Karem Sakallah Named ACM Fellow

CSE Associate Chair and Prof. Karem A. Sakallah has been elected a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) “for algorithms for Boolean Satisfiability that advanced the state-of-the-art of hardware verification.”

Prof. Sakallah’s research interests include computer-aided design of electronic systems, Boolean satisfiability, discrete optimization, and hardware and software verification. Systems influenced by his work and developed along these lines and over the years include:

• The SAMSON event-driven mixed analog and digital simulator
• The checkT_c and minT_c timing verification and clock-cycle minimization tools
• The GRASP Boolean satisfiability solver
• The saucy symmetry detection program and the Shatter symmetry breaking flow
• The PBS pseudo-Boolean constraint solver
• The Ario and Pueblo satisfiability modulo theories solvers
• The CAMUS minimal infeasible subset extractor
• The Reveal formal hardware verification system

In 2009, Prof. Sakallah was a co-recipient of the prestigious Computer Aided Verification Award for fundamental contributions to the development of high-performance Boolean satisfiability solvers. His research in satisfiability and hardware verification led to the creation in 2009 of a start-up company, Reveal Design Automation, which designs and sells automated software solutions for performing scalable and comprehensive verification of digital logic designs.

Prof. Sakallah received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1981. He was a Principal Software Engineer in the Semiconductor Engineering Group of Digital Equipment Corporation from 1982 to 1988, and joined the Michigan faculty in 1988. Prof. Sakallah has authored or coauthored more than 200 papers and has given numerous seminars, invited lectures, and tutorials at conferences, symposia, research centers, and technology companies. He has served on the program committees of the International Conference on Computer-Aided Design, the Design Automation Conference, the International Conference of Computer Design, the International Conference on the Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing, and other workshops. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and a member of the ACM and Sigma Xi.

ACM press release: 2012 Fellows Hail from World’s Leading Universities and Corporations

About the ACM Fellows Program

The ACM Fellows Program was established in 1993 to recognize and honor outstanding ACM members for their achievements in computer science and information technology and for their significant contributions to the mission of the ACM. The ACM Fellows serve as distinguished colleagues to whom the ACM and its members look for guidance and leadership as the world of information technology evolves.