Mikhail Atallah
Encyclopedia
Mikhail Jibrayil Atallah is a Lebanese American computer scientist
, a distinguished professor of computer science at Purdue University
.
in 1975. He then moved to Johns Hopkins University
for his graduate studies, earning a masters degree in 1980 and a Ph.D. in 1982 under the supervision of S. Rao Kosaraju
. Since that time he has been a member of the Purdue University faculty.
In 2001 Atallah co-founded Arxan Technologies, Inc., a provider of internet anti-piracy and anti-tampering software, and in 2007 he became its chief technology officer.
s and computer security
.
Atallah's thesis work was on the subject of parallel algorithm
s, and he continued working in that area as a faculty member.
Highly-cited algorithmic research by Atallah includes papers on parallel and dynamic computational geometry
, finding the symmetries
of geometric figures, divide and conquer algorithm
s, and efficient parallel computations of the Levenshtein distance
between pairs of strings. With his student Marina Blanton, Atallah is the editor of the Algorithms and Theory of Computation Handbook (CRC Press, 2nd ed., 2009, ISBN 9781584888185).
Atallah's more recent research has been in the area of computer security
. His work in this area has included techniques for text-based digital watermarking
. and the addition of multiple guard points within software as an anti-piracy measure.
of the Association for Computing Machinery
for his "contributions to parallel and distributed computation". He has also been a fellow of the IEEE since 1997.
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
, a distinguished professor of computer science at 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...
.
Biography
Atallah received his bachelor's degree from the American University of BeirutAmerican University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut is a private, independent university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries in 1866...
in 1975. He then moved to Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
for his graduate studies, earning a masters degree in 1980 and a Ph.D. in 1982 under the supervision of S. Rao Kosaraju
S. Rao Kosaraju
Sambasiva Rao Kosaraju is a professor of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University, who has done extensive work in the design and analysis of parallel and sequential algorithms....
. Since that time he has been a member of the Purdue University faculty.
In 2001 Atallah co-founded Arxan Technologies, Inc., a provider of internet anti-piracy and anti-tampering software, and in 2007 he became its chief technology officer.
Research
Atallah has published over 200 papers on topics in algorithmAlgorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
s and computer security
Computer security
Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
.
Atallah's thesis work was on the subject of parallel algorithm
Parallel algorithm
In computer science, a parallel algorithm or concurrent algorithm, as opposed to a traditional sequential algorithm, is an algorithm which can be executed a piece at a time on many different processing devices, and then put back together again at the end to get the correct result.Some algorithms...
s, and he continued working in that area as a faculty member.
Highly-cited algorithmic research by Atallah includes papers on parallel and dynamic computational geometry
Computational geometry
Computational geometry is a branch of computer science devoted to the study of algorithms which can be stated in terms of geometry. Some purely geometrical problems arise out of the study of computational geometric algorithms, and such problems are also considered to be part of computational...
, finding the symmetries
Symmetry
Symmetry generally conveys two primary meanings. The first is an imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance; such that it reflects beauty or perfection...
of geometric figures, divide and conquer algorithm
Divide and conquer algorithm
In computer science, divide and conquer is an important algorithm design paradigm based on multi-branched recursion. A divide and conquer algorithm works by recursively breaking down a problem into two or more sub-problems of the same type, until these become simple enough to be solved directly...
s, and efficient parallel computations of the Levenshtein distance
Levenshtein distance
In information theory and computer science, the Levenshtein distance is a string metric for measuring the amount of difference between two sequences...
between pairs of strings. With his student Marina Blanton, Atallah is the editor of the Algorithms and Theory of Computation Handbook (CRC Press, 2nd ed., 2009, ISBN 9781584888185).
Atallah's more recent research has been in the area of computer security
Computer security
Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
. His work in this area has included techniques for text-based digital watermarking
Digital watermarking
Digital watermarking is the process of embedding information into a digital signal which may be used to verify its authenticity or the identity of its owners, in the same manner as paper bearing a watermark for visible identification. In digital watermarking, the signal may be audio, pictures, or...
. and the addition of multiple guard points within software as an anti-piracy measure.
Awards and honors
In 2006, Atallah was elected as a fellowFellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of the Association for Computing Machinery
Association for Computing Machinery
The 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...
for his "contributions to parallel and distributed computation". He has also been a fellow of the IEEE since 1997.