IIT Professor Named Association for Computing Machinery Fellow for Data Mining Research
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has named Ophir Frieder, Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) IITRI Chair Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Information Retrieval Laboratory, as one of the organization’s fellows in recognition of his research which will streamline the ability to locate information on scanned pages. Known as "complex document information processing," Frieder’s research is focused on areas where key word search engines don’t work--pictures, signatures or graphs.
"There are many very good software tools that are each very good at one thing—for example, finding signatures, identifying logos, or extracting text from tables. What we need is to create a tool that can find all of these things—and more—at once. And do it well," said Frieder. Working from a $653,300 grant from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) of the U.S. Department of Energy, Frieder and his team are working to develop software with search capability that will recognize all the disparate elements found in complex documents.
ACM selected 34 of its members for their contributions to both the practical and theoretical aspects of computing and information technology. The new ACM Fellows, from some of the world’s leading industries, research labs, and universities, made significant advances that are having lasting effects on the lives of citizens throughout the world.
"These individuals deserve our acclaim for their dedication, creativity, and success in pursuing productive careers in information technology," ACM President David Patterson said of this year’s Fellows. "By seizing these opportunities, they demonstrate the astonishing potential for innovation in the computing discipline, and the broad-based, profound and enduring impacts of their achievements for the way we live and work in the 21st Century. On a personal note, I am pleased that I’ve known and collaborated with many of these new fellows for several years."
Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting technological university awarding degrees in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, as well as architecture, psychology, design, business and law. IIT’s interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum prepares the university’s 6,200 students for leadership roles in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.
