Shwetak Patel
Encyclopedia
Shwetak Naran Patel is a computer scientist
and entrepreneur
best known for his work on developing novel sensing solutions and ubiquitous computing
. He is an assistant professor at the University of Washington
in Computer Science & Engineering and Electrical Engineering, where he joined in 2008. His technology start-up company on energy sensing, Zensi, was acquired by Belkin International, Inc.
in 2010. He was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow .
, though he was raised in Birmingham, Alabama
. He attended Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School
for high school in Birmingham, graduating in 2000. He received his B.S. in Computer Science
from the Georgia Institute of Technology
in 2003, and then continued on to receive his Ph.D.
in computer science in 2008 under the advisement of Dr. Gregory Abowd
. He started as an assistant professor at the University of Washington
in 2008, where he remains today.
Patel is married to Dr. Julie Kientz, also a faculty member at the University of Washington
, and currently resides in Seattle, Washington
.
, human-computer interaction, and user interface software and technology. He has published over 50 articles since 2003 and has received numerous best paper awards. Patel focuses on developing easy-to-deploy sensing technologies, activity recognition, and applications for energy monitoring. He also has developed novel interaction techniques for mobile devices, mobile sensing systems, and wireless sensor platforms, many of which in collaboration with Microsoft Research, where is also a visiting researcher. Dr. Patel's primary research has been in building low-cost and easy-to-deploy sensing systems, which he calls Infrastructure Mediated Sensing. These approaches leverage existing utility infrastructures in a home to support whole-house sensing.
Patel founded a company called Zensi, Inc., while he was a graduate student at Georgia Tech. Zensi was a demand side energy monitoring solutions provider. In 2010, Zensi was acquired by Belkin, Inc in 2010 for an undisclosed sum. This acquisition resulted in numerous awards for Patel, including making the cover of Seattle Business magazine, newsmaker of the year by TechFlash, and was named one of the top 10 start up stories of 2010 by TechFlash.
Dr. Patel has also received international recognition for his work, including the MacArthur Fellowship
in 2011, the MIT Technology Review TR-35 award in 2009 and the Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship in 2011. His work was recently featured in the cover story of Wired Magazine, and his past work was also honored by the New York Times as a top technology of the year in 2005. He also has numerous other articles appearing in the popular media on his inventions.
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....
and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
best known for his work on developing novel sensing solutions and ubiquitous computing
Ubiquitous computing
Ubiquitous computing is a post-desktop model of human-computer interaction in which information processing has been thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities. In the course of ordinary activities, someone "using" ubiquitous computing engages many computational devices and systems...
. He is an assistant professor at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
in Computer Science & Engineering and Electrical Engineering, where he joined in 2008. His technology start-up company on energy sensing, Zensi, was acquired by Belkin International, Inc.
Belkin
Belkin International, Inc., is a Californian manufacturer of computer hardware that specializes in connectivity devices, headquartered in Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California...
in 2010. He was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow .
Personal life
Shwetak Patel was born on December 9, 1981 in Selma, AlabamaSelma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census....
, though he was raised in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
. He attended Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School
Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School
Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School is a public International Baccalaureate school located on the campus of Shades Valley High School in Irondale, Alabama in Jefferson County...
for high school in Birmingham, graduating in 2000. He received his B.S. in 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 the Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
in 2003, and then continued on to receive his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in computer science in 2008 under the advisement of Dr. Gregory Abowd
Gregory Abowd
Gregory Dominic Abowd is a computer scientist best known for his work in ubiquitous computing, software engineering, and technologies for autism. He is a distinguished professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he joined the faculty in 1994....
. He started as an assistant professor at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
in 2008, where he remains today.
Patel is married to Dr. Julie Kientz, also a faculty member at the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
, and currently resides in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
.
Professional career
Patel’s research is broadly in the areas of ubiquitous computingUbiquitous computing
Ubiquitous computing is a post-desktop model of human-computer interaction in which information processing has been thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities. In the course of ordinary activities, someone "using" ubiquitous computing engages many computational devices and systems...
, human-computer interaction, and user interface software and technology. He has published over 50 articles since 2003 and has received numerous best paper awards. Patel focuses on developing easy-to-deploy sensing technologies, activity recognition, and applications for energy monitoring. He also has developed novel interaction techniques for mobile devices, mobile sensing systems, and wireless sensor platforms, many of which in collaboration with Microsoft Research, where is also a visiting researcher. Dr. Patel's primary research has been in building low-cost and easy-to-deploy sensing systems, which he calls Infrastructure Mediated Sensing. These approaches leverage existing utility infrastructures in a home to support whole-house sensing.
Patel founded a company called Zensi, Inc., while he was a graduate student at Georgia Tech. Zensi was a demand side energy monitoring solutions provider. In 2010, Zensi was acquired by Belkin, Inc in 2010 for an undisclosed sum. This acquisition resulted in numerous awards for Patel, including making the cover of Seattle Business magazine, newsmaker of the year by TechFlash, and was named one of the top 10 start up stories of 2010 by TechFlash.
Dr. Patel has also received international recognition for his work, including the MacArthur Fellowship
MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
in 2011, the MIT Technology Review TR-35 award in 2009 and the Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship in 2011. His work was recently featured in the cover story of Wired Magazine, and his past work was also honored by the New York Times as a top technology of the year in 2005. He also has numerous other articles appearing in the popular media on his inventions.
Selected bibliography
- Cohn, G., Morris, D., Patel, S.N., Tan, D.S. Your Noise is My Command: Sensing Gestures Using the Body as an Antenna. CHI 2011. ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2011).
- Gupta, S., Reynolds, M.S., Patel, S.N. ElectriSense: Single-Point Sensing Using EMI for Electrical Event Detection and Classification in the Home. Ubicomp 2010.
- Froehlich, J. Larson, E., Campbell, T., Haggerty, C., Fogarty, J., and Patel, S.N. HydroSense: Infrastructure-Mediated Single-Point Sensing of Whole-Home Water Activity. UbiComp 2009.
- Cohn, G., Stuntebeck, E., Pandey, J., Otis., B., Abowd, G.D., Patel, S.N. SNUPI: Sensor Nodes Utilizing Powerline Infrastructure. Ubicomp 2010.
- Patel, S.N, Gupta, S., Reynolds, M. The Design and Evaluation of an End-User-Deployable, Whole House, Contactless Power Consumption Sensor. ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2010).
- Patel, S.N., Robertson, T., Kientz, J.A., Reynolds, M.S., Abowd, G.D. At the Flick of a Switch: Detecting and Classifying Unique Electrical Events on the Residential Power Line. Ubicomp 2007.
- Patel, S.N., Kientz, J.A., Hayes, G.R., Bhat, S., Abowd, G.D. Farther Than You May Think: An Empirical Investigation of the Proximity of Users to their Mobile Phones. Ubicomp 2006.
- Patel, S.N., Pierce, J. and Abowd, G.D. A Gesture-based Authentication Scheme for Untrusted Public Terminals. In the Proceedings of the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2004).
See also
- MacArthur Fellows ProgramMacArthur Fellows ProgramThe MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
- Ubiquitous ComputingUbiquitous computingUbiquitous computing is a post-desktop model of human-computer interaction in which information processing has been thoroughly integrated into everyday objects and activities. In the course of ordinary activities, someone "using" ubiquitous computing engages many computational devices and systems...
- TR35TR35The TR35 is an annual list published by MIT Technology Review magazine, naming the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35.Some of the most famous winners of the award include Larry Page and Sergey Brin , Linus Torvalds , Jerry Yang , Jonathan Ive , Mark Zuckerberg...
- Gregory AbowdGregory AbowdGregory Dominic Abowd is a computer scientist best known for his work in ubiquitous computing, software engineering, and technologies for autism. He is a distinguished professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he joined the faculty in 1994....