We are pleased to announce that Rajesh K. Gupta, founding director of the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute (HDSI), has been appointed interim dean of the School of Computing, Information and Data Sciences (SCIDS), effective July 19, 2024.
Gupta, a distinguished professor and former chair in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the Jacobs School of Engineering, holds the Qualcomm Endowed Chair in Embedded Microsystems. Gupta also served as the Associate Director of the Qualcomm Institute. In partnership with the late Jeffrey Elman, he designed HDSI as a fundamentally interdisciplinary unit in both its research and educational programs. He played a critical role during the new school’s development process and will shepherd SCIDS, which combines the operational capabilities in high-performance and data-intensive computing of the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), with the academic strengths of HDSI in the areas of data science and artificial intelligence, into the future. Gupta has served as HDSI’s director since the institute’s inauguration in 2018.
Gupta’s research interests are in embedded and cyber-physical systems with an emphasis on sensor data organization and its use in optimization of timing and energy from algorithms, devices to systems that scale from IC chips and data centers to built environments such as smart buildings. Methods and tools he developed for the design of microelectronic chips are now used in standard practice for building semiconductor systems on chips. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest general science organization in the United States, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). In 2019, Gupta was the recipient of the W. Wallace McDowell Award in recognition of his “seminal contributions in design and implementation of Microelectronic Systems-on-Chip and Cyber-Physical Systems.”
As the director of HDSI, Gupta has demonstrated his ability to work across disciplines. He has been instrumental in establishing HDSI as an academic unit on campus, leading the launch of master’s and Ph.D. programs in data science and forging essential partnerships with industry leaders. Gupta will continue to serve as HDSI’s director during his interim dean appointment.
Gupta’s administrative and scholarly accomplishments make him exceptionally well qualified to provide leadership as interim dean of the School of Computing, Information and Data Sciences. Please join us in thanking him for his dedication and commitment to ensuring continued success for the newest school at UC San Diego. A search for the permanent dean will begin in the fall.
