By M. Abraham
Eddie Kohler, assistant professor of computer science at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and an innovator in the field of computer software, has been selected as one of the prestigious annual “TR35.” The list, which appears in the current issue of MIT’s Technology Review magazine, features 35 of the top innovators in science and technology under the age of 35.
Kohler’s research spans computer systems, networks and sensor networks.
“I’m thrilled and humbled to have been chosen for the TR35. It’s an honor to be among such great company,” said Kohler.
One recent focus for Kohler has been on operating systems and security issues. To keep information more secure, the professor collaborated with a research team comprised of members from UCLA, MIT and Stanford University to design Asbestos, a computer operating system that keeps sensitive information from leaking out to unauthorized users even in the presence of software failure.
Asbestos tags private information and tracks those tags through the lowest levels of the operating system. Only authorized users can access tagged data, which remains isolated even if vulnerable parts of the system are attacked. Asbestos significantly reduces the amount of code that must be trusted for a system to be secure. Important applications include keeping highly sensitive customer information, such as credit card and bank account numbers, under lock and key and inaccessible to hackers.
Kohler has been a faculty member at UCLA Engineering since January 2004, and is a Microsoft Research New Faculty Fellow for 2006-07. He also is part of the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS), located at UCLA Engineering, which is developing embedded networked sensing systems and applying this revolutionary technology to critical scientific and social applications.
Says Jason Pontin, editor-in-chief of Technology Review, “The TR35 is an amazing group of people. Their accomplishments are likely to shape their fields for decades to come. It’s evident when you scroll back and see names like Sergey Brin, Jonathan Ive and Steve Jürvetson among the past winners.”
Brin is a co-founder and president of technology for Google, while Ive is senior vice president of industrial design at Apple Computer and is credited with designing the iMac. Jürvetson is a managing director of Draper Fisher Jürvetson, and was the founding venture capital investor in online email giant Hotmail.
TR35 honorees are selected by the editors of the magazine in collaboration with a prestigious panel of judges from major institutions and corporations such as Boston University, Hewlett-Packard Labs, the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Caltech and Applied Materials.
A number of the 35 winners also will be featured on Technology Review’s new video blog. Information about past and present TR35 winners and judges is available at www.technologyreview.com/TR35/.
Technology Review, the oldest technology magazine in the world, is published by Technology Review, Inc., an independent media company owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Founded in 1899, Technology Review describes emerging technologies and analyzes their commercial, economic, social and political impact for an audience of senior executives, researchers, financiers and policymakers, as well as for the MIT alumni.