Visiting Distinguished Professor Yelena Yesha, PhD, IEEE, received The District of Columbia Council of Engineering and Architectural Societies’ (DCCEAS) Lifetime Achievement Award at their annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, February 22nd in Washington, DC.  A black-tie/business formal affair, the banquet took place in the scenic River Room at Tony & Joes Seafood Restaurant located on the Potomac River in Georgetown with a view of the Kennedy Center and the beautiful Washington Harbour fountains. The award was presented by the Executive Director of IEEE and former Chief Engineer for the entire Department of Defense and Undersecretary, Stephen Welby (who was the event’s keynote speaker).

Dr. Yesha’s Lifetime Achievement Award was in recognition of:

• Her achievement as a distinguished educator and expert in the fields of computer science and information technology
• Her contributions to space data and information sciences at NASA
• Her development of architecture for electronic commence (first in the world)
• Her creation of new innovative technology for cybersecurity, and
• Her services to IEEE (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).

At the University of Miami, Dr. Yelena Yesha is a Visiting Distinguished Professor in the Department of Computer Science. Dr. Yesha is also a tenured Distinguished University Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and, she is the Director of the National Science Foundation Center for Accelerated Real Time Analytics (CARTA). She received her B.Sc. degrees in Computer Science and in Applied Mathematics from York University, Toronto, Canada, in 1984, and her M.Sc. degree and Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from The Ohio State University in 1986 and 1989, respectively.

Dr. Yesha has published 11 books as author or editor, and more than 200 papers in prestigious refereed journals and refereed conference proceedings, and has been awarded external funding in a total amount exceeding $40 million dollars. She is currently working with leading industrial companies and government agencies on new innovative technology in the areas of cybersecurity and big data analytics with applications to electronic commerce, climate change, and health. Dr. Yesha is a fellow of the IBM Centre for Advanced Studies.

IDSC is pleased and proud to welcome Dr. Yesha, and celebrates with her in this well-deserved recognition! We look forward to great achievements together in years to come.