May 19, 2020
Mi Zhang wins Amazon AWS Machine Learning Research Award
Mi Zhang of Michigan State University has been recognized with the Amazon AWS Machine Learning Research Award (MLRA) for his work on Automated Machine Learning (AutoML). This is MSU’s first AWS Machine Learning Research Award.
Zhang is an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
The Amazon AWS MLRA aims to assist university faculty to advance the frontiers of machine learning (ML).
“The award will facilitate my collaboration with ML researchers at Amazon AWS AI to develop next-generation AutoML techniques,” he said. “Its goal is to automate the end-to-end process of applying machine learning to real-world problems.”
It is Zhang’s second machine learning award this year. In February, he shared The Facebook Faculty Research Award on Systems for Machine Learning with Ming Yan, assistant professor of computational mathematics, science and engineering. Read more on the Facebook Award.
In March, he was awarded the 2020 MSU Innovation of the Year for ongoing efforts to make hearing aids smarts.
Zhang joined MSU in August 2014, where he leads the Machine Learning Systems (MLSys) Group. His research topics lie at the intersection of systems and machine intelligence, with particular focus on on-device AI for edge devices (mobile, AR/VR, Internet of Things (IoT)), Automated Machine Learning (AutoML), systems for machine learning, and AI for health.
His work has been reported by leading national and international media such as MIT Technology Review, WIRED, TechCrunch, New Scientist, TIME, CNN, ABC, NPR, The Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal.
He received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Peking University (PKU), and master’s degrees in computer science and electrical engineering, and a PhD in computer engineering from the University of Southern California. Before joining MSU, he was a postdoctoral associate in computing and information science at Cornell University.
