ARMONK, N.Y., April 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today named 11 new IBM Fellows, the company's highest technical honor. The new Fellows are being celebrated for leading innovative work in cognitive computing, cloud, security and design.

The IBM Fellow honor is conferred to IBMers in recognition of exceptional and sustained technical achievements and leadership in engineering, programming, services, science, technology, design and industry solutions.

"IBM's continued commitment to research and innovation has been an engine for scientific, technological and societal progress, and for our company's success for more than 100 years," said Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and CEO. "This year's extraordinary group of new IBM Fellows, whose breakthroughs have had a material impact on our leadership in cloud, cognitive, security and quantum, demonstrate once again the critical role our company plays in tackling the world's toughest problems and developing the next generation of leaders."

This year's class of IBM Fellows are transforming business and society via a range of technical advancements, developments and research. The new Fellows are:

Dakshi Agrawal
Distinguished Research Staff Member, Real-Time Cognitive Solutions
IBM Watson and Cloud Platform
Dakshi, IBM's foremost expert in real-time cognitive solutions, is responsible for a range of innovations in real-time analytics and creating solutions to solve complex client challenges. His scientific work in areas as diverse as information theory, systems sciences, and security and privacy has been cited over 5,000 times in academic publications, and he holds 59 U. S. patents.

Ed Calusinski
Vice President, Technology
IBM Global Markets
Ed's inventive architecture, design and development - while focusing on business growth, client satisfaction and loyalty - has made him influential in creating game-changing innovations and a trusted advisor to IBM clients.

Eric Herness
CTO
IBM Hybrid Cloud
As Chief Technology Officer, IBM Hybrid Cloud, Eric is a key leader in IBM's move to cloud and in our clients' evolution to hybrid cloud. Eric was a chief architect and a partner with the other key creators of IBM WebSphere, and ushered in the era of web application serving.

Charlie Hill
Platform Experience
IBM Design
Charlie was instrumental in establishing a scaled program of human-centered design at IBM. He led the creation of IBM Design Thinking, which today is helping all IBMers and many of our clients create more innovative offerings and solutions with a focus on human outcomes.

Hillery Hunter
Director, Accelerated Cognitive Infrastructure
IBM Research
Hillery is a respected industry expert in next-generation memory technology.

Matt Huras
Distinguished Engineer
IBM Hybrid Cloud
Matt is a prolific public speaker, member of the International DB2 User's Group Hall of Fame, chair of the IBM Analytics Technical Leadership Review Board and a Master Inventor with 54 U.S. patents.
Matt is Chief Architect for DB2 LUW, an IBM Master Inventor with 54 granted U.S. patents, a prolific public speaker, and member of the International DB2 User's Group Hall of Fame.

Hugo Krawczyk
Distinguished Research Staff Member
IBM Research
Hugo's fundamental and lasting contributions to the theoretical and practical foundations of cryptography include pioneering designs to internet-wide security protocols and major advances in encryption, authentication and privacy.

Sam Lightstone
Distinguished Engineer
IBM Watson and Cloud Platform
Sam, an expert in analytics, has more than 60 patents issued and pending, has authored four books and has written more than 30 papers.

Sridhar Muppidi
CTO, Cloud Security, Identity & Access Management
IBM Security
Sridhar, an IBM Master Inventor, has played a key role in digital ID transformation projects worldwide.

Rachel Reinitz
CTO, IBM Bluemix Garage
IBM Hybrid Cloud
Rachel helped found eight IBM Bluemix Garages combining IBM Design Thinking, lean startup, DevOps and cloud technologies to transform how clients design and deliver applications.

Matthias Steffen
Chief Quantum Architect and Distinguished Research Staff Member
IBM Research
Matthias has made invaluable contributions to IBM's progress toward offering a commercial quantum computing system.

To be awarded IBM's most prestigious technical honor, an employee must meet four important criteria:

    --  Sustained innovation in some of the world's most important technologies
    --  Significant recognition as a leader among IBM's technical communities
    --  Broad industry acknowledgement of the individual's accomplishments
    --  A strong history of new technologies and business models being deployed
        at scale

IBM's Fellow program was founded in 1963 by Thomas J. Watson, Jr. to promote creativity among the company's most exceptional technical professionals. IBM has named 289 Fellows since the program's inception. IBM Fellows have been granted five Nobel Prize winners, one Kyoto Prize winner and one Presidential Medal of Freedom. Collectively, the 11 new Fellows have 296 patents.

For more information on the 2017 IBM Fellows, visit: http://ibm.biz/2017fellows

Blog Post: http://ibm.biz/Bdi2H6

Photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHskXDLTDw

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfZhPWq6-3g

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Media Contact
Chris Blake
IBM Media Relations - Research
blakechr@us.ibm.com
415-613-1120

SOURCE IBM

SOURCE: IBM