Biography
John Villasenor received the B.S. degree in 1985 from the University of Virginia, his M.S. in 1986 from Stanford University, and Ph.D. in 1989 from Stanford, all in Electrical Engineering. From 1990 to 1992, he was with the Radar Science and Engineering section of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, where he developed methods for imaging the earth from space. He joined the Electrical Engineering Department at UCLA in 1992, and is currently Professor. He served as Vice Chair of the Department from 1996 to 2002. At UCLA, John Villasenor's research efforts lie in communications, computing, imaging and video compression, and networking.

Research Interests
Professor Villasenor's research interests lie generally in coding and communications, with a strong emphasis on solutions that meet the constraints of practical, cost-limited systems while achieving performance approaching theoretical limits. Examples of current projects include: Energy-optimized algorithms and design methodologies for low-cost embedded platforms; low-complexity implementations of channel codes, and use of these codes to assist in other receiver functions such as acquisition; low-power, multi-layered image processing, analysis, and communications for sensor networks; extremely high quality Gaussian noise generation, particularly for hardware platforms; algorithms that enable joint source coding and encryption; and novel non-volatile memory applications.

Awards and Recognitions

• 1996 Okawa Foundation Award

• 1994 UCLA Engineering Outstanding Junior Faculty Research Award