Boleslaw Szymanski
Encyclopedia
Boleslaw Karl Szymanski is a Professor at the Department of Computer Science and the Founding Head of the Center for Pervasive Computing and Networking, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
. He's known for multiple contributions into computer science
, including Szymanski's Algorithm
.
funded by the United States Army
. He is also the Principal Investigator in the International Technology Alliance
. His projects include dynamic processes on networks, hidden groups in social networks, sensor network protocols and algorithms, and large-scale parallel and distributed computing and simulation. He received ITA Distinguished Service Award in 2007. Dr. Szymanski is also one of the Principals in the MilkyWay@home
project that seeks to model the streams of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy that were pulled from nearby galaxies (e.g. Saggitarius).
, University of Aberdeen
, and University of Pennsylvania
. He has been with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
, Troy. NY, since 1985. In 1999, Dr. Szymanski was elected an IEEE Fellow
for his contributions to parallel computing
and distributed computing
and in 2003 he received the Wiley Distinguished Faculty Award. In 2007, Prof. Szymanski received the Claire and Roland W. Schmitt
Distinguished Professorship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
. In 2009, Dr. Szymanski received the Wilkes Award and Medal for the best paper published in volume 52 of Computer Journal. Also, in 2009, he was elected a foreign member of the Polish Academy of Sciences
and joined Division IV of Technical Sciences there.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
. He's known for multiple contributions into 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...
, including Szymanski's Algorithm
Szymanski's Algorithm
Szymanski's Mutual Exclusion Algorithm is a mutual exclusion algorithm devised by computer scientist Dr. Boleslaw Szymanski, which has many favorable properties including linear wait, and which extension solved the open problem posted by Leslie Lamport whether there is an algorithm with a constant...
.
Current Work
Dr. Szymanski is the Director of the Social Cognitive Networks Academic Research Center, which studies the fundamentals of social and cognitive network science; the center is a part of the Network Science Collaborative Technology AllianceNetwork Science CTA
The Network Science Collaborative Technology Alliance is a collaborative research alliance funded by the US ArmyResearch Laboratory and focused on fundamentalresearch on the critical scientific and technical challenges that...
funded by the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. He is also the Principal Investigator in the International Technology Alliance
International Technology Alliance
The International Technology Alliance is a research program initiated by the UK Ministry of Defence and the US Army Research Laboratory . The research program is intended to run for 10 years...
. His projects include dynamic processes on networks, hidden groups in social networks, sensor network protocols and algorithms, and large-scale parallel and distributed computing and simulation. He received ITA Distinguished Service Award in 2007. Dr. Szymanski is also one of the Principals in the MilkyWay@home
MilkyWay@Home
MilkyWay@home is a volunteer distributed computing project in astrophysics running on the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing platform...
project that seeks to model the streams of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy that were pulled from nearby galaxies (e.g. Saggitarius).
Current Positions
His current positions (Jan 2011) are :- Claire and Roland Schmitt Distinguished Professor of Computer ScienceComputer scienceComputer 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...
- Director, Social Cognitive Networks Academic Research Center
- Director, the Rensselaer Center for Network Science and Technology (NEST)
- Foreign Member, Polish Academy of SciencesPolish Academy of SciencesThe Polish Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Warsaw, is one of two Polish institutions having the nature of an academy of sciences.-History:...
- Editor-in-Chief, Scientific Programming
- Editorial Board, Scalable Computing: Practice and Experience
- Editorial Board, Computing and Informatics
- Editorial Board, Computer Science (journal)Computer Science (journal)Computer Science is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the AGH University of Science and Technology and edited by faculty members of the Departments of Computer Science and Automatics. The journal was established in 1999 and is published annually...
Education
Boleslaw Szymanski received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Institute of Informatics of PAN, Warsaw in 1976. He pursued an academic career at Warsaw University of TechnologyWarsaw University of Technology
The Warsaw University of Technology is one of the leading institutes of technology in Poland, and one of the largest in Central Europe. It employs 2,453 teaching faculty, with 357 professors . The student body numbers 36,156 , mostly full-time. There are 17 faculties covering almost all fields of...
, University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
, and University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. He has been with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
, Troy. NY, since 1985. In 1999, Dr. Szymanski was elected an IEEE Fellow
IEEE Fellow
An IEEE member is elevated to the grade of IEEE Fellow for "unusual distinction in the profession and shall be conferred by the Board of Directors upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest"...
for his contributions to parallel computing
Parallel computing
Parallel computing is a form of computation in which many calculations are carried out simultaneously, operating on the principle that large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which are then solved concurrently . There are several different forms of parallel computing: bit-level,...
and distributed computing
Distributed computing
Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system consists of multiple autonomous computers that communicate through a computer network. The computers interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal...
and in 2003 he received the Wiley Distinguished Faculty Award. In 2007, Prof. Szymanski received the Claire and Roland W. Schmitt
Roland W. Schmitt
Roland Walter Schmitt is a physicist, business executive and was the sixteenth president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.He was born on July 24, 1923 in Seguin, Texas to Walter L. Schmitt and Myrtle F. Schmitt. On June 2, 1951 he married Alice V. Calhoun and they had two sons: Lorenz and...
Distinguished Professorship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
. In 2009, Dr. Szymanski received the Wilkes Award and Medal for the best paper published in volume 52 of Computer Journal. Also, in 2009, he was elected a foreign member of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Polish Academy of Sciences
The Polish Academy of Sciences, headquartered in Warsaw, is one of two Polish institutions having the nature of an academy of sciences.-History:...
and joined Division IV of Technical Sciences there.