IBM Honors 11 New Fellows for Tech Work

Tech company IBM named Thursday 11 new IBM Fellows, the company’s top technical honor. The new Fellows are being honored for their pioneering work in areas including cognitive computing, analytics, cloud, security, mobile and healthcare.

As Fellows, these individuals will have the opportunity to dedicate significant time to free-form exploration and innovation in their areas of expertise.

“These extraordinary men and women join a select community made up of some of the world’s most creative thinkers,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and CEO.

“Our new IBM Fellows play a critical role in defining the next era of technology, business and society, with vital contributions to IBM’s position as the world’s leading cognitive solutions and cloud platform company.”

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The IBM Fellow distinction is conferred in recognition of exceptional and sustained technical achievements and leadership in engineering, programming, services, science, technology and industry solutions. Collectively, the 11 new Fellows have 172 patents.

This year’s Fellows are transforming business and society with technical advancements, developments and research.

For example, Director of IBM Healthcare and Life Sciences Research Ajay Royyuru is using Watson for Genomics to translate genomic variations in cancer to treatment options.

IBM’s Chief Scientist for Medical Sieve Radiology Tanveer Syeda-Mahmood is developing automated, cognitive radiology and cardiology technology that is aimed at helping clinicians in their decision-making.

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Director of IBM Security Research JR Rao is addressing emerging challenges in security and privacy with cognitive computing, data and analytics.

IBM Cloud Computing Scientist Gosia Steinder is simplifying application lifecycle management with container cloud research.

Past IBM Fellows, who include a Kyoto Prize winner and five Nobel Prize winners, have fostered some of business and society’s most significant breakthroughs―from the IBM Watson cognitive system, to the systems that helped put the first man on the moon, and the first instrument to image atoms.

To be awarded IBM’s technical honor, an employee must meet four important criteria:

• Sustained innovation in some of the world’s most important technologies
• Significant recognition as a leader among IBM’s technical communities
• Broad industry acknowledgement of the individual’s accomplishments
• A strong history of new technologies and business models being deployed at scale

The program was founded in 1962 by Thomas J. Watson, Jr. to promote creativity among the company’s most exceptional technical professionals.

IBM has named 278 Fellows since the program’s inception. Collectively, IBM Fellows have 9,329 patents.

In the picture above: Pictured from left to right are the 2016 IBM Fellows: Adam Kocoloski, Ajay Royyuru, Shankar Kalyana, Tanveer Syeda-Mahmood, Mac Devine, Blaine Dolph, Gosia Steinder, Bill Kostenko, Stacy Joines, JR Rao, Salim Roukos (Jon Simon / Feature Photo Service for IBM)