IEEE-USA Today's Engineer

03.07

> TE Home
> About TE
> Contact Us
> Editorial Info
> IEEE-USA

feature

columns

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.