle and high school students.

Dr. Philip Loizou, a professor of electrical engineering who died in July, was a finalist for the Tech Titans Inventor Award category. He connected cellphones or PDAs with electronic medical devices known as cochlear implants to help restore sound to thousands of people with profound hearing loss.

Also as part of this year’s recognitions, Dr. Krish Prabhu, a life member of the UT Dallas Development Board and former chairman, was inducted into the Tech Titan Hall of Fame. Prabhu, president of AT&T Labs and CTO of AT&T, is a former adjunct professor in the electrical engineering department. He was the first to establish a UT Dallas Opportunity Fund, designating his support to the Jonsson School.

The Tech Titan awards recognize outstanding technology companies and individuals in the North Texas area who have made significant contributions to their industries. The MTBC is the largest technology trade association in Texas.