Engineering professor named 2023 International Fellow for the Royal Academy of Engineering
Giannakis is one of only 73 pioneers worldwide to receive the honor this year
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (11/28/2023) — University of Minnesota Twin Cities engineering Professor Georgios Giannakis has been elected as a 2023 International Fellow for the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is one of only 73 leading figures in engineering and technology worldwide to be honored this year.
The fellows are honored for their exceptional contributions to pioneering new innovations, leading progress in business or academia, providing high level advice to government agencies, or promoting wider understanding of engineering and technology. A formal ceremony was on Nov. 28, 2023, to officially admit the new Fellows.
Giannakis holds a McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in the University of Minnesota’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor and is a former director of the University’s Digital Technology Center.
Giannakis is a prominent figure in the field of signal processing and its wide ranging applications. He has been recognized for groundbreaking research contributions to the areas of statistical signal processing, data modeling, and information transmission. His research has markedly advanced several fields, including wireless communications, networks, data science, and machine learning. This includes his designs that have helped improve the speed and reliability of mobile access to the Internet. In 2020, he was inducted into the U.S. National Academy of Inventors.
He holds 36 patents, is the recipient of several technical field and achievement awards, and has received 10 awards for his journal publications all of which bear testimony to the impact of his work. Giannakis has also integrated research with education through research monographs, 26 book chapters, two books, keynote and plenary speeches, as well as tutorials delivered at hundreds of scientific meetings and conferences over the last 36 years.
As a professor of electrical and computer engineering, Giannakis has been an advisor and mentor to a diverse population of students including 60 doctoral, 35 master’s, and 15 undergraduate thesis advisees. In addition, he has also mentored 30 postdoctoral associates. All of his doctoral students (a third of whom are from underrepresented groups) are pursuing stellar careers of their own in academia or research in industry and government laboratories. Several of them are IEEE Fellows and in leadership positions in academia and industry.
Giannakis received his undergraduate degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. He went on to receive master’s degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, all from the University of Southern California. After serving as a professor at the University of Virginia, Giannakis joined the University of Minnesota faculty in 1999.
Read more about the 2023 Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows.
Watch a video highlighting Giannakis’ research and academic achievements.