Benjamin Wah
Encyclopedia
Professor Benjamin Wan-sang Wah is the provost and Wei Lun Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, the Chinese University of Hong Kong
.
, Technology
and Research
. In 1998–1999, Wah was Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong
(CUHK), and in that year received an Exemplary Teaching Award. From 1999 to 2003, he served as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at CUHK.
and graduated from Queen Elizabeth School, Hong Kong
. He received his BS and MS in Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science
from
Columbia University
, USA, then furthered his studies at the University of California, Berkeley
, obtaining an MS in Computer Science and a PhD in Engineering
. Wah began his teaching career as Assistant Professor in Purdue University
in 1979. He later joined the University of Illinois in 1985, which he has served until now.
Wah is an expert in non-linear programming, multimedia signal processing
and artificial intelligence
. He has published numerous research articles in well-known
professional journals such as Artificial Intelligence, IEEE Trans. in Computers, IEEE Trans. on Knowledge and Data Engineering, IEEE Trans. on Multimedia, IEEE Trans.
on Parallel and Distributed Technology and IEEE Trans. on Software Engineering. He is also the author of two books, and Editor-in-Chief of Wiley’s Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Engineering, and has contributed to many edited books and book chapters. He has served on many journal editorial boards. Professor Wah has received numerous honors and awards for his distinguished academic and professional
achievements, including the IEEE Computer Society
Tsutomu Kanai Award, the IEEE Computer Society W. Wallace McDowell Award, the IEEE Computer Society Richard E. Merwin Distinguished Service Award, the Pan Wen Yuan Foundation Outstanding Research Award, the Web Intelligence Consortium Outstanding Contribution Award and the IEEE Third Millennium Medal. He has been elected
He also holds many Endowed Professorships and Honorary
Professorships in leading universities in the United States of America and in Asia.
Professor Wah was President-Elect and President of IEEE Computer Society during the years 2000–2001. He has been a member of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong since July 2005 and Chairman of its Engineering Panel since 2006
Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong is a research-led university in Hong Kong.CUHK is the only tertiary education institution in Hong Kong with Nobel Prize winners on its faculty, including Chen Ning Yang, James Mirrlees, Robert Alexander Mundell and Charles K. Kao...
.
Career
In 1985-2009, he was the Franklin W. Woeltge Endowed Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. In 2008-2009, he also served as Director of the Advanced Digital Sciences Center in Singapore, a US$50 million research center established by the University of Illinois in Singapore in collaboration with the Singapore government’s Agency for ScienceScience
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, Technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
and Research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
. In 1998–1999, Wah was Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong is a research-led university in Hong Kong.CUHK is the only tertiary education institution in Hong Kong with Nobel Prize winners on its faculty, including Chen Ning Yang, James Mirrlees, Robert Alexander Mundell and Charles K. Kao...
(CUHK), and in that year received an Exemplary Teaching Award. From 1999 to 2003, he served as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at CUHK.
Biography
Wah was born in Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and graduated from Queen Elizabeth School, Hong Kong
Queen Elizabeth School, Hong Kong
Queen Elizabeth School , or QES and QE for short, is the first EMI co-education secondary school founded by the Government of Hong Kong...
. He received his BS and MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
and Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
from
Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, USA, then furthered his studies at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, obtaining an MS in Computer Science and a PhD in Engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
. Wah began his teaching career as Assistant Professor in Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
in 1979. He later joined the University of Illinois in 1985, which he has served until now.
Wah is an expert in non-linear programming, multimedia signal processing
Signal processing
Signal processing is an area of systems engineering, electrical engineering and applied mathematics that deals with operations on or analysis of signals, in either discrete or continuous time...
and artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
. He has published numerous research articles in well-known
professional journals such as Artificial Intelligence, IEEE Trans. in Computers, IEEE Trans. on Knowledge and Data Engineering, IEEE Trans. on Multimedia, IEEE Trans.
on Parallel and Distributed Technology and IEEE Trans. on Software Engineering. He is also the author of two books, and Editor-in-Chief of Wiley’s Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Engineering, and has contributed to many edited books and book chapters. He has served on many journal editorial boards. Professor Wah has received numerous honors and awards for his distinguished academic and professional
achievements, including the IEEE Computer Society
IEEE Computer Society
The IEEE Computer Society is a professional society of IEEE. Its purpose and scope is “to advance the theory, practice, and application of computer and information processing science and technology” and the “professional standing of its members.” The CS is the largest of 38 technical societies...
Tsutomu Kanai Award, the IEEE Computer Society W. Wallace McDowell Award, the IEEE Computer Society Richard E. Merwin Distinguished Service Award, the Pan Wen Yuan Foundation Outstanding Research Award, the Web Intelligence Consortium Outstanding Contribution Award and the IEEE Third Millennium Medal. He has been elected
- Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
. - Fellow of IEEE, and
- Fellow of the Association for Computing MachineryAssociation for Computing MachineryThe Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
.
He also holds many Endowed Professorships and Honorary
Professorships in leading universities in the United States of America and in Asia.
Professor Wah was President-Elect and President of IEEE Computer Society during the years 2000–2001. He has been a member of the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong since July 2005 and Chairman of its Engineering Panel since 2006