The Department proudly announces that Duke University has promoted Xiaobai Sun to the rank of full Professor, effective July 1, 2009. A member of the scientific computing faculty at Duke, Sun specializes in numerical analysis with a focus on the differences and relationships between continuous and discrete models for computation.

“Xiaobai is highly regarded for the depth as well as breadth of her work, and she is well known for blending mathematical, algorithmic, and engineering issues in her work,” says Department Chair Pankaj Agarwal. “I am thrilled to see her getting this well-deserved recognition.”

Sun is currently Principal Investigator on a $2.6 million grant from DARPA, the U.S. Defense Department agency. The grant currently funds the FANTOM project, Framework For Accelerating Numerical Transforms On Microchips, developed by Sun and Professor Nikos Pitsianis in conjunction with researchers at Arizona State and Pennsylvania State University. The project works to better application performance in size, speed and weight along the computational spectrum from continuous models to digital computer architecture, tackling both hardware and software needs and constraints. Among other achievements, the system has been used to automate and speed hardware development and accelerate signal and image processing.

Additionally, Sun and her students maintain active on-campus collaborations, one with ECE professor David Brady, leader of the Duke Imaging and Spectroscopy Program (DISP), on optical imaging and spectral reconstruction, and another with G. Allan Johnson, Professor of Radiology and Physics, working on MRI image processing.

When congratulated on the honor of being promoted, Sun was eager to recognize her peers. “In this department, the other faculty members are very inspirational,” she says. Department leadership brings out the best in each faculty member, she adds, and it is a testament to the department that it is able to actively recruit additional strong faculty to the ranks.