Press Release for
CQR 2009 CHAIRMAN’S AWARD
The Technical
Committee on Communications Quality & Reliability
(CQR) is an IEEE Communications
Society international professional organization that is unique in its service to
the quality, reliability and security professionals of the global communications
industry. The IEEE Communications Society President Doug
Zuckerman and CQR Chair Chi-Ming Chen, AT&T, honored
Adam Drobot, Judy
Harkins and Masayuki
Murata with the 2009 CQR Chairman’s Award
at an awards ceremony during the annual CQR International Workshop in Naples,
Florida on May 13, 2009.
Criteria upon which recipients were selected include:
- sustained
contributions in the field of Quality, Reliability & Security of
communications services, networks or systems; - a demonstration of the core value
of a professional society- adding value to others; and - integrity consistent with
that of a role model.
2009
AWARD RECIPIENTS
Dr. Adam Drobot,
President, Advanced Technology
Solutions and CTO, Telcordia Technologies, Inc., USA
For visionary leadership in secure, highly-reliable communications across the
industry’s most complex networks, operations and systems technologies
As Chief Technology Officer and President of Advanced
Technology Solutions, Dr. Drobot is responsible for the company’s Applied
Research and Government & Public Sector groups. He oversees an Applied Research
organization of more than 250 researchers who are involved in many aspects of
Internet, broadband, information networking, and software technologies. The
Applied Research group is renowned for developing such groundbreaking
technologies as ADSL, AIN, ATM, ISDN, Frame Relay, PCS, SMDS, SONET,
video-on-demand, and Internet Telephony.
The Government & Public Sector group, with over 100 senior
consultants, is the single focal point that concentrates all Telcordia resources
to accelerate company growth in the government space. This group is responsible
for planning, developing, and implementing systems engineering solutions for
Federal, State and Local governments. These solutions span telecommunications
and IT areas, including networking and operations for traditional, as well as IP
and converged general purpose and mission-specific networks. The two groups
combined give Dr. Drobot the unique opportunity to exploit synergies in many
areas including cyber security, reliability, and information assurance to create
value for Telcordia customers.
Prior to Telcordia, Dr. Drobot managed the Advanced
Technology Group at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a $7B
Fortune 250 firm. He also served as the Senior Vice President for Science and
Technology in his 26 years at SAIC. While at SAIC he served as the principal
investigator on projects dealing with high energy plasmas at the Naval Research
Laboratory, as the principal investigator on the NASA Tethered Satellite
System, and was responsible for SAIC’s Deep Water Program for recapitalization
of the U.S. Coast Guard.
Dr. Drobot’s main research interest is in the development of
multidisciplinary, computationally-based tools for life cycle support of complex
products. He strongly supports research in secure, highly-reliable
communications across the industry’s most complex networks, operations and
systems technologies. He has been the principal or key participant in the
development of several large, scientific code systems. He has also published
more than 100 journal articles, is a frequent contributor to industry literature
and conference presentations and holds 16 patents. Dr. Drobot is a member of the
American Physical Society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Sigma Phi
Sigma, and Phi Kappa Phi, and is a Senior Member of the IEEE.
Dr. Drobot serves as a board member for the Optoelectronics
Industry Development Association (OIDA), Connected Vehicle Trade Association (CVTA),
Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS), New Jersey Technology
Council (NJTC), and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) where he
is also the chair of the research division, and the Intellectual Property
Knowledge Management Task Force. In addition, he is a director of OpenTechWorks
Inc., and is on the advisory board of the University of Michigan Transportation
Research Institute (UMTRI). He has been the organizer of several major
conferences including MILCOM 2005 and Access06 at IEEE Globecom.
Dr. Drobot is the 2007 recipient of IEEE’s Managerial
Excellence Award in recognition of his leadership excellence in managing
innovative research and development in telecommunications. He holds a Bachelor’s
degree in Engineering Physics from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and a
PhD. in Plasma Physics from the University of Texas at Austin, Texas.
Prof. Judy Harkins, Gallaudet University, USA
For vision and devotion to serving people with disabilities, encouragement to
others to take initiatives, and serving as a role model for the communications
industry
Prof. Judy Harkins has 23 years of sponsored research
experience in user-oriented studies of accessibility and applications of
communication technology related to people who are deaf and hard of hearing. As
founding director of Gallaudet University’s Technology Access Program, and
Co-Principal Investigator of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on
Telecommunications Access, she has collaborated with industry and consumers on
implementation of accessibility features and regulatory provisions. She has
served as a consumer advisor and researcher in standards development groups in
the Alliance for Telecommunication Industry Solutions, the Cellular
Telecommunications and Internet Association, and the Telecommunications Industry
Association. She has served as an alternate or full member on the FCC’s NRIC
VII, Consumer Advisory Committee, and Commercial Mobile Service Alert Advisory
Committee. She was a member of the U.S. Access Board’s Telecommunications
Access Advisory Committee to develop the original guidelines for Section 255.
She was a member of AT&T’s Consumer Advisory Committee. Her most recent work
with non-profit groups includes ongoing active membership in Telecommunications
for the Deaf, Inc., the E911 Stakeholder Council for Deaf, Hard of Hearing and
Speech-Disabled persons, and the National Emergency Number Association. She has
brought industry, consumers, and government together for special-purpose
conferences covering relay services (1988), IVR accessibility (2000), and
accessible emergency communications (2005). She teaches coursework about
accessibility in communications to undergraduate deaf, hard of hearing, and
hearing students as a professor in Gallaudet’s Department of Communication
Studies. Prior to her joining Gallaudet University, she developed plans for
accessibility of community colleges in Maryland under Section 504. She began
her career as a teacher and administrator at the Maryland School for the Deaf.
The
nomination for Judy Harkins focuses on her active involvement in the development
of industry standards and guidelines aimed at accessibility for people who are
deaf and hard of hearing. Judy Harkins is cited for her vision and devotion to
serving
people with disabilities,
as seen in her founding the Technology Access Program at Gallaudet University,
for her encouragement to others within academia, private enterprises, and
government agencies to take initiatives that are positive toward meaningful
collaboration; and for serving as a role model for the communications industry
in remembering that it provides an important service to all of society.
Prof. Masayuki Murata, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka University, JAPAN
for advanced research contributions building high speed, high quality, and
reliable networking architecture, and for excellent leadership in harmonizing
industry and academic activities
Prof. Masayuki Murata received the M.E. and D.E.
degrees in Information and Computer Science from Osaka University, Japan, in
1984 and 1988, respectively. In April 1984, he joined Tokyo Research Laboratory,
IBM Japan, as a Researcher. From September 1987 to January 1989, he was an
Assistant Professor with Computation Center, Osaka University. In February 1989,
he moved to the Department of Information and Computer Sciences, Faculty of
Engineering Science, Osaka University. In April 1999, he became a Professor of
Cybermedia Center, Osaka University, and is now with Graduate School of
Information Science and Technology, Osaka University since April 2004. He has
more than five hundred papers of international and domestic journals and
conferences. His research interests include computer communication network
architecture, performance modeling and evaluation. He is a member of IEEE, ACM
and IEICE. He is a chair of IEEE COMSOC Japan Chapter since 2009. Also, he is
now partly working at NICT (National Institute of Information and Communications
Technology) as Deputy of New-Generation Network R&D Strategic Headquarters.