IEEE Honor for Rice Professor
Last updated: June 25, 2009

HOUSTON: Krishna Palem, a computer scientist at Rice University, has just won the W. Wallace McDowell Award from the IEEE Computer Society, a distinguished accomplishment. Palem’s work has led to the development of tiny computers in everything from cars to children’s toys, and recently he has garnered acclaim for his work in probabilistic computing.

This award has been won by some prett y big names like Seymour Cray, Gordon Moore and Tim Berners-Lee. That’s prett y good company ?

That’s what everyone says. It came as a bolt out of the blue, to be honest. It’s a pleasing thing, no doubt, but also very humbling to be a part of this group.

You won the award for your work in embedded computing. What does that entail ?

Most people think about a computing system that sits on their desk, a desktop. It’s hardware and software. But computers are everywhere. A hearing aid does lots of signal processing to enhance the sound that’s coming into the ear. Another very good example is your cell phone. Maybe the least obvious example is all the computing that goes on in a hybrid vehicle like a Toyota Prius. There’s a whole network of computers with sensors that are monitoring things like resistance on the ground to balance the use of battery and gas engine to power the car.

You’re also interested in green computing. Should people be worried about the power consumption of computers?

There is a well-understood cap on how many gigatons of carbon can be emitted into the atmosphere if we are going to avoid catastrophic climate change. People normally think of information technology as environmentally benign.

When you think about the big carbon polluters, you think of cars and factories and airplanes. But the PC on your desk?

No. It turns out computers are important contributors. In a current study we are mapping out what percentage of greenhouse gas emissions are due to IT. So I’m very interested in helping to develop computer technology that uses less power.

What sorts of applications are going to become possible within the next 5 to 10 years as computer processing power increases?

The crystal ball is always a hard one to gaze into. But with that caveat, I have some ideas. As biology becomes much more profound in being able to understand the genome, I believe medical science will benefit tremendously. I think we will be able to manage and better understand illnesses in a much better and more significant way. Also I think we’ll see sophisticated virtual experiments, like a physics experiment where you could look at the Big Bang and try to understand what happened at the very beginning, or one that simulates the effects of a particle collider without having to spend billions to build one.

What of technology in people’s homes?

Today we are talking on the phone passively. Tomorrow, I might touch a button on the wall and we’re sitting in a virtual room together, just chatting.

How long until we have computers embedded in our heads?

I can see implants serving the front end of our processing system. If you think of the brain as our core, and the front end being our eyes ears and smell, I think those will benefit from this kind of technology. If you look at Star Trek: The Next Generation, Geordi (La- Forge) wears a visor on his head. That kind of thing you might see.

But do you think it will be possible for silicon-based machines to direct ly interface with our nervous system?

That is happening as a research technology right now, but I think it’s a long way into the future.

When you consider the impact of computers during the next decade or longer, does anything scare you?

Actually, no. I’m not one of these people who has a sinister view of technology. By a large margin, technology has benefited society. But it has to be responsibly managed. One of the hats I’m wearing now is doing work at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice, looking at the public policy of information technology. It’s a place to think through the negative impacts of technology. - Media Source: Houston Chronicle