Nguyen wins 2024 Turner Dissertation Award
Quan Nguyen was honored for his contributions to machine learning
Quan Nguyen, who earned a doctorate in computer science from Washington University in St. Louis in 2024, was recently awarded the 2024 Turner Dissertation Award by the Department of Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) at the McKelvey School of Engineering. The award recognizes the author of the best doctoral dissertation from the previous calendar year.
Nguyen’s dissertation, titled “Experimental Design for Scientific Discovery,” was recognized for its “significant contributions to the field of machine learning.”
"Nguyen introduced novel techniques to Bayesian experimental design, particularly for local Bayesian optimization, and successfully explored their applications in computational chemistry and materials science,” committee members wrote in the award announcement. “His work has led to multiple publications in top-tier venues in machine learning, including an oral presentation in NeurIPS, as well as in the application domains."
About 30 CSE staff, students and faculty attended the ceremony held May 8, including Roch Guérin, department chair and Harold B. & Adelaide G. Welge Professor of Computer Science; Tao Ju, professor of computer science & engineering; and Roman Garnett, Nguyen’s research adviser and associate professor of computer science & engineering.
The Turner Dissertation Award was created in honor of Jonathan Turner, former professor and two-time chair of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering. Turner has been awarded 30 patents for his work on switching systems and is the author of many widely cited publications. He was inducted to the National Academy of Engineering in 2007 and is a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He has received numerous awards including the IEEE Millennium Medal, the Founder’s Day Distinguished Faculty Award from the university and two Engineering Alumni Achievement awards from the School of Engineering.
Turner became professor emeritus in 2014 but continues to work on selected research projects.
