UMass Amherst Cybersecurity Expert Kevin Fu Named to U.S. Frontiers of Engineering Symposium

June 25, 2010

Contact:

Janet Lathrop 413/545-0444

AMHERST, Mass. – Kevin Fu, the University of Massachusetts Amherst computer scientist who is best known for calling attention to the security and privacy risks of wireless, implantable medical devices and designing prevention and fixes for them, has been selected as one of the nation’s brightest young engineers and will take part in the National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) 16th annual U.S. Frontiers of Engineering symposium in September.

Fu is one of 87 engineers between 30 and 45 years old from industry, academia and government invited to the 2-1/2-day event in recognition that they are performing exceptional engineering research and technical work in a variety of disciplines, NAE says. Topics of the September meeting will include cloud computing, autonomous aerospace systems, engineering and music, and engineering inspired by biology.

NAE President Charles M. Vest says, “As we face the challenges the next century brings, we will rely more than ever on innovative engineers. The U.S. Frontiers of Engineering program is an opportunity for a diverse group of this country’s most promising young engineers to gather together and discuss multidisciplinary ways of leading us into the economy of tomorrow.” Winners were nominated by fellow engineers or organizations and chosen from among approximately 265 applicants.

Earlier this month, Fu was one of 25 top scientists invited to advise the President’s Innovation and Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) on critical infrastructure that only the federal government can provide to safeguard deployment of new biotechnology, nanotechnology and information technology products and manufacturing methods. He has been at the forefront of inventing trustworthy computing solutions that improve security and privacy of such devices while using little or no battery power.

At UMass Amherst, Fu was recently honored as a leader in cybersecurity with the campus’ fourth annual Armstrong Fund for Science award. The award will extend the resources and expertise available for graduate students working under Fu’s direction. Part of the award will be used to build a library of contributed medical devices for security and privacy research.

The NAE symposium will be held Sept. 23–25 at the IBM Learning Center in Armonk, N.Y. A featured speaker will be Bernard S. Meyerson, IBM Fellow and vice president of innovation. Sponsors are IBM, The Grainger Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Department of Defense (DDR&E), National Science Foundation, Microsoft Research, and Cummins Inc.

The National Academy of Engineering is an independent, nonprofit institution that advises government and the public on issues in engineering and technology. Its members are the nation’s premier engineers, who are elected by their peers for their distinguished achievements. Established in 1964, NAE operates under the congressional charter granted to the National Academy of Sciences in 1863.

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