CS alumni elected to the National Academy of Engineering
By Karen Barrett-Wilt
The University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Computer Sciences congratulates two distinguished alumni, Anastasia Ailamaki PhD’00 and Doug Burger PhD’98, on their election to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the highest professional honors in engineering. Election to the NAE recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, and education, and whose work has had a lasting impact on society. Members are also recognized for pioneering new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing and implementing innovative approaches to engineering education. Their achievements highlight the global influence of UW-Madison Computer Sciences alumni in advancing the frontiers of computing.
Anastasia Ailamaki is a professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. She was elected for her contributions to database systems and their performance evaluation. Ailamaki’s research has shaped how modern data management systems are designed and optimized, bridging the gap between hardware architecture and database software to improve performance, reliability, and scalability. Her work has influenced both academic research and the design of real-world data systems used at scale.
Doug Burger is a technical fellow and corporate vice president at Microsoft Research in Redmond, Washington. He was elected for accelerating cloud-scale computing and networking infrastructures with field-programmable systems. Burger has been a leader in rethinking how hardware and software codesign can dramatically improve the performance and efficiency of large-scale cloud platforms. His work on programmable hardware in the data center has helped enable new capabilities in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and high-performance services used by millions of people.
Ailamaki and Burger exemplify the spirit of innovation fostered at UW–Madison. Their induction into the NAE celebrates a lifetime of technical leadership and the profound impact that the university’s graduates continue to have on the global computing landscape.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Computer Sciences congratulates two distinguished alumni, Anastasia Ailamaki PhD’00 and Doug Burger PhD’98, on their election to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the highest professional honors in engineering. Election to the NAE recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, and education, and whose work has had a lasting impact on society. Members are also recognized for pioneering new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing and implementing innovative approaches to engineering education. Their achievements highlight the global influence of UW-Madison Computer Sciences alumni in advancing the frontiers of computing.
Anastasia Ailamaki is a professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. She was elected for her contributions to database systems and their performance evaluation. Ailamaki’s research has shaped how modern data management systems are designed and optimized, bridging the gap between hardware architecture and database software to improve performance, reliability, and scalability. Her work has influenced both academic research and the design of real-world data systems used at scale.
Doug Burger is a technical fellow and corporate vice president at Microsoft Research in Redmond, Washington. He was elected for accelerating cloud-scale computing and networking infrastructures with field-programmable systems. Burger has been a leader in rethinking how hardware and software codesign can dramatically improve the performance and efficiency of large-scale cloud platforms. His work on programmable hardware in the data center has helped enable new capabilities in cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and high-performance services used by millions of people.
Ailamaki and Burger exemplify the spirit of innovation fostered at UW–Madison. Their induction into the NAE celebrates a lifetime of technical leadership and the profound impact that the university’s graduates continue to have on the global computing landscape.