About Alexander Vardy's Work
I am working in coding theory, a field where mathematics, engineering, and computer science inextricably come together. My research has led to a better understanding of error-correcting codes that are used to encode information whenever it is transmitted or stored. Since such codes are deployed in a plethora of devices, from computer drives to cell phones and satellites, my work has widespread implications. For example, I co-invented the list-decoding algorithm for polar codes that will be used in 5G wireless communications. I also co-discovered the Parvaresh-Vardy codes and the Koetter-Vardy algorithm for algebraic soft-decision decoding of Reed-Solomon codes. On the more mathematical side of my research, I hold the record for the densest packing of spheres in 20 dimensions, and for the fastest decoding of the Leech lattice.
Awards and Achievements
NSF Career Award (1995)
Editor-in-Chief, IEEE Transactions on Information Theory (1998-2001)
Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (1999)
Best Paper Award of the IEEE Information Theory Society (2003)
Best Paper Award, IEEE Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS) (2005)
Fulbright Fellowship (2006)
Jack Keil Wolf Endowed Chair in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (2013)
IEEE Communications & Information Theory Societies Paper Award (2016)
ACM Fellow (2017)
In the News
From Moonbounce to Hard Drives: Correcting More Errors Than Previously Thought Possible
NSF