Baruah named Hugo F. & Ina Champ Urbauer Professor
Sanjoy Baruah is widely known for his work in real-time and safety-critical system design
Sanjoy Baruah, an expert in scheduling theory and safety-critical system design, has been named the Hugo F. & Ina Champ Urbauer Professor in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. He was installed April 4 in Whitaker Auditorium in Uncas A. Whitaker Hall.
Baruah, a professor of computer science & engineering, is known for his work in real-time and safety-critical system design. His research focuses on scheduling algorithms, which are crucial for ensuring timely execution of tasks in systems like automotive control, medical devices, avionics, industrial automation and more. Baruah has contributed to the analysis and design of real-time scheduling algorithms, improving their predictability, reliability and, ultimately, safety.
“Professor Baruah's research defined the state of the art in how to control and allocate resources to distributed complex systems in real time,” said Aaron F. Bobick, dean of the McKelvey School of Engineering and the James M. McKelvey Professor. “Over the course of his prolific and impactful career, Sanjoy has been dedicated to advancing our understanding and application of scheduling algorithms in embedded systems. His research has not only expanded knowledge but also translated into practical solutions with real-world implications for fields ranging from self-driving cars to smartphones.”
Baruah joined Washington University in St. Louis in September 2017. He was previously at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1999-2017) and the University of Vermont (1993-1999). He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the recipient of the 2014 Outstanding Technical Contributions and Leadership Award of the IEEE Technical Committee on Real-Time Systems.
Baruah is the co-author of the 2015 book Multiprocessor Scheduling for Real-Time Systems, part of Springer’s series on embedded systems. He is also affiliated with WashU’s Center for Trustworthy AI in Cyberphysical Systems.
About the Hugo F. and Ina Champ Urbauer Professorship in Engineering
Funds from the Hugo F. Urbauer Endowment Fund for the engineering school at WashU made it possible to establish this professorship in 1994.
Born in Linz, Austria, in 1868, Mr. Urbauer came to the United States at the age of 18 with his family to visit relatives in Milwaukee; his father died there unexpectedly. Rather than return to Austria, Mr. Urbauer traveled to St. Louis in search of employment.
After working as a steamfitter’s helper for several years, Mr. Urbauer started his own business, the Urbauer-Atwood Heating Co., in 1899. In 1920, the company expanded to become the Midwest Piping and Supply Co., with Mr. Urbauer at is head and with his wife, Ina Champ Urbauer, daughter of Champ Spring Co.’s founder, on its board of directors. Headquartered in St. Louis, the company had three branch plants and numerous sales offices across the country. In 1929 Mr. Urbauer expanded his business interests to include real estate development.
Mrs. Urbauer died in 1947, and Mr. Urbauer in 1948.
The Urbauers remembered Washington University in their bequests, which jointly came to nearly $3 million. Mrs. Urbauer bequeathed the residue of her estate to the School of Medicine as an endowment fund for research into geriatrics and allied studies. Mr. Urbauer left funds for the construction of Urbauer Hall, the engineering laboratory building dedicated in 1965, with the balance of his estate to become the Hugo F. Urbauer Endowment Fund benefiting the engineering school at WashU.
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