Two U. of I. graduate students win Intel Ph.D. Fellowships

Winners of Intel Ph.D. Fellowships 2013-14

Two graduate students at the University of Illinois have won Intel Ph.D. Fellowships for the 2013-14 academic year. Fifteen fellowships were awarded nationwide.

The fellowship, for outstanding graduate students conducting research in computer science, engineering, social science and other fields relating to high-tech computing technologies, includes a $24,000 stipend, a travel award and tuition. Recipients also work with an Intel technical mentor who is an established leader in the field.

Aditya Agrawal, of Bombay, India, is a fourth-year doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering, and is working on low-power micro-architectures and memory subsystems under the guidance of professor Josep Torrellas. Agrawal’s research focuses on reducing the power consumption of computer devices.

Brett Jones, of Homewood, Ill., is a sixth-year doctoral student in computer science working under the guidance of professors David Forsyth and Brian Bailey. Jones conducts research at the intersection of computer vision, human computer interaction and computer graphics. His most recent project, IllumiRoom, was created in collaboration with Microsoft Research and creates an interactive experience for gamers and viewers in which the illusions appear to alter and even interact with objects in the room.

Intel Corp., based in Santa Clara, Calif., is the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductor chips. The company also makes network interface controllers and integrated circuits, flash memory, embedded processors and other devices related to communications and computing.

“Intel is extremely selective, granting fellowships only to the topmost students in the field,” says Ken Vickery, the director of external fellowships in the Graduate College at Illinois. “With these awards, Aditya and Brett are solidifying their positions at the very forefront of computer technologies research worldwide.”