Professor Wigdor recognized as a University of Toronto rising star

February 23, 2015

Sloan Research Fellowships reward six faculty members for early-career achievements

If winning a Nobel Prize is like winning an Oscar for lifetime achievement, the six University of Toronto scholars awarded Sloan Research Fellowhips today must feel as though they’ve been nominated rising stars for their debut films.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation named U of T’s Artur Izmaylov, Natalie Enright Jerger, Julie Lefebvre, Jacob Tsimerman, Daniel Wigdor and Hau-tieng Wu among 126 oustanding young researchers from across Canada and the United States. The US $50,000 prizes are given to early-career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as among the next generation of scientific leaders.

The six U of T researchers tipped to contribute substantially to their respective fields are among only eight recipients at Canadian universities, and their research explores a wide range of topics. From the University of Toronto Department of Computer Science:

Daniel Wigdor (Department of Computer Science, Department of Mathematical & Computational Sciences (UTM), Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering) explores human-computer interaction and specifically how to remove the delay experienced when using smartphones and tablets. Computing performance has improved significantly in recent decades though the delay of touchscreens has stalled at 100 milliseconds, which is why they feel ‘springy’. Wigdor wants to reduce that response time and make digital devices feel more like physical ones –like writing on real paper.

Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering Professor Natalie Enright Jerger (with cross-appointment to the Department of Computer Science), was also awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship for her research that investigates more efficient ways for networks on computer processor chips to communicate as computing systems grow larger and more complex. She focuses on tackling three challenges: improving communication between cores, caches and memory, streamlining caching protocols and improving parallel programming.