WOLFRAM

Wolfram Innovator Award

Wolfram technologies have long been a major force in many areas of industry and research. Leaders in many top organizations and institutions have played a major role in using computational intelligence and pushing the boundaries of how the Wolfram technology stack is leveraged for innovation across fields and disciplines.

We recognize these deserving recipients with the Wolfram Innovator Award, which is awarded at the Wolfram Technology Conferences around the world.

Presented at the Wolfram Technology Conferences. Learn more

2013

Tom Meyer

Associate Professor, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Connecticut

Areas: Education, Geographic Information Systems

As a developer of Mathematica’s Geodesy package, Thomas Meyer has pioneered the use of Mathematica in geodesy and geographic information systems (GIS) throughout his career at the University of Connecticut. Meyer has published eight papers in two years in which Mathematica was used to conduct research. One paper, “The Direct and Indirect Problem for Loxodromes,” provides the mathematics of how to write an autopilot using a GPS to lay out the course, correctly using modern geodetic reference ellipsoids. Meyer also uses Mathematica in teaching a range of courses from geomatics and GNSS surveying to spatial statistics and programming.

2013

Rolf Mertig

GluonVision GmbH

Areas: Actuarial Sciences, Data Mining and Analysis, Mathematica Consulting, Physics

Rolf Mertig is a physicist working in different fields as a software consultant. His specialties include efficient webMathematica programming and programmatic CDF generation. Through his own consulting company, GluonVision GmbH based in Berlin, Germany, he works with companies and universities in order for them to get the most out of Mathematica, webMathematica, and CDF.

2013

Charles Macal

Director, Center for Complex Adaptive Agent Systems Simulation, Argonne National Laboratory

Areas: Engineering, System Modeling

As Director of the Center for Complex Adaptive Agent Systems Simulation at Argonne National Lab, Charles Macal uses Mathematica to develop models for studying behavioral factors that contribute to the spread of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and to study how human reactions to political and military action can be quantified and used to simulate when and if conflicts will arise. Macal has been asked to work with the Federal Highway Administration on an innovative new project to develop models for understanding driver behavior for route planning and improving vehicular safety.

2013

Grigory Fridman

Saint Petersburg State University of Economics

Areas: Computer Science, Education, Finance, Mathematics, Risk

Grigory Fridman is Head of the Department of Economical Cybernetics and Mathematical Methods for Economics at Saint Petersburg State University of Economics in Saint Petersburg, Russia. With his help StPSUE became the first university in Russia to offer access to Mathematica to all faculty and students.

2013

Brian Frezza & Emerald Therapeutics

Co-CEO and Co-founder, Emerald Therapeutics

Areas: Biotechnology

Brian Frezza, Co-CEO and Co-founder of Emerald Therapeutics, has integrated Mathematica at many organizational levels within the company—from using it as a standard documentation tool for the Emerald Therapeutics computer platform to controlling laboratory robots. Although the business is small, Mathematica has been broadly integrated in a manner rarely seen, even by Mathematica’s power users. Emerald’s small team has used Mathematica to conduct more than half a million biotech experiments.

2013

George Danner

President, Business Laboratory, LLC

Areas: Industrial Engineering, Industrial Engineering Economics

In his role as President of Business Laboratory, LLC, George Danner uses Mathematica to solve complex problems for mid-size and large businesses and government organizations. Following the flu outbreaks that took health agencies by surprise in 2008, Danner simulated a hypothetical outbreak in Alabama. As a result, state and federal health officials were able to role-play a series of outbreaks and identify barriers to outbreak response. Other accomplishments include assisting an energy company with over 1,100 natural gas wells in identifying an optimal drilling sequence and helping a large national retailer double its number of stores by using simulated shopper agents to determine optimal locations.

2013

Sam Daniel

Engineering Fellow, Raytheon

Areas: Control Engineering, Engineering, Signal Processing

Sam Daniel has been using Mathematica since 1988—the year Mathematica 1.0 was launched—to complete a range of innovative projects from patented work on fingerprint identification algorithms for Motorola to spearheading signal processing projects for Raytheon Missile Systems. His mastery of Mathematica has enabled him to document his work and share those results with others, bringing invaluable insights to areas from adaptive antenna simulation to radar ground clutter characterization. Sam’s continued work with Mathematica will include creating elaborate Enterprise CDFs from Wolfram SystemModeler for possible automatic extraction of parameters and control placement.

2013

Stefan Braun

Managing Director of SmartCAE

Areas: Aerospace, Biotechnology, Chemical Engineering, Control, Data Mining and Analysis, Engineering, Finance, Financial Risk, High-Performance and Parallel Computing, Image Processing, Industrial Engineering, Interface Design, Materials Science, Mathematica Consulting, Mechanical Engineering, Pharmaceutical, Physics, Risk Analysis, Signal Processing, Structural Engineering

Stefan Braun is recognized for using Mathematica in industrial applications. He has used Mathematica and the SmartCAEFab in more that 150+ industrial projects in different application areas. SmartCAE’s software solutions allow practical users to simulate complex applications problems, with a lot of parameters, without being a simulation or Mathematica expert.

2013

Prof. Dr. Frank Brand

Berlin School of Economics and Law, Germany

Areas: Finance, High-Performance and Parallel Computing, Industrial Engineering Economics, Mathematics

Physicist Frank Brand teaches courses in business mathematics, statistics, econometrics, and optimization using Mathematica. He has used Mathematica for many years, starting with his PhD thesis, “Optimization of Complex Optical Systems with Evolution Strategies.” Frank’s achievements using Mathematica in his research include the automatic construction of quality functions related to optimization problems. He also used Wolfram technology to write books—very recently he published a book on the analysis of complex systems, based on applications of graph theory.

2012

Fred Szabo

Mathematics and Statistics Professor, Concordia University

Areas: Education, Mathematics

Fred Szabo is recognized for his contributions in education. Using the phrase “A New Kind of Learning” in his presentations to demonstrate Mathematica’s usefulness throughout an educational curriculum, Fred has showcased Mathematica in broad discussion about the greater use of technology in Canadian schools and universities, citing his own mathematics courses where close to 90% of the students find Mathematica engaging and fun to use. Fred was among the first to embrace online courses, and began a plan for a series of videos to teach students in less technical areas how to use Mathematica. A recipient of numerous teaching awards, including the President’s Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Fred’s goal is to significantly contribute to global education, especially to making the instruction of mathematics more available in Latin America.

2012

Thomas Roux

Financial Risk Manager, BRED Banque Populaire

Areas: Finance, Financial Risk, Risk Analysis

Thomas Roux is recognized for developing an innovative web service solution for financial risk management, based on webMathematica and webUnRisk. Thomas has shown how Wolfram technologies are integral to the fundamental sustainability of the global banking system, from his native France to the United States.

2012

Robert B. Nachbar

Mathematician, Chemist, Biologist, Modeling & Simulation; Merck Research Laboratories

Areas: Biology, Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical

Robert Nachbar is recognized for using Mathematica at Merck. He was instrumental in the Gardasil HPV vaccine project, turning a research-grade model created by his coworkers Elamin Elbasha and Erik Dasbach into a production-grade simulation package. Robert is responsible for the Wolfram|Alpha trial at Merck, has used Mathematica frequently in his research on viral dynamics for the hepatitis C virus, and has modeled clinical trial data.

2012

Dr. Ryohei Miyadera

Kwansei Gakuin High School

Areas: Computer Science, Education, Mathematics

Dr. Ryohei Miyadera wants his Kwansei Gakuin High School students to love mathematics and encourages them to perform advanced research in non-traditional ways. He teaches his students to use Mathematica to examine and realize their ideas even if they don’t yet know the high-level mathematics at work. Dr. Miyadera thinks Mathematica enables young people to enjoy mathematics because they aren’t focused on the calculation, but instead on the underlying concepts. A recent example of his students’ work in Mathematica made them finalists for the Asia region in the Google Science Fair 2012 competition. Feedback from his students and successes like this support Dr. Miyadera’s approach to teaching.

See Ryohei Miyadera's Mathematica Demonstrations »

2012

Dr. Kazuhiro Iwadoh

Tokyo Women's Medical University

Areas: Biology, Data Mining and Analysis, Risk Analysis

Dr. Kazuhiro Iwadoh is a medical doctor who studies biostatistics at Tokyo Women’s Medical University. He constructed a decision-making support system in Mathematica to estimate the possibility of injury to a transplanted organ by determining examining parameters that could change over time. The end result is a program that displays an array of a patient’s information such as prescription history and other factors, allowing the physician to select a treatment option tailored to the patient. Dr. Iwadoh hopes the system will contribute to a higher rate of success in organ transplants and for medical procedures in general.

Learn more about Kazuhiro Iwadoh's work »

2012

W. Craig Carter

Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT

Areas: Computer Graphics and Visual Arts, Control Engineering, Materials Science

W. Craig Carter is recognized for his many uses of Mathematica over the years, starting with his PhD studies. He has tutored other MIT faculty with course examples in Mathematica to help their work, from the project planning stage forward. Craig has also used Mathematica for many years in his course “Mathematics for Materials Science and Engineers.” Craig’s achievements using Mathematica in his research include prototyping an idea with a start-up company to create a new type of battery. He also used Wolfram technology to collaborate on and help design an art piece feature at the Pompidou in Paris.

See W. Craig Carter's Mathematica Demonstrations »

2012

Rubén Berrocal and Marisa Talavera

National Secretary for Science and Technology (Berrocal), Director of Innovation in Learning (Talavera), Panama Government

Areas: Education, Mathematics

Rubén Berrocal and Marisa Talavera are recognized for revolutionizing the teaching of mathematics and science in Panama by incorporating Wolfram technology into their curriculum. SENACYT adopted the first countrywide provision for the computational software to be installed in all universities, and led plans to install it in high schools. SENACYT has trained professors, researchers, and students in Mathematica across Panama, ensuring that the country will become a bastion of scientific education recognized throughout the world as a supreme destination for intellectual enlightenment.

2012

Richard Anderson

Computer Scientist

Areas: High-Performance and Parallel Computing, Mathematics

Richard Anderson is recognized for his pioneering use of gridMathematica to explore network properties using percolation and random graph theories. He has developed gridMathematica applications that use a probabilistic approach along with large-scale multiprocessor computing techniques to explore the underlying structure of complex networks. This work led to the development of new methodologies to identify nodes that are critical to network cohesion and connectivity.

2011

Stan Wagon

Macalester College

Areas: Authoring and Publishing, Computer Graphics and Visual Arts, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering

Stan Wagon uses Mathematica for his teaching and research in computational dynamics, number theory, and Mathematical logic, and has published several books. He also created a square-wheeled bicycle and a track to ride it on, which landed him a spot in Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, and competes in the Breckenridge International Snow Sculpture Contest with ice sculptures based on mathematical objects.

See Stan Wagon's Mathematica Demonstrations »

2011

Dana Scott

Carnegie Mellon University

Areas: Computer Science, Mathematics

Dana Scott was an early user of Wolfram technologies in teaching, including developing a Mathematica-based course in projective geometry. The co-inventor of nondeterministic finite automata, winner of the 1976 ACM Turing Award, and founder of domain theory, he continues to employ new Mathematica functionality in innovative ways, for example by using SatisfiabilityInstances to find tilings of pentominoes.

2011

Eric Schulz & Pearson Education

Areas: Authoring and Publishing, Education, Interface Design, Mathematics

Eric Schulz, a mathematics instructor at Walla Walla Community College who created Mathematica’s Classroom Assistant palette, joined authors William Briggs, Lyle Cochran, and Bernard Gillett to write Calculus, an ebook published by Pearson Education in 2010. The textbook combines narrative material, examples, and exercises together with 650 interactive figures in an engaging and rigorous presentation. Using the free Wolfram CDF Player, students can immediately navigate through sections and explore the ebook’s interactive figures and intuitive text, which combine to bring hard-to-convey concepts to life.

Hear Eric Schulz talk about developing interactive textbooks with CDF » Interact with Calculus »

2011

Diego Oviedo-Salcedo

Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana Bucaramanga

Areas: Authoring and Publishing, Mathematics, Structural Engineering

Diego Oviedo-Salcedo demonstrated innovative use of Wolfram technologies in the creation of homework, solutions, and presentations for his engineering classes, and also used Mathematica extensively for his PhD research. He is a Wolfram-certified instructor in Latin America.

2011

Ronald Kurnik

Roche Molecular Systems

Areas: Chemical Engineering, Image Processing, Pharmaceutical, Signal Processing

Chemical engineer Ronald Kurnik develops medical devices, using Mathematica for rapid prototyping of algorithms for signal and image processing and for quantitative chemical reaction modeling. His work has led Roche to file for 15 patents, 7 of which have been issued so far.

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