Srikant recognized with IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications Award

Fredric G. and Elizabeth H. Nearing Endowed Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Rayadurgam Srikant, who conducts research at the Coordinated Science Lab, was recently awarded the IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications Award "for contributions to congestion control and scheduling in computer communication networks."

Sponsored by NEC Corporation, the award was established by the IEEE Board in 1986 to recognize outstanding contributions to the integration of computers and communications. It is named in honor of Dr. Koji Kobayashi, a global leader in the advancement of the integrated use of computer and communications.

ECE ILLINOIS Professor Bruce Hajek was honored with the same award in 2003. He is the only other University of Illinois faculty member to receive this prestigious honor.

Srikant's research has contributed to congestion control protocols in communication networks, beginning with more traditional networks and reaching into wireless, cloud computing, and machine learning. His projects and publications have focused on designing efficient architectures and algorithms for networks with heavy traffic queues, developing distributed algorithms with low-complexity implementation, and protecting wireless infrastructures against terrorist attacks. Google Scholar credits him with more than 22,000 citations. He has authored or co-authored three textbooks: Communication Networks: An Optimization, Control, and Stochastic Networks Perspective (2014), The Mathematics of Internet Congestion Control (2004), and Network Optimization and Control (2008).

Srikant received his master's degree and PhD from the University of Illinois in 1988 and 1991, respectively. After graduating with his doctorate, Srikant joined Bell Labs where he was a member of the technical staff. At Bell Labs, he focused on communications theory and practical design of communications networks. He returned to ECE ILLINOIS as a faculty member in 1995. For the past 23 years, Srikant has received numerous research honors including the 2015 IEE INFOCOM Best Paper Award, 2015 IEEE INFOCOM Achievement Award, and the 2002 Shimemura Young Author Prize.

Srikant has also been commended for his success as an instructor, receiving the Engineering Council Award for Excellence in Advising in 2003 and consistently being named on the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students. He also received the NSF Career Award in 1997 and has been an IEEE Fellow since 2006.