Faculty Awards

E. F. Charles LaBerge, Ph.D. ’03, Professor of the Practice, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

This award is given to one full-time faculty member to honor extraordinary teaching as demonstrated by the effectiveness in motivating students in ways that have a lasting influence on their lives.  Dr. LaBerge is also an alumnus, having received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from UMBC in 2003.

Richard Forno, Principal Lecturer, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

CSEE’s Dr. Richard Forno, principal lecturer and cybersecuity graduate program director, was recently appointed an Honorary International Professor at the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Hidalgo (UAEH), one of Mexico’s older universities, in recognition of his accomplishments in both the cybersecurity industry and now in academia. Dr. Forno joins a small group of distinguished faculty from around the world now associated with the university.

The appointment coincided with the university’s annual international Book Fair, a prominent 2-week event with key activities aligned around a single theme – in this case, cybersecurity.  During his brief visit to UAEH last week, he held several seminars with students and research faculty and also conducted a talk about the 2022 book ‘Cybersecurity and Local Government’ (co-authored with Professor Emeritus Don Norris and Ph.D. student Laura Mateczun, both from UMBC’s Public Policy.)

ChenChen Liu, Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

The National Science Foundation has awarded UMBC CSEE Professor Chenchen Liu a significant Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award that provides nearly $540,000 in funding over the next five years. This generous support aims to further the transformative work on AI systems, titled Rethinking PIM-Assisted GPU Computing for Multi-Tenant Artificial Intelligence.

This grant is more than just about advancing technology. It represents a commitment to educating the next generation of technology leaders. It will support research students in Dr. Liu’s Computing Compass Laboratory. By weaving research findings into course materials and championing the increased involvement of underrepresented groups in computing, the project has a vision for a more inclusive tech ecosystem. 

Naghmeh Karimi, Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

Naghmeh Karimi was nominated by her peers for her commitment in her field, excellence in her career, and advancement of the College and UMBC’s mission.  In recognition of her efforts, UMBC’s College of Engineering and Information Technology, with the Provost’s approval, has awarded Dr. Karimi with the COEIT Early Career Faculty Excellence Award.  Dr. Karimi’s research areas include Hardware Security & Design-for-Trust, Fault Tolerance & Design-for-Reliability, Hardware Testing & Design-for-Testability, Hardware Design & Synthesis, VLSI Design, Computer Architecture, and EDA Tools.  She was a recipient of the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award in 2020. She has published four book chapters and over 80 papers in refereed conference proceedings and journal manuscripts.

Anupam Joshi, Oros Family Professor and Chair, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering; and Director, UMBC Center for Cybersecurity

Anupam Joshi is widely recognized as an international leader in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. He has published nearly 300 peer-reviewed articles, secured nine U.S. patents, and garnered more than $22 million in competitive research funding. He works with industry and government and has transferred technology created in his lab to two Maryland startups, both founded by African American entrepreneurs. Joshi’s many accolades include being named a fellow of the International Cyber Security Center of Excellence and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, which also recognized him with its Senior Researcher Award. He earned a B.Tech. in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science from Purdue University.

E. F. Charles LaBerge, Ph.D. ’03, Professor of the Practice, Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

E.F. Charles LaBerge has developed a reputation as an educator who is passionate about not only teaching engineering principles, but also providing students experiences showing how to integrate the principles into their daily lives. He is particularly passionate about helping new students navigate UMBC, and has long taught the Introduction to an Honors University course and in the First Year Seminars and Summer Bridge programs. In 2020, LaBerge received the University System of Maryland Board of Regents’ Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, and in 2018, he was the inaugural recipient of the College of Engineering and Information Technology Award for Teaching Excellence. He earned his B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering from Johns Hopkins University and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from UMBC.

Dr. Chuck LaBerge has won the 2022 EUROCAE Global Harmonisation Award for his commitment and excellent contributions to EUROCAE WG-82/RTCA SC-222 New Air-Ground Data Link Technologies.  The award, which was announced at the 2022 EUROCAE Symposium in Warsaw in April, 2022, was presented on behalf of the EUROCAE Council by Mr. Al Secan, Vice President of RTCA, Inc. at the quarterly meeting of the RTCA Program Management Committee on September 15, 2022. In his comments during the original video presentation of the award in April, Mr. Secen commented on “[Dr. LaBerge’s] ability and skill in leading the committee through a rose garden full of thorny issues.” Dr. LaBerge has also been the recipient of the 2018 UMBC College of Engineering and Information Technology Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 2022 University System of Maryland Board of Regents Award for Teaching Excellence. He teaches a variety of professional practice and communications-related courses in the Computer Engineering program.  Additional information about the EUROCAE award can be found here.