Fellowship recognises ground-breaking computer researcher

One of the University of Adelaide’s computer scientists has been recognised for his world-class research in computer vision.

Professor Ian Reid has been appointed as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences.

Professor Reid’s research interests span a wide range of topics in computer vision and machine learning, with a particular interest in using cameras as sensors for robotic applications such as those used in autonomous vehicles.

“We dreamed, back when I began working in this field many years ago, that one day computers would be able to recognise objects in images and be used as sensors to map and understand the world in the way our eyes and brains do,” said Professor Reid.

“The field of computer vision has taken incredible leaps forward in recent years on account of advances in artificial intelligence, especially innovations in machine learning.

“I am excited and proud to have been able to contribute to these advances, and to be honoured by my peers for this.”

Professor Reid is the Head of the School of Computer Science in the University’s Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, and the senior researcher at the Australian Institute for Machine Learning.

“Professor Reid’s election as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences is well deserved recognition for more than two decades of research excellence."Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Anton Middelberg

Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science are among the nation’s most distinguished scientists, elected for their ground-breaking research and contributions that have had clear impact. Professor Reid is the only scientist from South Australia to receive a fellowship this year.

The Academy has recognised 22 people from all walks of life as being among the nation’s most distinguished scientists. There have been more than 800 Fellows elected to the Academy since 1954.

“Professor Reid’s election as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences is well deserved recognition for more than two decades of research excellence,” said University of Adelaide Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Anton Middelberg.

“Professor Reid’s work typifies the University’s aim to pursue world-class research that shapes the future for the benefit of society.

“His work spans a broad spectrum of the field of computer vision, with landmark contributions in visual geometry, tracking, novel-view synthesis, visual surveillance, and simultaneous localisation and mapping.

“His emphasis on real-time processing and systems work means that he is one of few researchers worldwide to be active in both the computer vision and robotics communities.”

Professor Reid has published 200 papers and attracted more than 34,000 citations resulting in an h-index of 87. 

The Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings by Subject for 2021 places the University of Adelaide 98th in the world for computer science.