Professor Receives Outstanding Teaching Award from Engineering Institute

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Andreas Savakis

Andreas Savakis, professor of computer engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology, was recently awarded the Outstanding Teaching Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The award is given to faculty members who have made significant contributions to electrical and computer engineering in the areas of academics and research.

Savakis joined the RIT faculty in 2000 from Eastman Kodak Co., where he was a senior research scientist. He taught classes in digital image processing algorithms and control systems, as well as supervised 29 graduate students as a thesis advisor. Savakis served as department head of computer engineering in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering from 2000–2011.

“It is a distinct honor to be selected for an IEEE Region 1 Award,” he says. “I would like to thank the members of IEEE Rochester Section for their support and RIT’s faculty, staff, students and leadership for fostering an academic environment that made this possible.”

His research has generated 11 patents and more than 80 publications in journals, conferences and book chapters. When RIT began its affiliation with the Rochester General Health System, he entered into research collaborations with RIT and hospital peers, specifically on “Smart Phone Assistance for Individuals with Blind Spots in their Visual Field.” This project will develop and evaluate a personal imaging system using smart phone technology to display important information within a user’s visual field.

He is currently on a fellowship as an American Council on Education Fellow for 2011–2012. Fellows are assigned to experienced leaders at other academic institutions for mentoring and participation on host university project teams that can be mutually beneficial to both institutions. Savakis worked with University of Rochester Provost Ralph Kuncl during the fall semester on research commercialization and technology transfer for economic development. During the spring semester, he will work with Chancellor Jean MacCormack of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on strategies in developing interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs.

Outside of RIT, Savakis served as an Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology evaluator for electrical engineering and computer engineering programs. In 2000, he was awarded the IEEE Rochester section’s Third Millennium Medal and the NYSTAR Technology Transfer Award for Economic Impact in 2006. Prior to teaching at RIT and working at Kodak, Savakis was a research assistant professor and research associate at the University of Rochester and has taught at North Carolina State University, in Raleigh, and Old Dominion University, in Norfolk, Va.

Savakis holds degrees in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University (Ph.D.) and Old Dominion University (B.S. and M.S.). He resides in Perinton, N.Y.