Pratap Tokekar Promoted To Associate Professor With Tenure

July 6th, 2022

Published: Maria Herd, University of Maryland

Date: June 21,2022

Three assistant professors with dual appointments in the Department of Computer Science and the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies have been promoted in recognition of their ongoing excellence in research, scholarship and outreach. 

Pratap TokekarJohn Dickerson and Abhinav Bhatele are associate professors with tenure, effective this summer.

“The entire department is incredibly proud of Pratap’s, John’s, and Abhinav’s achievements”, says Matthias Zwicker, Chair of the Computer Science Department. “Their excellence in research, teaching, and mentoring is recognized and admired in the global research community far beyond our campus, and it is an inspiration for all of us. We are grateful to have Pratap, John, and Abhinav as such fantastic colleagues in our department.”

Tokekar is a robotics expert with a third appointment in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is also a member of the University of Maryland Center for Machine Learning and the Maryland Robotics Center. Tokekar specializes in developing algorithms for aerial, ground and marine robots to communicate with each other and gather data. 

Dickerson’s research intersects at computer science and economics, with a focus on solving practical problems using stochastic optimization and machine learning. His work has been applied to a variety of markets, including organ donor exchanges and ridesharing. Dickerson is a core member of the University of Maryland Center for Machine Learning.

Bhatele leads the Parallel Software and Systems Group. His research spans systems and networks, with a focus on parallel computing and data analytics. Specifically, Bhatele has published work on parallel programming models and runtimes, network design and simulation, parallel deep learning, and more.