Young Researcher to Receive Grace Murray Hopper Award for Internet Performance Measurement

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The Association for Computing Machinery
Advancing Computing as a Science & Profession

Contact: Virginia Gold
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New York, February 21, 2008 – The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has recognized Vern Paxson, Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, for his research on how to measure Internet behavior. His innovative techniques are used to assess new communications concepts, improve network performance, and prevent network intrusion. They provide both the research community and Internet operators with the tools to improve the operation of this increasingly diverse, decentralized communications infrastructure. Paxson is also Senior Scientist with the International Computer Science Institute (ICSI) Center for Internet Research in Berkeley, CA, and a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He will receive the 2007 Grace Murray Hopper Award from ACM for outstanding young computer professional of the year. The award carries a $35,000 prize, and funding is provided by Google, Inc.

Paxson’s research on Internet measurement brought the scientific process to the measurement of the Internet’s behavior and the conditions under which it operates, raising the practice of Internet measurement to a higher level. As a result, the research community is able to evaluate new ideas and technologies and identify problems and priorities that are needed for increased efficiency. In addition, Internet operators are able to alleviate traffic congestion, detect attacks, and improve communications reliability.

Through a series of highly influential papers, Paxson’s findings revealed the mismatches between reality and the common assumptions made in analytical and simulation models. By combining the extensive collection of data from many locations with sophisticated statistical techniques, he provided a wealth of useful information about the nature of the Internet and ways to improve its operation.

Paxson was named an ACM Fellow in 2006. His 1996 research paper titled “End-to-end routing behavior in the Internet” won the first “Test of Time” award given by ACM’s Special Interest Group on Data Communication (SIGCOMM). The award, presented in 2006, is given to the most influential networking paper published 10-12 years before. His current research continues to focus on Internet measurement as well as network intrusion detection and large-scale Internet attacks.

In 2001, Paxson co-founded the Internet Measurement Conference and co-chaired the Program Committee of SIGCOMM 2002. He was an editorial board member of the IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking from 2000-2004, and an organizer of the 2003 Workshop on Large-scale Internet Attacks at Rutgers University’s Center for Discrete Mathematics and Computer Science (DIMACS). From 2001-2005, he chaired the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF), which promotes research critical to the evolution of the future Internet.

Paxson received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley.

The Grace Murray Hopper Award honors the outstanding young computer professional of the year, selected on the basis of a single recent major technical or service contribution. The candidate must have been 35 years of age or less at the time the qualifying contribution was made. ACM will present the 2007 Grace Murray Hopper Award to Paxson at the annual ACM Awards Banquet on June 21, in San Francisco, CA.

 

About ACM

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery http://www.acm.org, is an educational and scientific society uniting the world’s computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field’s challenges. ACM strengthens the profession’s collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.