My goal is to transform business and society (for the better) through technological innovation. My research interests include (a) automating the use of big data to reap greater benefits with less human effort; (b) developing crowd-sourced data models for improving data quality; and (c) creating out-of-the-box recommender systems for small businesses.
Before there was Google, I was an innovator in the area of Big Data, making it easier to search, integrate and use information available on the Internet. For this work, I received the “10 Year Best Paper Award” at the Very Large Data Bases (VLDB) Conference. I also invented meta-directories, and then led efforts to create Avaya’s meta-directory product. During my time at Avaya Labs and Bell Labs, I worked with a variety of stakeholders to bring several systems from research concept to trial system to product. I was a featured speaker around the world in the Bell Labs Seminar Series.
My interests include database systems, the Internet and their applications. In addition to Internet search and data integration, I have created and patented innovations for capturing and responding to urgent events in enterprises; transforming 911 services through the use of SMS, video, images and text; scaling video customer service; modeling business processes; and communicating via multiple devices simultaneously.
I am happy to join Rutgers Business School after several years teaching at Lafayette College and many years as an innovator in industry. I came to academia from Avaya Labs Research which I joined at its birth in 2000 in a spin-off from Bell Labs Research, and previously I joined Bell Labs, Murray Hill, after completing my Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Among other degrees, I hold an M. A. in the History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Pittsburgh.
Awards & Distinctions
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Best Business Analytics and Information Technology (BAIT) Professor, 2022-2023
Awarded by Rutgers Business Governing Association (RBGA), the Student Governing Body of Rutgers Business School - New Brunswick, based on student survey results.
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Faculty Mentor of the Year, 2022-2023
Awarded by the Rutgers - New Brunswick First-Year Interest Group Seminar (FIGS) Program.
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Very Large Data Bases Ten Year Best Paper Award, 2006
The award citation said: “Your pioneering paper from the Information Manifold project has strongly influenced subsequent work on source description, data integration, query processing in heterogeneous information systems, and web query processing.”