Prof. John Baras was recently honored with the University of Maryland’s First Annual Mancur Olson Research Achievement Award. This award, given in recognition of extraordinary research achievements by University faculty, was created in the memory of Professor Mancur Olson, who was a Distinguished Professor of Economics at Maryland.

Baras, who holds a joint appointment with ISR and serves as both the Martin Marietta Professor of Systems Engineering and the Director of the Center for Satellite and Hybrid Communication Networks (CSHCN), is known internationally for his research in systems engineering, especially in the area of advanced control and communication systems. His accomplishments include helping to develop the DirecPC product with Hughes Network Systems, one of the first satellite-based internet services available to consumers.

Baras’s current research thrusts include fast, inexpensive internet access via satellite, terrestrial wireline and wireless extensions of satellite networks, and the management control of large, heterogeneous telecommunications networks.

One of the first NSF Centers of Excellence in Engineering at the University was established by Baras in 1985 (ISR), as well as CSHCN, a NASA Center for Commercial Development, in 1991.

Prof. P.S. Krishnaprasad was recently selected by the University of Maryland Graduate School as a Distinguished Faculty Research Fellow for the period 1998-2000. This award, given to only three faculty members this year, recognizes “emerging, rising or recently recognized stars” at the University.

Krishnaprasad joined the University of Maryland in August 1980 and has held the position of Professor of Electrical Engineering since 1987. He holds a joint appointment with ISR, and is also a member of the Applied Mathematics Faculty.

A fellow of the IEEE, Dr. Krishnaprasad’s research interests lie in the broad area of geometric control theory and its applications. He developed a program of research in Intelligent Processing of Materials (IPM), an area viewed as being of strategic importance, as part of the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Research Center proposal effort. Specifically, the proposed effort includes model-based control of chemical vapor deposition and a project on electro-mechanical motion control prototyping. Key aspects of these efforts include multi-university collaboration (Harvard, North Carolina State) and industry collaboration. He has initiated new real-time control experiments in the Intelligent Servo-Systems Laboratory, specifically related to smart actuators and sensors.