Annual Report 2007/2008 - Fachgruppe Informatik an der RWTH ...

James Gross
In January 2008 I joined RWTH Aachen University as assistant professor and head of a
(junior) research group on ‘Mobile Network Performance’. On the one hand this group is
associated with Lehrstuhl I4 for Communication and Distributed Systems, however, we are
also part of the "DFG Exzellenzcluster UMIC - Ultra-High Speed Mobile Communication and
Information". In 2002, I graduated from TU Berlin in computer engineering after having spent
one year at the University of California, San Diego as stipendiary. Afterwards, I joined the
Telecommunication Networks Group of
Prof. Adam Wolisz at TU Berlin as Ph.D.
scholar of the "DFG Graduiertenkolleg
MAGSI" (from 2002 - 2006) and as postdoc
in 2007. I received my doctoral degree
with honours for my thesis on dynamic
resource allocation in wireless OFDMA
networks. This work was also awarded the
VDE-ITG/GI KuVS Ph.D.thesis prize in
2007. Apart from that I also received the
"Erwin-Stephen" prize of TU Berlin for my
master degree in 2002.
My research interests are in the area of adaptation for wireless networks. This includes topics
like network design, network management, optimization, resource allocation, quality-ofservice
provisioning, modeling and performance evaluation. I like working on clear problem
definitions in the mathematical sense and exploring solutions with respect to theoretical
models but also considering performance in practise. Currently, I am contributing to the IEEE
802.11 standardization committee on the design of future (i.e. post 802.11n) wireless local
area networks. On the other hand, within the UMIC research centre I am actively pushing the
inter-disciplinary topic of large-scale, high-detail wireless network simulations. I am a
member of the IEEE, VDE and GI and served on several program committees for major
conferences in the above research fields.
If not doing something related to my job at RWTH Aachen University, I like doing sports
(cardio-stuff) as well as reading good books (about history as well as more philosophical
things). However, most of all do I enjoy the company of my two girls (Theresa – close to my
age – as well as Helena – 2 years old) and spending time with them.
Torsten Kuhlen
In June 2008, I was appointed to an apl. professorship in the Department of Computer Science
at RWTH Aachen University.
From 1985 until 1992, I studied Computer Science at RWTH. My diploma thesis was about
the optimization of interconnection networks in distributed parallel computers and was
supervised by Professor Walter Oberschelp, whose teaching philosophy and insights about the
bigger picture have had a deep influence on my attitude and approach to Computer Science.
In the following five years, I worked as a research assistant at the Institute of Technical
Computer Science, where my research focus switched to innovative human-computer
interfaces and in particular Virtual Reality (VR). In a joint research project with the
University Hospital Düsseldorf, I discovered my talent for interdisciplinary work. Throughout
my collaboration with the neurologists there, I developed a tool for research on the
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