Invention: You can do it!

Every once in a while it is good to step back from deep technical details and think about research from a high level and with career goals in mind. In this talk I will address the question, “Can you learn how to invent”? In my opinion the answer is yes. I will present high level research techniques (with examples) that support improving the invention process. My own students have found this helpful as part of their graduate education. I would like to make this quite informal (although I do have a set of slides).

If there is time, I am also happy to discuss and answer any questions about careers in either Academia or Industry, and, especially, if you are considering jobs in the U.S. How do you position yourself for achieving the job you want?

Professor John A. Stankovic is the BP America Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Virginia. He served as Chair of the department for 8 years. He is a Fellow of both the IEEE and the ACM. He has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of York for his work on real-time systems. He won the IEEE Real-Time Systems Technical Committee's Award for Outstanding Technical Contributions and Leadership.  He also won the IEEE Technical Committee on Distributed Processing's Distinguished Achievement Award (inaugural winner). He has seven Best Paper awards, including one for ACM SenSys 2006. He also has four Best Paper Runner Up Awards, including one for IPSN 2013. Stankovic has an h-index of 115 and over 52,000 citations. In 2015 he was awarded the Univ. of Virginia Distinguished Scientist Award, and in 2010 the School of Engineering’s Distinguished Faculty Award. He also received a Distinguished Faculty Award from the University of Massachusetts. He has given more than 40 Keynote talks at conferences and many Distinguished Lectures at major Universities. He also served on the National Academy’s Computer Science Telecommunications Board. He was the Editor-in-Chief for the IEEE Transactions on Distributed and Parallel Systems and was founder and co-editor-in-chief for the Real-Time Systems Journal. His research interests are in real-time systems, wireless sensor networks, smart and connected health, cyber physical systems, and the Internet of Things. Prof. Stankovic received his PhD from Brown University.