Rahul Sarpeshkar Among Three Named IEEE Fellows

Geisel Professor Rahul Sarpeshkar, PhD, is one of three Dartmouth faculty being honored as 2018 Fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s leading professional association for advancing technology for humanity. Also named IEEE Fellows were Paul Meaney, PhD, a professor of engineering at Thayer School of Engineering, and Hany Farid, PhD, the Albert Bradley 1915 Third Century Professor of Computer Science and chair of the Department of Computer Science at Dartmouth.

Fellow status, an honor that is more than a century old, is granted to IEEE members who have demonstrated “extraordinary accomplishment,” according to the institute’s website.

Sarpeshkar is the Thomas E. Kurtz Professor of Physics, a professor of engineering at Thayer School of Engineering, and a professor of microbiology and immunology, and of physiology and neurobiology at the Geisel School of Medicine. The IEEE board of directors cited Sarpeshkar “for contributions to ultra low-power biomedical electronics.”

“I’m very pleased that Dr. Sarpeshkar has received this honor,” said Duane Compton, PhD, dean of the Geisel School of Medicine.  “His interdisciplinary approach and thinking is at the cutting edge in solving biomedical research problems.”

Sarpeshkar is the head of Dartmouth’s first cluster initiative—the William H. Neukom Academic Cluster in Computational Science. Sarpeshkar’s fundamental work has been applied to implantable medical devices, synthetic biology, systems biology, neural prosthetics, bio-inspired, and ultra-energy-efficient systems. He has built low-power and battery-free implants that aid the deaf and paralyzed. He is working on an ultra-fast supercomputer that can test drugs virtually and he is figuring out how to reprogram immune cells to fight cancer. Sarpeshkar plans to build a new kind of supercomputer that would simulate the actions of all the cells in an organ and allow scientists to test drugs in a computer rather than on patients or animals.

“It’s wonderful to see our two Thayer faculty colleagues and computer science chair Hany Farid all recognized by IEEE for their outstanding research accomplishments,” says Thayer Dean Joseph Helble. “Rahul is one of the world’s leaders in developing low-power electronics for biomedical applications, and Paul has been one of the pioneers in developing and then translating to the clinic advances in non-invasive imaging using microwave tomography. Rahul and Paul’s recognition brings to seven the number of current Thayer faculty honored as IEEE Fellows.”

The IEEE, through its more than 400,000 members in 160 countries, is an acknowledged authority on a variety of areas, including aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications, biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer electronics. Recognizing the achievements of its members is an important part of the IEEE’s mission. Each year, the IEEE Fellow Committee recommends a select group of recipients for elevation to IEEE Fellow.

Read the full story at News.Dartmouth.edu.