MENU 
Eleven New Faculty Join CSE
We're building a bigger, better CSE.
EnlargeCSE is delighted to welcome eleven outstanding new faculty members to Michigan. From contributions in big data and computer architecture to robotics and cryptography, they’ll help to lead and teach us as we enter a world increasingly shaped by computer science and engineering.
Tenure-Track Faculty
Mosharaf Chowdhury
Assistant Professor
PhD, Computer Science, 2015
University of California, Berkeley
Mosharaf’s research interests are in the areas of networked systems and cloud computing. In his dissertation research, Mosharaf has explored and developed algorithms and systems for application-aware scheduling, allocation, and load balancing of networked resources in the context of large-scale data-intensive computing. Mosharaf joins CSE in January 2016.
Reetuparna Das
Assistant Professor
PhD, Computer Science and Engineering, 2010
Pennsylvania State University
Reetu is interested in computer architecture and systems. Her dissertation work on Aergia, a high-performance network-on-chip, was selected to appear in the IEEE Micro “Top Picks” Issue for 2011. Her more recent research focuses on scalable and energy-proportional on-chip networks, 3D integration, and near data processing for big data applications. Currently a research scientist at CSE and Researcher-in-Residence for the Center for Future Architecture Research (C-FAR), Reetu joins CSE as an assistant professor in 2016.
Ronald Dreslinski
Assistant Professor
PhD, Computer Science and Engineering, 2011
University of Michigan
Ron’s research interests are in novel architectures and design technologies for energy-efficient computing. His doctoral thesis has paved the way for the adoption of near-threshold computer design by industry. In recent years, his research has contributed to the successful demonstration of experimental 3D computer chips that open up new dimensions in the exploration of energy-efficient, high-performance computer design. Previously a research scientist at CSE, Ron joined as assistant professor in Fall 2015.
Chad Jenkins
Associate Professor
PhD, Computer Science, 2003
University of Southern California
Chad is an experimental roboticist focusing on human-robot interaction. His research explores methods that enable robots to learn human skills and in recent years, his work has focused on the exploration of robot systems for assisting disabled people. His work has been supported through prestigious awards, including NSF PECASE award, an ONR Young Investigator Award, and a Sloan Research Fellowship. Chad joined CSE in Fall 2015 from the faculty at Brown University.
Danai Koutra
Assistant Professor
PhD, Computer Science, 2015
Carnegie Mellon University
Danai’s research interests are in the areas of data mining, graph summarization and visualization, and applied machine learning with an emphasis on fast algorithms for understanding massive graphs. Her dissertation research focuses on the design of practical algorithms for understanding massive graphs by combining their global and local properties. Danai joined CSE in Fall 2015.
Walter Lasecki
Assistant Professor
PhD, Computer Science, 2015 University of Rochester
Walter’s research interests are in the area of human-computer interaction. His work combines human and machine computation to create intelligent systems that can solve problems ranging from accessibility needs for uses with disabilities to rapid analysis of large data sets. He helped introduce the idea of continuous real-time crowdsourcing, as well as the crowd agent model, which uses computer-mediated groups of people submitting input simultaneously to create a collective intelligence capable of completing tasks better than any constituent member. Walter joined CSE in Fall 2015.
Christopher Peikert
Associate Professor
PhD, Computer Science, 2006 Massachusetts Institute
of Technology
Chris’s research is in the areas of cryptography, lattices, error-correcting codes, algorithms and complexity, and computer and network security. Among several other recognitions of his scholarly contributions, Chris has received a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, a Bergmann Memorial Research Award, and Best Paper awards at EUROCRYPT and STOC. Chris joined CSE in Fall 2015 from the faculty of Georgia Institute of Technology.
Lecturers
Matthew Hicks
Research Fellow
LEO Lecturer I
PhD, Computer Science, 2013
University of Illinois
Matthew was previously a postdoctoral researcher at CSE, working with Kevin Fu, where he worked on projects related to hardware and embedded systems security, intermittently powered systems, and approximate computing. He earned a Ph.D. in 2013 and a M.S. in 2008, both in Computer Science and both from the University of Illinois. He earned a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Central Florida. Matthew joined CSE in Fall 2015.
James Juett
Lecturer
PhD, Computer Science and Engineering, 2015
University of Michigan (Expected)
James is a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan where he is advised by Prof. Georg Essl. His research focuses on the use of interactive program visualization tools to create more effective experiences for students in introductory programming education. He is a believer in constructivist principles, the power of active learning, and the idea that you do not have to understand how to teach – you have to understand how students learn. James joins CSE in January 2016.
Amir Kamil
Lecturer III
PhD, Computer Science, 2012
University of California, Berkeley
Amir completed his PhD in 2012 at UC Berkeley. He continued as a postdoctoral scholar and Lecturer at UC Berkeley, teaching the introductory Computer Science course in Spring 2013, and then as a postdoctoral scholar at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His current research interests include programming languages and models, optimizations, and tools for parallel computing. Amir joined CSE in Fall 2015.
Ilya Volkovich
LEO Lecturer I
PhD, Computer Science, 2012
Technion, Israel Institute of Technology
Ilya’s research interests are in the area of theoretical computer science. He studies the complexity of algebraic problems, the role of randomness in computation and the limitations of learning algorithms. Dr. Volkovich received his Ph.D. from Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in 2012. Most recently, he has been a lecturer at the University of Michigan Department of Mathematics and a visiting scholar at CSE. He joined CSE in Fall 2015.