January 11, 2023
Alumna Tanya Amert (Ph.D. 2021) was awarded the 2022 ACM SIGBED Paul Caspi Memorial Dissertation Award. The award recognizes outstanding doctoral dissertations that significantly advance the state of the art in the science of embedded systems. Though the award was established in 2013, Amert is the first woman to receive it.
Amert’s dissertation, “Enabling Real-Time Certification of Autonomous Driving Applications,” explores considerations that promote safe development and implementation of advanced driver-assist systems (ADASs). As manufacturers respond to technological advancements and increased consumer interest in the use of this driving technology, Amert’s research becomes increasingly important because it focuses on the necessity of using a certification process to ensure appropriate safety measures and consistency among the technology before mass production and consumer use.
Development in the area of graphics processing units (GPUs) is considered to be the key to the realization of fully autonomous vehicles. Amert addresses challenges related to developing a strict certification of GPUs, as well as adjustments that will need to be made to account for needed checks and balances to maintain continued communication and compliance with the certifications.
Amert was recognized at the 2022 Embedded Systems Week (ESWEEK), held October 7-14, 2022, which is an event that combines conferences, tutorials, and workshops focused on embedded systems research.
Amert is currently an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Denison University.