The Grainger College of Engineering
Electrical & Computer Engineering

Benjamin W Wah

Benjamin W Wah
Benjamin W Wah

Administrative Titles

Franklin W. Woeltge Professor Emeritus

For More Information

Education

  • Ph.D., Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley, December 1979

Teaching Statement

Course taught in the recent past include computer networks, computer networking laboratory, optimization, and introduction to computer engineering.

Research Statement

His first project focuses on the study of the theory and algorithms for solving nonlinear constrained optimization problems in discrete, continuous, or mixed spaces. Based on a new necessary and sufficient condition for characterizing constrained local optima and by exploiting the localities of constraints in these problems, his team has developed new algorithms for solving large-scale application problems in temporal planning, satisfiability, and nonlinear programming that are too large for other solvers.

His second project aims at developing new protocols and coding methods for concealing losses that occur during real-time transmissions of multimedia data (voice, speech, images, and video) over unreliable IP networks, such as the Internet and wireless networks. Since video and audio transmissions may tolerate some degrees of loss, his team focuses on studying trade-offs among the design of codecs for compressing data, protocols for scheduling transmissions and feedbacks, and reconstruction schemes for recovering lost data.

Undergraduate Research Opportunities

Undergraduate research opportunities are available in the areas of real-time multimedia on the Internet, voice-over-IP, real-time video, and financial engineering. Students interested should have a background in computer engineering or computer science. Some courses related to these research areas include computer networks, multimedia processing, signal processing, and optimization.

Research Interests

  • Artificial Intelligence, planning and scheduling, and satisfiability.
  • Multimedia signal processing, voice-over-IP, and computer networks.
  • Nonlinear programming, mixed-integer programming, and applications in financial engineering.

Research Areas

  • Networking and distributed computing

Teaching Honors

  • Chinese University of Hong Kong, Exemplary Teaching Award, 1998-1999.

Research Honors

  • IEEE Computer Society Technical Committee on Distributed Processing, Outstanding Achievement Award, "for outstanding contributions to the design of effective loss concealment schemes for real-time multimedia over the Internet," 2007.
  • 1st Prize, Satisficing Planning (with C. W. Hsu, Y. X. Chen, and R. Huang), 5th International Planning Competition, 16th International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling, June 6-10, 2006.
  • W. Wallace-McDowell Award, IEEE Computer Society, "for fundamental contributions to the theory and applications of nonlinear and resource-constrained optimization," 2006.
  • Web Intelligence Consortium Outstanding Contribution Award, Web Intelligence Consortium, ‘‘for landmark contributions to Web intelligence and nonlinear optimization,’’ 2006
  • Pan Wen Yuan Foundation Outstanding Research Award, "for significant theoretical innovations in nonlinear optimization," 2006.
  • IEEE Int'l Conf. on Tools with Artificial Intelligence, Best Paper Award for his paper with C. W. Hsu and Y. X. Chen entitled " Subgoal Ordering and Granularity Control for Incremental Planning," 2005.
  • Fellow, Association for Computing Machinery, "for leadership in the computer science community and contributions to system optimization," 2005.
  • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, "for outstanding and innovative contributions to the theory and applications of nonlinear optimization," 2005.
  • 2nd Prize, Suboptimal Propositional Track (with Y. X. Chen and C. W. Hsu), 4th International Planning Competition, June 6, 2004.
  • 1st Prize, Suboptimal Temporal Metric Track (with Y. X. Chen and C. W. Hsu), 4th International Planning Competition, June 6, 2004.
  • Franklin W. Woeltge Endowed Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, 2004-present.
  • Raymond T. Yeh Life Time Achievement, "in recognition of long-term preeminent achievement in research, innocation, or education," Society for Design and Process Science, 2003.
  • Honorary Professor, Taichung Healthcare and Management University, Taiwan , 2002.
  • Journal of Global Optimization, Best Paper Award on papers published in 1999 for his paper with T. Wang entitled "Efficient and Adaptive Lagrange-Multiplier Methods for Nonlinear Continuous Global Optimization," 2001.
  • Sun Yun-Suan Honorary Chair Professor, National Tsinghua University, Taiwan, 2001-2005.
  • IEEE Third Millennium Medal, "for outstanding contributions in the computer area," 2000.
  • IEEE International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence, Best Paper Award for his paper with T. Wang entitled "Constrained Simulated Annealing with Applications in Nonlinear Constrained Global Optimization," 1999.
  • Robert T. Chien Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, 1998-2003.
  • IEEE Computer Society Technical Achievement Award, "for outstanding pioneering contributions to search optimization with parallel and neural network approaches," 1998.
  • Fellow, Society for Design and Process Science, 1997.
  • McKay Visiting Professorship, University of California, Berkeley, 1994.
  • Fujitsu Endowed Visiting Chair Professorship of Intelligence Engineering, University of Tokyo, Japan, 1992.
  • Fellow, IEEE, "for contributions to the field of parallel processing," 1991.
  • University of Illinois, University Scholar, Faculty Excellence Award, 1989-1992.
  • IEEE International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence Technical Achievement Award, "for his outstanding research contributions to IEEE ICTAI (1988-1997)."
  • IEEE Computer Society Outstanding Paper Award, for his COMPSAC'80 paper "An Efficient Heuristic for File Placement on Distributed Databases," 1981.

Public Service Honors

  • Certificates of Appreciation for "keynote speaker of IEEE International Symposium on Multimedia 2007 (ISM2007)." IEEE Computer Society.
  • IEEE Computer Society Richard E. Merwin Distinguished Service Award for ˜outstanding achievements, sustained leadership, and dedicated service to the IEEE Computer Society," 2006. (This is the highest service award in the IEEE-CS and carries a medal and an honorarium of $5,000.)
  • Certificates of Appreciation for "dedicated service as a member of the 2004 IEEE Computer Society Nominations Committee." IEEE Computer Society.
  • Certificates of Appreciation in "recognition and appreciation of valued services and contributions as member, 2002, of Affiliate Status Review Ad Hoc Committee," IEEE.
  • Certificates of Appreciation in "recognition and appreciation of valued services and contributions as member, 2002, of Operational Review Ad Hoc Committee," IEEE.
  • Certificates of Appreciation for "service on the IEEE Computer Society Constitution and Bylaws Committee during 2002," IEEE Computer Society.
  • Certificates of Appreciation for "service on the IEEE Computer Society Planning Committee during 2002," IEEE Computer Society.
  • Certificates of Appreciation for "outstanding leadership as a cochair and member of the IEEE Computer Society Executive Director Search Committee," IEEE Computer Society, 2001.
  • International Federation For Information Processing Silver Core Award, in "appreciation of services rendered to IFIP," 2001.
  • IEEE Computer Society Meritorious Service Award for ˜strong leadership and unswerving dedication to the Society above and beyond the normal call of duty in the year 2000," 2001.
  • IEEE Computer Society President, 2001.
  • IEEE International Conference on Tools with Artificial Intelligence Outstanding Service Award, for "outstanding service as General Co-Chair of the IEEE-CS 10th ICTAI," 1998.
  • Certificates of Appreciation for "services rendered as chairman, International Conference on Neural Networks 1996," IEEE Circuits and Systems Society.
  • Certificates of Appreciation for "distinguished service as Conference Chair of the International Conference on Neural Networks," IEEE Neural Network Council, 1996.
  • IEEE Computer Society Golden Core Member, as "one of the distinguished core of dedicated volunteers and staff whose leadership and service have made the IEEE Computer Society the world's preeminent association of computing professionals." 1996.
  • Certificates of Appreciation for "thoughtful and conscientious evaluation of Fellows candidates during service on the 1995 Fellows Committee," IEEE Computer Society.
  • Certificates of Appreciation for "expert professional service with the highest standard while serving on the Computer Society’s 1994 IEEE Fellows Evaluation Committee," IEEE Computer Society.
  • Certificates of Appreciation for "thoughtful and conscientious evaluation of Fellows candidates during service on the 1993 Fellows Committee," IEEE Computer Society.
  • IEEE Computer Society Outstanding Contribution Certificate, for "initiating and nurturing the IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering into a highly respected source of technical information," 1992.
  • Certificates of Appreciation, 11th Int'l Conf. on Distributed Computing Systems, IEEE Computer Society, 1991.
  • IEEE Computer Society Meritorious Service Award for "dedicated and significant services to the TAI conferences steering committee and as Program Chair of TAI'91," 1991.
  • IEEE Region 10 Conference on Computers and Communications, Plaque of Appreciation For contributions to IEEE TENCON'90, 1990.
  • International Conference on Parallel Processing Outstanding Service Award, "in appreciation of his distinguished service as technical Program Co-Chairman of the 1990 International Conference on Parallel Processing," 1990.
  • Certificates of Appreciation, 3rd International Conference on Data Engineering, IEEE Computer Society, 1987.
  • IEEE Computer Society Distinguished Visitor, 1983-1986, 1989-1992.
  • Certificates of Appreciation, 3rd International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems, IEEE Computer Society, 1982.