Michael D. Moffitt, who recently earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has received the prestigious 2007 Josef Raviv Memorial Postdoctoral Fellowship for promising research in computer science. Moffitt was selected from among 40 applicants from around the world. His proposed research will focus on the application of artificial intelligence and constraint-based reasoning to problems commonly faced in computer-aided physical design, including algorithms for detailed placement and routing.

Moffitt's additional honors illustrate the quality and breadth of his work: a Best Student Paper Award for "Optimal Rectangle Packing: A Meta-CSP Approach," at the 2006 International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling; first place, 3D category, in the inaugural Global Routing Contest, held at the 2007 ACM International Symposium on Physical Design; and praise for his router, dubbed MaizeRoute. He'll spend his post-doctoral year at the IBM Austin Research Lab.