Mario Kovač (scientist)
Encyclopedia
Mario Kovač is a Croatia
n computer engineering professor and inventor. He is a professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing
(FER) at the University of Zagreb
who specialized in VLSI and was also involved in the creation of the early AMP MP3 player.
Kovač graduated from the aforementioned university faculty in 1988, and obtained a masters degree in 1991. In 1991 he received a VLSI and Computer Architecture
Scholarship at the University of South Florida
, and he subsequently received the Fulbright Award
in 1993. Kovač obtained a doctorate at FER in 1995. He holds for a VLSI circuit structure for implementing the JPEG image compression standard
, among others. In 1995 he received the Best Paper Award at the 8th International Conference on VLSI Design
. In 1997, Kovač's student Tomislav Uzelac
created AMP, the first MP3 player.
Between 1998 and 2000 Kovač was the head of the Department of Control and Computer Engineering at FER, and between 2000 and 2002 he was the vice-dean for management.
In 2008, Croatian President awarded him with the Order of Danica Hrvatska with the image of Ruđer Bošković for special merit in science.
He is a member of the supervisory boards of Croatian agencies/companies CARNet
(since 2004), HIT - Croatian Institute of Technology (since 2006), and BICRO
(since 2004).
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n computer engineering professor and inventor. He is a professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing
Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing
The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing is one of the top faculties of University of Zagreb. The faculty is regarded as "the largest technical faculty and the leading educational as well as research-and-development institution in the fields of electrical engineering and computing in...
(FER) at the University of Zagreb
University of Zagreb
The University of Zagreb is the biggest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of Southeastern Europe...
who specialized in VLSI and was also involved in the creation of the early AMP MP3 player.
Kovač graduated from the aforementioned university faculty in 1988, and obtained a masters degree in 1991. In 1991 he received a VLSI and Computer Architecture
Computer architecture
In computer science and engineering, computer architecture is the practical art of selecting and interconnecting hardware components to create computers that meet functional, performance and cost goals and the formal modelling of those systems....
Scholarship at the University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...
, and he subsequently received the Fulbright Award
Fulbright Award
The Fulbright Award is a scholarship awarded as part of the Fulbright Program to foster international research and collaboration. The program also awards a fellowship to Ph.D.'s to lecture and teach in foreign universities...
in 1993. Kovač obtained a doctorate at FER in 1995. He holds for a VLSI circuit structure for implementing the JPEG image compression standard
JPEG
In computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....
, among others. In 1995 he received the Best Paper Award at the 8th International Conference on VLSI Design
International Conference on VLSI Design
The International Conference on VLSI Design was started in 1985, as a small workshop at IIT Madras, under the visionary guidance of Dr. Vishwani Agrawal of Auburn University, and Prof. H.N. Mahabala of IIT Madras. From this modest beginning, it has grown into a international conference on VLSI...
. In 1997, Kovač's student Tomislav Uzelac
Tomislav Uzelac
Tomislav Uzelac is the Croatian programmer who created AMP, considered the first successful MP3 player.Uzelac studied at the University of Zagreb's Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing under professor Mario Kovač, working on MP3 software decoding. In 1997 he created AMP, and also...
created AMP, the first MP3 player.
Between 1998 and 2000 Kovač was the head of the Department of Control and Computer Engineering at FER, and between 2000 and 2002 he was the vice-dean for management.
In 2008, Croatian President awarded him with the Order of Danica Hrvatska with the image of Ruđer Bošković for special merit in science.
He is a member of the supervisory boards of Croatian agencies/companies CARNet
CARNet
CARNet is the national research and education network of Croatia. It is funded from the government budget and it operates from offices in Zagreb and five other cities....
(since 2004), HIT - Croatian Institute of Technology (since 2006), and BICRO
BICRO
The Business Innovation Center of Croatia or BICRO is an agency of the Croatian government formed in 1998 and responsible for allocating state funding for research and development projects....
(since 2004).