Curriculum Vitae
Abdelsalam (Sumi) Helal, PhD
Fellow, ACM, IEEE, AAAS, IET & AAIA
Member of Academia Europaea
Top 2% of the most-cited scientists in the world (Scopus, October 2023)
Email: sumi.helal@unibo.it
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I.CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Pioneer researcher, technologist, entrepreneur, and academic leader in pervasive and ubiquitous computing, mobile computing and the Internet of Things, with a special applied focus on digital health including health AI, smart homes as assistive environments; Internet of Things for active and healthy living; and assistive technology in support of managing long-term health conditions, aging, disabilities, and independence.
Career Accomplishments at the University of Florida. 26 years with the University of Florida (associate professor: 1998-2004, full professor: 2004-present). Founded and directed/currently direct: 1) the Mobile and Pervasive Computing Research Laboratory, 2) the Gator Tech Smart House – a world-famous, real-life research facility for interdisciplinary R&D in personal health, patient empowerment, and independent living (aging and disabilities), and 3) the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Successful Aging – a federally-funded interdisciplinary research center to explore the use of technology in enabling graceful aging and independent living (overseeing 35 center staff members). In addition to teaching, research, and mentorship (supervising and graduating 24 PhD’s and 57 Masters students all with thesis option), my career at Florida provided me with a significant experience in leadership development, setting visions and directions, outreach and philanthropic fundraising, and successfully coordinating large multidisciplinary research efforts. Special projects, initiatives, and forming industrial alliances have been the hallmark of my tenure with Florida. I have also been known as a serial entrepreneur with a high-value patent portfolio, several successful startups and numerous patents licensed by the top multinational tech industry including Google, Apple, Samsung, Bosch, Siemens, T-Mobile, Verizon, among others.
Career Accomplishments at Lancaster University. In 2017, I took an open-ended leave from UF and joined Lancaster University as an Interdisciplinary Professor and Chair in Digital Health, jointly appointed in the School of Computing and Communication, Faculty of Science and Technology, and the Division of Health Research, Faculty of Health and Medicine (50/50 appointment). I founded and directed the Center on Digital Health and Quality of Life Technology. In addition to the center, I directed “Health Innovation – Digital”, one of five cross-campus operating steering groups that make up the Health Innovation Campus (HIC) – a £41m investment and initiative by Lancaster University to move health technology and health data into our everyday living contexts and places, and into the pathways of health and care delivery, to improve outcomes and enhance the quality of life of all people including individuals with special needs. My responsibility in the HIC was to provide campus-wide leadership and “digital health integration” among the various researchers and units involved in health and medicine and exploring the use of technology and health data science for advancement. In this role, I have overseen a group of 40 academics, staff and business and engagement managers, and led curricular development activities to establish Masters and PhD degrees in Digital Health.
Research Funding. Highly successful grant applicant, securing (as PI or Co-PI) over 50 grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR), UK National Health Services (NHS), DARPA, the US Special Operation Command, IBM, Motorola, Harris Corp., Microsoft Research, Citrix Systems, Sun Microsystems, Nokia Research Labs, Tekes (Finland), and Korea’s Electronics and Telecommunication Research Institute (ETRI). Funded, supervised, and graduated 24 PhD students and 57 Masters students (all with research theses). Currently supervising 2 PhD students.
Research Publications and Disseminations. Published over 360 books, book chapters, journal/transactions articles, and conference and workshop articles, with over 16,000 citations, 55 h-index, and 188 i10-index, according to Google Scholar. Delivered about 50 keynotes in prestigious conferences around the world. Also delivered about 50 invited talks and distinguished lectures at top universities and industrial research centers around the world (e.g., Microsoft Research Redmond, Microsoft Research Beijing, Nokia Research Labs, Motorola Research, IBM TJ Watson Research Labs, GE Global Research Labs, Bell Labs, ETRI, Korea, and Europe’s EIT Digital, Baidu Global Research Center, Beijing, Peking Univ., and Univ. of Minnesota).
Entrepreneurial Spirit and Approach to Research. I have been known as the serial entrepreneur type professor at the University of Florida and in fact once won the Technology Innovator of the Year award in 2011, in recognition for my successfully licensed IP –two patents related to the Internet of Things (the Atlas Patents: US 7,895,257 and US 8,631,063). I have sixteen patent applications to my name, of which nine have been issued in emerging technologies related to mobile and wireless computing technology, smart health, and the emerging Internet of Things.
I founded/cofounded five companies: Phoneomena Inc., one of the first mobile application and middleware companies (well before the iPhone), Pervasa Inc., focused on IoT platforms and middleware products, Spaceify Oy, Finland, middleware and tools for programming public smart spaces, Rokiot USA LLC, focused on IP management and licensing of IoT and smart home / digital health technologies (licensed by Samsung, Siemens, Bosch, ClearBlade, others), and MobiltyWorkx LLC, focused on IP management and licensing of 4G/5G wireless handoff under rapid mobility technology (licensed by Google, Apple, Motorola, Verizon, and T-Mobile), as well as mobile handset testing emulators (licensed by Google, Verizon, and Apple). I enjoy pursuing an entrepreneurial approach and technology transfer to ensure my research is industry-relevant and of a tangible and meaningful impact.
Management Experience. Business acumen and significant management experience gained in directing two large entities: the RERC center on Successful Aging at the University of Florida, and the Health Innovation-Digital at Lancaster University. Also, management, fund-raising and marketing experience gained in launching special university initiatives and several technology startups as founder, CEO, CTO, and President. Also, expertise in program assessment and strategic advisement, including recent consulting as the External Evaluator of the Computer Science Department at Iowa State University, External Examiner of the Masters Program on the Internet-of-Things at Ulster University (2018-2020), and the External Evaluator and Advisor of the newly formed department of Health Tech at Denmark Technical University (DTU), in 2021.
Professional Accomplishments. Editor-in-Chief of Computer, the IEEE Computer Society’s flagship publication, January 2015–2018. During my term as EIC, Computer won the 2018 Folio: Eddie Award —one of the most prestigious awards in the publishing industry. Also, founding editorial board member of IEEE Pervasive Computing magazine, in addition to numerous editorial boards of ACM, IEEE transactions and journals. Organized over 30 conferences/workshops as Program/General Chair/Cochair; one of the very few community leaders who have chaired ACM HotMobile (1996), ACM Ubicomp (2009) and ACM MobiCom (2013), the premier and flagship ACM international conferences on mobile applications, ubiquitous computing and mobile computing, respectively. Elected to the IEEE Computer Society Board of Governors (BoG), 2017-2019. Inducted to the IEEE Computer Society’s Golden Core in 2018. And in 2020 I was President Elect Nominee of the IEEE Computer Society.
Honorable Recognition. ACM Fellow – Elevated to the rank of Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, January 2023. AAIA Fellow – Elevated to the rank of Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association, June 2022.Member of Academia Europaea. Inducted as member July 2020. AAAS Fellow - Elevated to the rank of Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS), November 2019. IET Fellow - Elevated to the rank of Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), UK, in March 2019. IEEE Fellow - Elevated to the IEEE Fellow rank in January 2015.
Also, substantial media coverage of my research accomplishment, including the New York Times and the March 2010 cover feature of Florida Trends Magazine, Florida’s premier business and technology magazine. More details can be found at https://www.cise.ufl.edu/~helal/media.htm
II. EDUCATION
- Certificate of Successful Completion of the Applied Data Science Program, MIT, July 2023.
- PhD: Computer Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 1991
- MSc: Computer Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 1989
- ME: Computer Engineering & Automatic Control, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt, 1985
- BE: Computer Engineering & Automatic Control, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt, 1982 (Summa Cum Laude)
III. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2024–Present. Professor, Computer Science and Engineering Department. University of Bologna, Italy. Hired within the Brain Gain (Chiamatta Dirretta) Program of the Italian Government.
2004–2024. Professor, Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (www.cise.ufl.edu/~helal ).
2017–2020. Professor and Chair in Digital Health, the School of Computing and Communication, Faculty of Science and Technology, and the Division of Health Research, Faculty of Health and Medicine (50/50 appointment), Lancaster University, UK. On leave from the University of Florida. https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/scc/about-us/people/sumi-helal
2015–Present. Cofounder, Spaceify Oy, middleware and tools for developing smart spaces
2014–2014. ISA Senior Visiting Fellow, University of Bologna, Institute of Advanced Studies
2011–2013. Finland Distinguished Professor (FiDiPro), Aalto University and EIT Digital, Smart Space Thematic Action Line, Finland (www.fidipro.fi)
2006–2011. Founder and CEO, Pervasa Inc. (www.pervasa.com), an IoT Platform and middleware technology company
2005–Present. Cofounder and Director of the Gator Tech Smart House, University of Florida (www.icta.ufl.edu/gt.htm)
2000–Present. Director of the Mobile and Pervasive Computing and Networking Laboratory, University of Florida
2002–2007. Founder and CEO, Phoneomena Inc. (www.phoneomena.com), one of the earliest mobile middleware and applications companies
2001–2007. Technology Director, Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Successful Aging (RERC-Aging), University of Florida; funded by National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Overseeing over 30 faculty, researchers, staff and graduate students.
2001–2004. Tenured Associate Professor, Computer and Information Science and Engineering Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
1998–2001. Associate Professor, Computer and Information Science and Engineering Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
2000–2000. Academic Visitor, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, Hawthorne, NY
1996–1998. Member of the Technical Staff, Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC), Austin, Texas
1995–1996. Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Department of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
1991–1995. Assistant Professor, Computer Science Engineering Department, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas
1994–1994. Visiting Researcher, Hughes Research Laboratory, Malibu, California
1989–1991. David Ross Research Fellow, Department of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
1987–1989. Purdue University Research Fellow, Department of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
1987–1987. Teaching Assistant, Department of Computer Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
1982–1985. Lecturer, Department of Computer Science and Automatic Control, College of Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
IV. AWARDS AND HONORS
- ACM Fellow – Elevated to the rank of Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, January 2023. Citation: “for contributions to mobile and pervasive computing, and their applications in graceful aging and accessibility.”
- AAIA Fellow – Elevated to the rank of Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association, June 2022.
- Elected member of Academia Europaea. Elected as member, July 2020. Total membership is in the range of 4600 scholars, of which only about 220 are US-based (as of 2020).
- AAAS Fellow. Elevated to the Fellow rank of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, November 2019. Citation: “for distinguished contributions to the field of pervasive computing, particularly in assistive environments supportive of aging and independent living.”
- IET Fellow. Elevated to the rank of Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), UK, in March 2019
- IEEE Fellow. Elevated to the Fellow rank Jan 2015. Citation: “for contributions to Pervasive and Mobile Computing Systems and their Applications.”
- IEEE Computer Society 2020 President-Elect nominee
- Elected to the IEEE Computer Society’s Golden Core February 2018
- Elected to the IEEE Computer Society Board of Governors (BoG), 2017-2019.
- ACM Recognition of Outstanding Service Award for contributions to ACM as chair of the 19th Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking (MobiCom), 2013
- Finland Distinguished Professor (FiDiPro) 2011–2013. Only a handful of international scholars from all fields of science and engineering are awarded FiDiPro annually
- University of Bologna Senior Visiting Fellowship, Institute of Advanced Studies, Jan–Feb 2014
- IEEE Outstanding Leadership Award for outstanding leadership and services to the IEEE Ubiquitous and Intelligent Computing Conference, 2012
- University of Florida Technology Innovator of the Year award, recognizing faculty with successfully licensed IP, 2011
- Best Paper Award to C. Chen, Y. Xu, K. Li, and A. Helal, "Reactive Programming Optimizations in Pervasive Systems," Proceedings of the IEEE/IPSJ Symposium on Applications and the Internet, 2010
- Information Processing Society of Japan Certificate of Appreciation for distinguished service to the IPSJ/IEEE Symposium on Applications and the Internet, 2010
- Best Paper Award to C. Chen and A. Helal, "Device Integration in SODA Using the Device Description Language," Proceedings of the IEEE/IPSJ Symposium on Applications and the Internet, 2009
- ACM Recognition of Outstanding Service Award for contributions to ACM as chair of the 11th International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing (Ubicomp), 2009
- IEEE Computer Society Certificate of Appreciation for outstanding service and contributions to the COMPSAC 2009 Conference
- IEEE Computer Society Certificate of Appreciation for service on the 2009 Chapters Activities Board
- Best of SensorExpo Silver Award to Pervasa Inc., founded by Dr. Helal, for the Atlas Sensor Integration Platform, 2007
- IEEE Computer Society Certificate of Appreciation for achievements as general chair of IEEE International Performance, Computing and Communication Conference (IPCCC), 2002
- David Ross Fellowship Recipient, Purdue University, 1989–1991
- Purdue Foundation Fellowship Recipient, 1987–1989
- Alexandria University Model Student Award, May 1982
V. AREAS OF RESEARCH
Pervasive and ubiquitous computing, mobile computing and the Internet of Things, with a special applied focus on digital health including smart homes as assistive environments; Internet of Things for active and healthy living; and assistive technology in support of managing long-term health conditions, aging, disabilities, and independence.
Internet of Things, Pervasive Computing, Smart Spaces & Cloud-Sensor Systems:
- Fundamental systems research on programmable pervasive spaces (sensor/actuator-based systems)
- Atlas sensor platform and middleware project: architectures, middleware, programming models including safety-oriented models, device description language (DDL), service-oriented device architectures (SODAs), self-integration mechanisms
- Self-sensing spaces (real-world modeling)
- Programmable and scalable knowledge-based human activity recognition
- Context-driven simulation of human activities in pervasive spaces
- Scalable cloud-sensor architectures and energy optimization for city-scale IoT
- IoT programming models, Thing architectures, and IoT device management
Digital Health: Personal Health, Successful Aging, and Assistive Technology
- Smart homes, health telematics and connected health. Specifically, the Gator Tech Smart House, a real-life smart space deployment for developing and validating sensor-and device-based assistive technologies in support of aging, disability, and independence.
- Health Data Science, including machine learning, federated learning, and reinforcement learning. Cybersecurity of health data and detecting adversarial attacks on imagery health data.
- Participatory Telehealth. Specifically, the Stepstone open source telehealth system jointly developed with IBM (with emphasis on obesity and diabetes).
- Persuasive telehealth and patient empowerment. The Action-Behavior cyber-persuasion model, Access Tree algorithm for patient compliance assessment, the Cicero mobile persuasion development middleware
