Popular Science Names Alumnus among "Brilliant 10" U.S. Scientists

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Ohio State engineering alumnus Santosh Kumar, a professor of computer science at the University of Memphis, has been named one of the 10 most brilliant young scientists in the United States by Popular Science magazine. Kumar was selected from hundreds of nominees from colleges and industries around the nation.
 
Kumar,who received his master’s and doctoral degrees in computer and information sciencein 2002 and 2006, respectively, has taught at the University of Memphis since August 2006. Two major contributions in the sensor field led to Kumar’s selection as one of the country’s top young scientists: AutoWitness, which could revolutionize police departments’ ability to respond to theft of property, and AutoSense, which has the potential to help people reduce their daily stress and avoid addictive behavior.
 
In the AutoWitness project, which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the FedExInstitute of Technology at the University of Memphis, his team, in collaboration with University of Michigan, has developed a tiny, low-cost, ultra-low-power sensor to detect and track the theft of property. AutoWitness could improve the historically low rate of recovery of stolen property, disrupt the distribution networks for stolen property, and, ultimately, deter the theft of property because of the greater chance of thieves being caught. The device has been demonstrated to work in real life, and the police departments of Memphis and Jackson, Tenn., have expressed interest in helping test the device in those cities.

 

In the other project, AutoSense, funded by the National Institutes of Health, Kumar leads a group of professors from several universities. Ohio State and the universities of Memphis and Minnesota are the three founding members of the AutoSense team. 

The group has developed the first unobtrusive, wearable sensor that can collect scientifically valid physiological measurements. Read more about AutoSense onpage XX.

The 10 scientists were nominated and chosen by Popular Science’s contacts in the scientific fields, by a poll of professional organizations, and by a query of the nominees’ peers and colleagues

Read more about Kumar and this honor at www.memphis.edu/releases/oct10/santoshkumar.htm.

Category: Alumni