Martin Vetterli is the current president of École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, succeeding Patrick Aebischer. He's a professor of

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

and was formerly the president of the National Research Council of the

Swiss National Science Foundation The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF, German: ''Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung'', SNF; French: ''Fonds national suisse de la recherche scientifique'', FNS; Italian: ''Fondo nazionale svizzero ...

. Martin Vetterli has made numerous research contributions in the general area of

digital signal processing Digital signal processing (DSP) is the use of digital processing, such as by computers or more specialized digital signal processors, to perform a wide variety of signal processing operations. The digital signals processed in this manner are ...

and is best known for his work on

wavelets A wavelet is a wave-like oscillation with an amplitude that begins at zero, increases or decreases, and then returns to zero one or more times. Wavelets are termed a "brief oscillation". A taxonomy of wavelets has been established, based on the num ...

. He has also contributed to other areas, including

sampling (signal processing) In signal processing, sampling is the reduction of a continuous-time signal to a discrete-time signal. A common example is the conversion of a sound wave to a sequence of "samples". A sample is a value of the signal at a point in time and/or sp ...

computational complexity theory In theoretical computer science and mathematics, computational complexity theory focuses on classifying computational problems according to their resource usage, and relating these classes to each other. A computational problem is a task solved by ...

signal processing Signal processing is an electrical engineering subfield that focuses on analyzing, modifying and synthesizing ''signals'', such as audio signal processing, sound, image processing, images, and scientific measurements. Signal processing techniq ...

for communications, digital

video processing In electronics engineering, video processing is a particular case of signal processing, in particular image processing, which often employs video filters and where the input and output signals are video files or video streams. Video processing tec ...

and joint source/channel coding. His work has led to over 150 journal publications and to two dozen of patents.

Career

Martin Vetterli received his Dipl. El.-Ing. degree from the

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

in 1981, and then completed a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degree in electrical engineering at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

in 1982. He later pursued his Doctorat ès Sciences at EPFL in 1986. After his dissertation, he was an assistant and associate professor in electrical engineering at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and in 1993, he became an associate and then full professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. In 1995, he joined EPFL as a full-time professor. He held several positions there, including chair of communication systems and founding director of the National Competence Center in Research on Mobile Information and Communication systems (NCCR-MICS). From 2004 to 2011, he was vice president of EPFL for international affairs and, from 2011 to 2012, he was the dean of the School of Computer and Communications Sciences at EPFL. In 2015, he was elected to the

United States National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

for his contributions to the development of time-frequency representations and algorithms in multimedia signal processing and communications. From 2013 to 2016 he was the president of the National Research Council of the

, before being elected as the president of EPFL in

. He is also responsible for developing, publishing and maintaining an extensive

massive open online course A massive open online course (MOOC ) or an open online course is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the Web. In addition to traditional course materials, such as filmed lectures, readings, and problem sets, m ...

on the basics of

. The course is a collaboration effort between him and his colleague, Paolo Prandoni. The course was first offered in February 2013 on

Coursera Coursera Inc. () is a U.S.-based massive open online course provider founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offer online courses, ...

and has been offered every year on the site since then. Each session runs for 10 weeks.

Scientific contributions

Martin Vetterli works in the areas of

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

and

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathematical s ...

. His work covers

and applications, image and video compression (

data compression In information theory, data compression, source coding, or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation. Any particular compression is either lossy or lossless. Lossless compression ...

), self-organized communications systems and

sensor networks Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) refer to networks of spatially dispersed and dedicated sensors that monitor and record the physical conditions of the environment and forward the collected data to a central location. WSNs can measure environmental c ...

, as well as fast algorithms. File:Sampled.signal.svg, Signal processing File:Network_Tree_diagram.png, Communication networks File:Spherical_pressure_waves.gif, Audio processing File:TomographyPrinciple_Illustration.png, Inverse problems and tomography File:Gustav_Klimt_039.jpg, eFacsimile At the core of his laboratory's current research is mathematical signal processing, that is, the set of tools and algorithms from applied harmonic analysis that are central to signal processing. These include representations for signals (Fourier, wavelets, frames), sampling theory, and sparse representations. A main application of signal processing is in communications and sensor networks. In addition to important classic topics like channel estimation and equalization, multiuser systems like sensor networks are of great interest. This leads to distributed compression, sampling, and modeling of physical phenomena. The area of audio processing and digital acoustics deals with multi-channel acquisition, processing and rendering of audio signals. This includes questions of sound field sampling, synthesis and perception. Inverse problems and tomography are key signal processing tasks where state of the art techniques have high potential impact. In particular, the project on ultrasound tomography intends to solve a long-standing quest for a safe and affordable breast cancer screening method. In the area of image/video processing and applications, his research has on-going projects in image acquisition, image representations, and super-resolution imaging. Applications include image annotation and augmented reality for mobile devices. The eFacsimile research project, sponsored by

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

, is focused on the research and development of a new acquisition, representation and rendering paradigm for the high-quality reproduction of artwork. The research of Martin Vetterli has led to about 150 journal papers and resulted also in about two dozen patents that led to technology transfers to high-tech companies and the creation of several start-ups. Martin Vetterli is a co-author of the book ''Wavelets and Subband Coding'' (Prentice-Hall, 1995). In 2008, Vetterli authored with Paolo Prandoni a free textbook ''Signal Processing for Communications''. In 2014, another book with the title ''Foundations of Signal Processing'' (coauthored by Jelena Kovačević and Vivek Goyal) was also published freely accessible.

Presidency of the EPFL

On 1 January 2017, Martin Vetterli became the EPFL's fifth president. The priorities of his direction team include open science,

computational thinking Computational thinking (CT) is the mental skill to apply concepts, methods, problem solving techniques, and logic reasoning, derived from computing and computer science, to solve problems in all areas, including our daily lives. In education, CT ...

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

and

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

Awards and honours

* 2017

IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal The IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal is presented "for outstanding achievements in signal processing" theory, technology or commerce. The recipients of this award will receive a gold medal, together with a replica in bronze, a certificat ...

* Best paper award from

EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing ''EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing'' is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering theoretical and practical aspects of signal processing in new and emerging technologies. The scope includes: communications, networking, ...

(1984) * Best paper award from IEEE Signal Processing Society (1991, 1996 and 2006) * Fellow of the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...

"for contributions to the theory and practice of subband coding and wavelets" (1995) * National Latsis Prize (1996) *

SPIE SPIE (formerly the Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers, later the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers) is an international not-for-profit professional society for optics and photonics technology, founded in 1955. It ...

Presidential award (1999) *

Signal Processing Technical Achievement Award (2001) * Fellow of the

Association for Computing Machinery The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional member ...

(2009) * Fellow of

EURASIP The European Association for Signal Processing (EURASIP) is an international scientific society for the theory and application of signal processing. It was established on the 1st of September 1978.It hosts the European Signal Processing Conference ( ...

Signal Processing Society Award (2010) * Former member of the Swiss Science and Innovation Council (2000-2004) * President of the National Research Council of the

* Member of the US

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

References

External links

*
Martin Vetterli's homepage
at the EPFL
Wavelets and Subband Coding webpageFoundations of Signal processing webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vetterli, Martin 1957 births Living people Fellow Members of the IEEE Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery Electrical engineering academics Swiss electronics engineers ETH Zurich alumni Academic staff of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering