Dina Katabi

Dina Katabi
Born1970 (age 53–54)
Damascus, Syria
NationalitySyrian American
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Known forCongestion control, Sparse Fourier transform, wireless network, X-ray vision
AwardsACM Prize in Computing (2017)
MacArthur Fellowship (2013)
Association for Computing Machinery Fellow (2013)
Grace Murray Hopper Award (2013)
IEEE Communication Society William R. Bennett Prize (2009)
Sloan Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (2006)
Career Award from the National Science Foundation (2005)
Sprowls Dissertation Award (2003) from MIT
ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award Honorable Mention (2003) from ACM
Scientific career
FieldsComputer science, electrical engineering
InstitutionsMassachusetts Institute of Technology
ThesisDecoupling Congestion Control and Bandwidth Allocation Policy With Application to High Bandwidth-Delay Product Networks (2003)
Doctoral advisorDavid Clark

Dina Katabi (Arabic: دينا قَتابي; born 1970) is the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and the director of the MIT Wireless Center. She was designated as one of the world’s most influential women engineers by Forbes magazine.[1]

Early life

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Katabi was born in Damascus, Syria, in a family of doctors. Though her initial plan was to follow this same career path, she discovered a new passion in college: computer science.

Academic biography

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Katabi received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Damascus in 1995, then an M.S in Computer Science and a Ph.D. in Computer Systems Networking and Telecommunications[2] from MIT in 1998 and 2003, respectively.[3] In 2003, Katabi joined MIT, where she holds the title of Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She is the co-director of the MIT Center for Wireless Networks and Mobile Computing and a principal investigator at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

Research and career

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Katabi's research focused on signals, machine learning and health.[4] Her work started in networks (especially the congestion control challenge), where she found solutions for a better reliability of networks.[5] Then, with her team, she used machine learning and signals to analyze the human body. Based on how RF signals bounce off our bodies, the researchers could measure human breathing, heart rates, emotion and sleep stages, without having the "patient" wear any sensor.[6] Her most recent research combined medicine with AI, where she developed with her team a system capable of diagnosing Parkinson's Disease.[7]

Awards

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In 2013, Katabi won the Grace Murray Hopper Award,[8] recognizing her as the outstanding young computer science professional.

In 2012, her work on Sparse Fourier Transforms was chosen as one of the top 10 breakthroughs of the year by Technology Review.[9]

In September 2013, Katabi was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for her work.[10] In 2013 she also became a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery.[11]

In 2014, on the celebration of Project Mac's 50th anniversary, her work on X-ray vision was chosen as one of the "50 ways that MIT has transformed computer science."[12]

In 2015, Katabi presented her startup idea to President Obama at White House demo day.[13]

In 2017, she was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to network congestion control and to wireless communications.[14]

In 2017, Katabi was awarded the ACM Prize in Computing, recognizing her as "one of the most innovative researchers in the field of networking, Katabi applies methods from communication theory, signal processing and machine learning to solve problems in wireless networking".[15]

In 2022, Katabi was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[16]

In 2023, Katabi was elected to the National Academy of Sciences,[17] and awarded with an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from the American University of Beirut for her significant contribution to researcher and innovation in wireless networks.[18]

References

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  1. ^ Nietzel, Michael T. "Meet The World's Most Influential Women Engineers". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  2. ^ "Dina Katabi". www.aub.edu.lb. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  3. ^ Hardesty, Larry (2015-10-30). "Signal Intelligence". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  4. ^ "Dina Katabi". people.csail.mit.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  5. ^ "Rethinking networking". MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  6. ^ "Dina Katabi, SM '99, PhD '03". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  7. ^ "Dina Katabi". www.aub.edu.lb. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  8. ^ "Indyk and Katabi win top ACM honors". MIT News. 2013-04-09. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  9. ^ Anderson, Mark (2012). "A Faster Fourier Transform - MIT Technology Review". MIT Technology Review. Archived from the original on 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  10. ^ Chu, Jennifer; Hardesty, Larry (2013-09-25). "Dina Katabi and Sara Seager win MacArthur 'genius grants'". MIT News. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  11. ^ "ACM Names Fellows for Computing Advances that Are Transforming Science and Society". Association for Computing Machinery. 2013-12-10. Archived from the original on 2017-09-15. Retrieved 2015-11-08.
  12. ^ 50 Ways that MIT has Transformed Computer Science: the Countdown to our MAC50 Celebration!
  13. ^ "12 of the most impressive professors at MIT". Business Insider.
  14. ^ National Academy of Engineering Elects 84 Members and 22 Foreign Members, February 8, 2017, retrieved 2017-05-02.
  15. ^ "Dina Katabi to receive 2017 ACM Prize in Computing". Association for Computing Machinery. April 4, 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Dina Katabi". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
  17. ^ News from the National Academy of Sciences, May 2, 2023, retrieved 2024-03-22.
  18. ^ "Current Recipients". American University of Beirut. 2022-04-04. Retrieved 2024-02-15.
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