Abstract
Balaji’s research interests are in designing algorithms and systems for the Internet, data centers and cloud computing platforms. Since 2008, he has worked on Societal Networks—networks vital for society’s functioning, such as transportation, health and waste management systems. In 2012, he co-founded Urban Engines, a startup that developed software, mobile, and big data solutions for smart cities, eCommerce/delivery systems and taxi/ridesharing fleets. Urban Engines was acquired by Google in 2016.
Balaji has been a Fellow of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and is a Fellow of the IEEE and the ACM. He received the CAREER award from the NSF in 1999. In 2000, he received the INFORMS Applied Probability Society’s Erlang Prize, and, in 2002, he received the Rollo Davidson Prize awarded by the University of Cambridge to young scientists of outstanding promise and achievements in probability, statistics and related fields. He delivered the Lunteren Lectures in 2008. In 2013, he was the inaugural recipient of the IEEE Societal Infrastructure Award for “his demonstration of the innovative use of information technology and distributed computing systems to solve long-standing societal problems, in areas ranging from transportation to healthcare and recycling.”