Sha, Nicol given Fellows honors

Lui Sha Troy Stanger

By Kate Levine

College of Engineering professors Lui Sha and David Nicol were recently named Fellows of the Association of Computer Machinery.

The Association of Computer Machinery, the self-described “first society of computing,” awarded 34 of its 80,000 members this distinction in 2005.

“The selection to this esteemed honor is reserved for outstanding ACM members recognized for their achievements in computer science and information technology, and for their significant contributions to the mission of the ACM,” said Virginia Gold, the Association of Computer Machinery public relations coordinator, in an e-mail interview.

Established in 1947, the association aims to unite educators, students, researchers and professionals to further advance the field of computer science.

Sha, a computer science professor, received the award for his contributions to real-time systems.

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These computer systems help to quickly and efficiently process data. Such systems are used to fly airplanes and rockets.

Sha is currently on sabbatical, said Lori Melchi, administrative secretary for the computer science department.

Nicol, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, received the award for his work in discrete-event simulation, the writing and testing of computer programs that mimic the functioning of real-world systems like the Internet.

“You can study a system’s behavior without actually having one or using it in the way the program does,” he said.

Nicol also serves as chair of his department’s Computer Engineering Group and director of the University’s Modeling of Security and Systems (MOSES) project. The group focuses on using modeling and simulation to analyze large-scale computer systems.

Both professors are part of the Information Trust Institute. The campus group is dedicated to researching and creating computer systems, software and networks that, according to the organization’s Web site, are “trustworthy . secure, dependable … correct, safe, private and survivable.”

Electrical and computer engineering professor William Sanders serves as the institute’s director and works closely with Nicol, who is the program’s theme leader for Critical Infrastructures and Homeland Defense.

Sanders, also a fellow, nominated Nicol for the 2005 award.

“It’s due to his very significant contributions in the area of information security and in the area of distribution simulation,” Sanders said in a phone interview. “He’s a world leader in those areas. . We recruited him specially from Dartmouth several years ago.”

The newly named fellows will be honored at an awards banquet on May 20 in San Francisco, Calif.

“It’s mostly an ‘atta-boy.’ It’s recognition,” Nicol said of his award. “Computing at Illinois has a very high profile. Both the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Computer Science are ranked very highly as schools in the United States. . There are a good number of ACM fellows at the University.”

“A candidate’s accomplishments are expected to place him or her among the top one percent of ACM members,” according to association’s Web site.

“Only 532 Fellows have been named since the program’s inception in 1993, making it a highly regarded honor within the technology world,” Gold said.