A computational imaging expert in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) was just honored for his outstanding achievements in teaching and research.
Chris Metzler, an assistant professor of computer science, was recognized on April 3 with the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) Board of Visitors Junior Faculty Award.
The CMNS award is given each year to an assistant professor who has not yet been granted tenure and has shown exceptional accomplishment in teaching and/or research, thus clearly establishing themselves as excellent faculty members.
Since joining the University of Maryland in 2021, Metzler has focused on developing advanced systems and algorithms for computational imaging, machine learning, and wireless communications. He leads the UMD Intelligent Sensing Lab, where his team applies machine learning and statistical signal processing to improve imaging and sensing technologies used in medical diagnostics, scientific imaging, weather forecasting, and defense.
Matthias Zwicker, professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science, emphasized Metzler’s impact on the department and his dedication to students.
“His performance in research, teaching, mentoring and advising, and service has been outstanding,” Zwicker says. “We couldn’t be prouder of his achievements, including his NSF CAREER and AFOSR Young Investigator Program awards, his tireless leadership in advising a very large group of 18 students—including 11 Ph.D., three M.S., and four B.S. students—and his excellent research productivity.”
To support his research, Metzler has secured significant external funding, including an Army Research Office Early Career Program (ARO ECP) award in 2024, a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (NSF CAREER) award in 2023 and an Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Program Award in 2022. He has also received seed grants from UMD’s Grand Challenges program, the UMD Brain and Behavior Institute, and Northrop Grumman.
Metzler’s research is widely recognized, with publications in top conferences such as the International Conference on Computer Vision, the IEEE/Computer Vision Foundation Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, and the European Conference on Computer Vision, as well as leading academic journals Science Advances. His work has been cited more than 3,300 times, reflecting its broad impact across multiple fields.
Before joining UMD, Metzler was an Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Fellow in the Stanford Computational Imaging Lab. He was also an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, a Department of Defense National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellow, and a NASA Texas Space Grant Consortium Fellow. He earned his Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Rice University in 2019.
—Story by Melissa Brachfeld, UMIACS communications group