Yale's Rokhlin Receives Award for Revolutionizing How to Solve Tough Problems

Vladimir Rokhlin, a Yale professor of computer science and mathematics, has been named recipient of the 2006 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Honorary Membership for developing a revolutionary computational tool that makes possible complex technical calculations.

Rokhlin is being honored for his invention of fast multipole methods (FMM), an innovative way for engineers and scientists to solve complex problems. His work launched a branch of computational mathematics and engineering with applications for electromagnetics, microwaves and radio frequency, and was deemed a Top-10 algorithm of the 20th Century by IEEE Computational Science and Engineering Magazine.

FMM has had a significant impact in many areas of technology, including chip design, antenna characterization and radar cross-analysis. Astronomers use it to calculate the positive-negative attraction place between stars in galaxies, physical biologists and chemists use it to calculate molecular interactions, and electrical engineers use it to solve capacitance and inductance problems.

FMM forms the basis for commercial software for electronic packaging analysis and semiconductor design. It also is at the forefront of electromagnetic simulation and rapid methods for closed-loop CAD environments targeting physical design.

Sponsored by the IEEE, the award including a plaque and honorarium and will be presented at the Honors Ceremony on June 24 in Minneapolis.

Rokhlin is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the recipient of the American Mathematical Society Leroy P. Steele Award  for a Seminal Contribution to Research. He has a master’s degree in mathematics from Vilnius University in Lithuania and a doctoral degree in applied mathematics from Rice University in Houston, Texas.

The IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional society, with 365,000 members in 150 countries. The society is a leading authority on a wide variety of areas ranging from  aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics.