Thursday, August 29, 2024
Education Minister Nicolás Cataldo announced on Thursday that Ricardo Baeza Yates was chosen as the 2024 National Prize for Applied and Technological Sciences.
The decision was made by a jury headed by Minister Cataldo and which was also made up of the rector of the University of Chile, Rosa Devés; the rector of the Federico Santa María Technical University, Juan Yuz; the representative of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, Virginia Garretón; and the 2022 National Prize for Applied and Technological Sciences, Ricardo Araya.
Following the decision, the Minister Nicolas Cataldo He explained that, in making the decision, “we have deeply valued the contribution that Ricardo Baeza has made to the area of computing, to data mining, and in particular we have valued the work he has done on ethics in the use of data and also artificial intelligence, which is very pertinent to the times we live in today, regarding how the use of information technologies and artificial intelligence has been increasingly incorporated into the daily activities of our society.”
Along the same lines, the Rector Rosa Devés He said that “we are pleased and proud to recognize a Chilean, but also a world-renowned figure in the field of computer science and computer engineering, who has contributed to both basic sciences and their applications. He has trained many people, has written texts that are used worldwide, and has contributed to the different areas of computer engineering.”
He Rector Juan Yuz He stressed that “today, when we have the challenge of how to adapt as quickly as possible to the world of artificial intelligence and data science, it is a pleasure to recognize someone who has been in the academic and entrepreneurial fields, and who today does tremendous work outside of Chile.”
Y Virginia Garreton He noted that, on behalf of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation, “we are very happy that the 2024 National Prize for Applied Sciences is being awarded to such an outstanding researcher in the field of artificial intelligence, which we know is an area that can change countries and we have promoted a development approach based on knowledge, data and artificial intelligence.”
Biography of the award winner
Ricardo Baeza Yates was born in Santiago, on March 21, 1961. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada), a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s degree in Computer Science, and a degree in Electrical Civil Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Computing from the University of Chile.
He is currently Research Director of the Institute for Experiential Artificial Intelligence at Northeastern University, on its Silicon Valley campus, and an associate member of the Network Science Institute at the same university.
He also has part-time affiliations with the Department of Computer Science at the University of Chile, the Millennium Institute for Data Foundations, and the Department of Engineering at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Catalonia.
He completed his secondary education at the Luis Campino Institute of Humanities. During his postgraduate studies he worked on the New Oxford English Dictionary project, which at the time was the largest digital text in the world (570 Mb).
Since his return to Chile in 1989, he has worked in the Department of Computer Sciences at the Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences of the University of Chile, where he has held various administrative and academic management positions. He was appointed full professor at the age of 34, being the youngest person at the University of Chile to obtain this position.
He has been invited to be part of prestigious institutions, committees and projects in Chile and abroad. Among them, the commissions to define the Digital Agenda during the governments of Presidents Eduardo Frei and Ricardo Lagos. He also formed part of the advisory committee of the Civil Registry and Identification for the New Identity Card and Passport Project, specifically in the definition and supervision of the tests of the AFIS fingerprint identification system between 1995 and 2005.
He was Vice President of Research at Yahoo Labs, first in Barcelona and then in Sunnyvale, California, from 2006 to 2016. He also oversaw Yahoo Labs Haifa and was in charge of Yahoo Labs London from 2012 to 2015.
He was twice president of the Chilean Society of Computer Science, president of the Latin American Center for Computer Science Studies and International Coordinator of the Ibero-American Program for Cooperation in Science and Technology (CYTED).
The history of the National Prize for Applied and Technological Sciences
The National Prize is the highest recognition awarded by the State to Chileans who distinguish themselves by their excellence, creativity, significant contribution to national culture and the development of their respective fields and areas of knowledge. The award is regulated by Law 19.169 of 1992 of the Ministry of Education.
The awards were first presented in 1942, with the creation of the National Prizes for Literature and Art. Since then, various legal regulations have modified and introduced new disciplines of art and knowledge, and currently awards are given in 11 different disciplines, every two years.
The National Science Prize was created in 1968 to recognize the person or team of scientists who stand out for their work in the field of pure or applied sciences. In 1992, this prize was divided into three: Exact Sciences, Natural Sciences and Applied and Technological Sciences, the latter being awarded today.
Tags:
National Prize for Applied Sciences and Technology, National Awards
