Nokia Bell Labs Prize awarded to new processor technology pioneered by student and professor team from University of California at Berkeley
Press Release
Nokia Bell Labs Prize awarded to new processor technology pioneered by student and professor team from University of California at Berkeley
6 December 2019
Murray Hill, New Jersey - Nokia today announced this year's Nokia Bell Labs Prize, the global competition to recognize game-changing innovations that attracted more than 250 applications from 31 countries around the world. The 2019 prize has been awarded to a student and Professor team from the University of California at Berkeley. PhD student Tianshi Wang and Professor Jaijeet Roychowdhury received $100,000 for winning the competition, and the opportunity to pursue an expanded collaboration with Nokia Bell Labs.
The pair won the prize for their work on A Classic Spin on Quantum Computing. Their innovation is in a new type of processor element that will be significantly more efficient in computing the answers to discrete optimization problems. Their innovation will complement conventional digital processors (CPUs and GPUs) by efficiently tackling a wide range of computationally hard problems of importance in many diverse areas, including 5G communication systems; complex tasks in planning, scheduling and control; and even the discovery of new drugs.
Marcus Weldon, Nokia Corporate CTO and President of Nokia Bell Labs, said, The Bell Labs Prize is a unique opportunity for innovators around the world to collaborate with Bell Labs researchers to expand the potential of their innovations. The competition is highly competitive, reducing more than 250 applicants to 5 finalists, who must convince their Bell Labs mentors and the judging panel that their innovation has the potential to change the world. This year's winners have certainly met that criteria, by pioneering a new processor technology that will allow a large set of complex optimization problems to be solved with unprecedented efficiency and at low cost. It is truly impressive work and we will be closely collaborating with the team to help them realize this potential.
The 2019 Nokia Bell Labs Prize competition was launched in April. Proposals were reviewed by Nokia Bell Labs researchers and evaluated based on three criteria, including whether the idea has a 10X innovation potential to change the world; the proposals technical merit; and the overall feasibility of the proposed idea.
The proposals were narrowed down to a select group of outstanding candidates who were given the opportunity to partner with Nokia Bell Labs experts to help expand the impact of their proposals. Five finalists were invited to the final judging event held this week at Nokia Bell Labs headquarters in Murray Hill, N.J. The judging panel was comprised of Weldon, Nobel Laureate Robert Wilson, world-renowned computer scientist and Bell Labs alum Al Aho, as well as previous Nokia Bell Labs Prize winners Samory Kpotufe (2018) and Kaushik Sengupta (2017).
Second place and $50,000 went to Dr. Sheng Xu, Assistant Professor in the Department of Nanoengineering at University of California at San Diego for his submission, There is plenty of room under the skin: A wearable's perspective. His team have developed an easy-to-use ultrasonic patch that can provide noninvasive, continuous and unobtrusive monitoring of deep tissues. This innovation will not only impact consumers, who will have access to data on their hearts, lungs, livers, and GI tracts, but also healthcare systems allowing non-invasive continuous patient monitoring and ultrasonic imaging.
Third place and $25,000 were presented to Maximilian Arnold, Sebastian Cammerer, Sebastian D rner, Stephan ten Brink of Stuttgart University in Germany for their innovative work on Leveraging 5G Infrastructure for a Robust Positioning System. Their indoor positioning system uses existing wireless communications networks to determine location which will allow ubiquitous, low cost tracking of all things, with simpler calibration than existing systems, and therefore has the potential to become a foundational part of the next industrial revolution.
Resource:
Nokia Bell Labs Prize website
About Nokia
We create the technology to connect the world. We develop and deliver the industrys only end-to-end portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing that is available globally. Our customers include communications service providers whose combined networks support 6.1 billion subscriptions, as well as enterprises in the private and public sector that use our network portfolio to increase productivity and enrich lives.
Through our research teams, including the world-renowned Nokia Bell Labs, we are leading the world to adopt end-to-end 5G networks that are faster, more secure and capable of revolutionizing lives, economies and societies. Nokia adheres to the highest ethical business standards as we create technology with social purpose, quality and integrity. www.nokia.com.
About Nokia Bell Labs
Nokia Bell Labs is the world-renowned industrial research arm of Nokia. Over its more than 90-year history, Nokia Bell Labs has invented many of the foundational technologies that underpin information and communications networks and all digital devices and systems. This research has resulted in 9 Nobel Prizes, four Turing Awards, three Japan Prizes, a plethora of National Medals of Science and Engineering, as well as an Oscar, two Grammy awards and an Emmy award for technical innovation. For more information, visit www.bell-labs.com.
Media inquiries
Nokia
Communications
Phone: +358 10 448 4900
Email: press.services@nokia.com
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Photo: The 2019 Nokia Bell Labs Prize winners and the judging panel
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Nokia Bell Labs Prize awarded to new processor technology pioneered by student and professor team from University of California at Berkeley 
