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03.07
2007 IEEE/IEEE-USA New Face of Engineering:
Carlos Corderio, Ph.D.
 By
Helen M. Hall
Carlos Corderio, Ph.D., an outstanding senior
engineer and project leader, is IEEE/IEEE-USA’s "New Face of
Engineering" for 2007.
Corderio's bio and photo appeared in a USA Today
full-page ad on 20 February, during Engineers Week (EWeek), 18-24
February 2007.
Dr. Corderio is a senior researcher with Phillips
Research North America, in Briarcliff Manor, New York. He has been
instrumental in the research and development of new wireless
technologies that can be installed quickly, and operate in the most
challenging environments. For example, when disasters such as
Hurricane Katrina occur, and telephone lines go down, communications
among first responders can become severely compromised, and
accessing critical information is often impossible. With Katrina,
weeks passed before services were restored in many affected areas.
Corderio is a expert in the development of new wireless radio
technologies (known as cognitive radio) that will enable the
deployment of wireless broadband services, including data and voice,
to regions with no access to infrastructure (e.g., Cable/DSL), such
as in rural America and in developing countries. One example of his
achievements is his key contributions to the development of the IEEE
802.22 wireless technology (as a researcher and designer during
2005-2006.)
Dr. Corderio masterminded radio technology that
allows wireless broadband services to be offered over ranges of up
to 33 Km (20.5 miles), making it possible to provide access to the
most remote and difficult to reach locations. Corderio has
accomplished a number of technological breakthroughs in his
relatively short career, including the development of techniques
that allow this wireless technology to operate in the TV broadcast
bands without causing harmful interference to existing TV services.
His supervisor, Narcisco Tan, said, “Carlos has been a model
researcher. On top of his excellent technical know-how, he has a lot
of energy and enthusiasm for his work; very proactive in finding
ways to make an impact to his team and his company, has a strong
collaborative style and his dedication to excellence is exemplary.”
The EWeek
New Faces of Engineering program highlights the interesting
and unique work of young engineers and the resulting impact on
society. Engineers under the age of 30, and two to five years out of
school are the focus of this recognition program.
Dr. Corderio was chosen by an ad hoc IEEE group that
this year included: Vern Johnson of Tucson, Arizona, IEEE-USA
Editor, Career Activities; Terry Malkinson of Calgary, Canada, an
international correspondent for IEEE-USA Today's Engineer Online;
Gregg Vaughn, Chair, School of Electrical Engineering, University of
Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama; and Abby Vogel of Bethesda, Maryland,
EWeek Steering Committee Representative.
Dr. Corderio earned his B.S. (1998) and M.S. (2000)
in Computer Science
from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil; and a Ph.D. in
Computer
Engineering and Computer Science, from the University of Cincinnati,
in
Cincinnati, Ohio in 2003. He is fluent in English, Portuguese and
Spanish.
As a result of Dr. Corderio’s widely recognized
contributions to this field, he has served in numerous roles: he
founded the IEEE ComSoc Technical Committee on Cognitive Networks in
2006; he has served as chair of the IEEE 802.22 MAC committee since
2005; and in March 2006, he authored Ad Hoc & Sensor Networks:
Theory and Applications, which became a bestseller less than one
year after publication.
Dr. Corderio was kind enough to play along with some
Q&A. Here are his responses:
|
q |
What were
your favorite subjects when you were in school? |
|
a |
I always felt a special
attraction to math- and science-related subjects. I would go
home and spend hours going through books and class notes
trying to not only understand the topic, but really read
between the lines. I also liked to solve puzzles and
problems that involved some sort of math, and to play games
where some sort of strategic and logical thinking were
involved. |
|
q |
When did you
decide to become an engineer? |
|
a |
I made that choice back in
1994, when I was still living in my home country Brazil. But
I must say it was not so easy. At that time, I was living in
a dilemma of either following highly-compensating careers
such as law or medicine, or walking the rougher and less
well-paid path of engineering. My heart would lean towards
engineering, but then my rational mind would calculate the
odds and engineering would always lag behind. This is a very
common dilemma for many youngsters coming from poor
countries such as mine. It was during this troubling
period that I got the much needed push that made me set
aside logical reasoning and follow my instincts. My brother,
who after two years decided to change his major from
electronic engineering to law, saying that engineering was
not his thing, tried to convince me that engineering was
right for me. Can you believe that? He took me on a tour
across the university’s college of engineering and computer
science and showed me how fascinating this area really was,
the great scientists and their inventions. He would say
"This is the future and your future." And he was right. From
that point on, my life took a new course, and my eyes opened
to a world where innovation and creativity is part of your
daily routine. |
|
q |
What advice
would you give grade school kids who want a career in
engineering? |
|
a |
Follow your heart and your
dreams. If you believe engineering is right for you, go for
it. Engineering is an extremely rewarding field for those
who truly embrace it. But be prepared, because it is also a
career that requires creativity, thinking, focus and, most
importantly, hard work.
In particular, hard work is a trait that most great
scientists have. Thomas Edison said that genius was 99
percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration. Of course,
hard work is necessary, but it is not sufficient. |
|
q |
What is the
best compliment that you've received during your career? |
|
a |
To me, the best compliment is
to see that what I do contributes to people’s lives.
Recently, I have been receiving a number of e-mails from
readers of my book saying that they found it a great piece
of work, and that it is helping them advance their own
careers. That leads me to think that I have done a few
things right in my career and that all the struggle was
worth it. It is in striving to do great things that you
change yourself into a better person. It is in the struggle
and not the success that the real gain appears. The actual
success is of less importance. |
|
q |
What are your
future goals? |
|
a |
I want to continue to create
things that improve people’s lives. Nothing is more
rewarding to an engineer than seeing that something he
helped to develop is bringing societal value. Everyday I
wake up with this goal in mind, which is a major driver in
my career. |
|
q |
Where do you
see yourself in five years? |
|
a |
Whenever I see this question,
it reminds me of job interviews. All of us who work have
probably been asked this question at least once in our
lives. Specialists say that the answer to this question can
either make or break your job prospects. But you know, my
answer to this question is typically very different from
what you will hear from job candidates. Engineering is a
very challenging and competitive field where you have to
exceed expectations and excel in every aspect in order to be
successful. To me, the only way to achieve this is to do
important work — that is, work that will get wide
recognition. This is how I see myself in five years: doing
important work. Richard Hamming once said that if you are to
do important work (important in your eyes, of course) then
"you must work on the right problem at the right time and in
the right way. Without any of these, you may do good work
but you will almost certainly miss real greatness."
Personally, I don’t know if I will be able to identify
important work going into the future, let alone be capable
of doing it, but I sure can strive to be in that level five
years from now. |
|
q |
What do you
do in your spare time? |
|
a |
I love to play chess. Since I
was a kid, I would read books, articles or anything related
to chess. When I was in high school, I won six chess
tournaments in a row. I think that playing and reading a
number of books on chess also helped me develop strategic
thinking, which is something very important in many
engineering activities. |
|
q |
Are you
involved in any community activities? |
|
a |
Not at the moment. I must say,
however, that I would like to participate in an activity
where I could share with others some of what I have learnt
over the years. So far, I have not been able to find
something along these lines and that fits in my busy
schedule. |
|
q |
Whom do you
admire professionally, and why? |
|
a |
I am a big admirer of Claude
Shannon, the father of Information Theory. To me, Shannon
was the greatest scientist of the 20th century. The
perspective introduced by Shannon's communication theory
(also known as information theory) is the foundation of the
digital revolution, and every device containing a
microprocessor or microcontroller is a conceptual descendant
of Shannon's work. He also received a number of awards,
including the Alfred Nobel Prize in 1940. Besides that,
Shannon was known for having an attribute that is of
paramount importance if you want to be a successful
engineer: courage. One of Shannon’s hobbies was to play
chess (at least we have this in common), and he would do it
in a very peculiar manner. When attacked, he rarely, if
ever, defended his position; rather, he attacked back. He
would pause a bit, think and advance his queen saying, "I
ain't afraid of nothin'." Not surprising that this approach
is why he was able to prove the existence of good coding
methods. I learned from him to say the same to myself when
stuck; and on some occasions, his approach enabled me to
achieve significant results. |
|
q |
Whom do you
admire personally, and why? |
|
a |
I really admire my mother. I
have never known anyone with so much courage, determination,
honor and passion. If she wants something, she goes and gets
it. She never quits and will not let you quit. She is always
ready to fight, no matter how hard things might seem. She is
an inspiration to me and my life. |
Helen Hall is communications assistant at
IEEE-USA in Washington, D.C. Comments may
be submitted to
todaysengineer@ieee.org.
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