WNCG welcomes new Assistant Professor Dr. Evdokia Nikolova to its lineup of world renowned faculty researchers.
Prof. Nikolova is the winner of a 2014 NSF CAREER Award and a 2013 Google Research Award. Her research on traffic-aware routing has been adapted in a vehicular cyber-physical system project CarTel at MIT.
Dr. Nikolova comes to the WNCG from Texas A&M University’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Prior to her time at TAMU, Prof. Nikolova received a BA in mathematics and economics from Harvard, an MS in mathematics from Cambridge University in the U.K. and a Ph.D. in computer science from MIT, where she later served as a postdoctoral associate.
“Part of the attraction of this faculty position is the freedom we have in choosing projects,” Nikolova states. “The WNCG is a vibrant group, and I was attracted to the opportunities for interdisciplinary research and the many potential collaborators in the group.”
Nikolova joined UT Austin and the WNCG in January 2014 and will expand on her research that focuses on risk mitigation for networks using algorithms and game theory, specifically in the areas of transportation and energy. She looks forward to participating in collaborative research efforts with faculty and students across disciplines who share mutual research interests.
“I love that the WNCG really emphasizes collaboration. It has a strong collegial spirit that helps the faculty and students both professionally and socially,” Prof. Nikolova states. “There’s a real sense of cohesion in the group. We like each other and we enjoy discussing research and working with each other so it’s great on many levels.”
While already teaching at UT, Prof. Nikolova looks forward to advising Ph.D. students coming in the Fall 2014 semester. She is currently searching for postdoctoral associates who cross boundaries with interdisciplinary studies closely related to her areas of interest.