Karen Panetta

Karen Ann Panetta
Panetta among the 2011 PAESMEM honorees
Alma mater	Northeastern University Boston University
Scientific career
Institutions	Tufts University
Thesis	Multiple domain concurrent simulation of interacting experiments and its application to multiple stuck-at fault simulation (1994)

Karen Ann Panetta is an American computer engineer and inventor who is a professor and Dean of Graduate Education at Tufts University. Her research considers machine learning and automated systems. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the National Academy of Inventors.

Early life and education[]

Panetta became interested in engineering as a child.^[1] She was an undergraduate student at Boston University.^[2] She majored in computer engineering before moving to Northeastern University for her master's degree in electrical engineering. Panetta remained at Northeastern for her doctoral studies, working on information systems and robotics.^[3]

Research and career[]

In 1994, Panetta joined Tufts University School of Engineering, where she became the first woman to be awarded tenure.^[4] Panetta develops signal and image processing algorithms. She is particularly interested in approaches for robot vision and biomedical imaging.^{[citation needed]}

Panetta created an autonomous software that can benefit medical diagnostics. Amongst the pieces of software developed by Panetta, she created a piece that can identify pneumonia caused by COVID-19, and another that can provide detailed information to dentists about areas of the mouth that need attention.^[5]

Academic service[]

Panetta is committed to improving the representation of women in engineering.^[6] She was appointed the worldwide director for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Women in Engineering program and editor-in-chief of the Women in Engineering magazine.^[7] In 1999, Panetta founded Nerd Girls, a platform dedicated to challenging stereotypes about women scientists.^[8][9] She is the co-author of Count Girls In, a book for families that looks to encourage parents to raise authentic young women.^[10]

Awards and honors[]

• 2011 Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision Award^[11]
• 2012 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring^[12]
• 2013 William E. Sayle II Award for Achievement in Education^[13]
• 2013 IEEE Award for Distinguished Ethical Practices^[7]
• 2020 IEEE-USA Award for Distinguished Literary Contributions Furthering Public Understanding and the Advancement of the Engineering Profession^[14]
• 2021 Elected to the National Academy of Inventors^[5]

Selected publications[]

• Sos S Agaian; Blair Silver; Karen A Panetta (March 1, 2007). "Transform coefficient histogram-based image enhancement algorithms using contrast entropy". IEEE Transactions on Image Processing. 16 (3): 741–758. doi:10.1109/TIP.2006.888338. ISSN 1057-7149. PMID 17357734. Wikidata Q51049039.
• S S Agaian; K Panetta; A M Grigoryan (January 1, 2001). "Transform-based image enhancement algorithms with performance measure". IEEE Transactions on Image Processing. 10 (3): 367–382. doi:10.1109/83.908502. ISSN 1057-7149. PMID 18249627. Wikidata Q46771905.
• Karen A Panetta; Eric J Wharton; Sos S Agaian (February 1, 2008). "Human visual system-based image enhancement and logarithmic contrast measure". IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. 38 (1): 174–188. doi:10.1109/TSMCB.2007.909440. ISSN 1083-4419. PMID 18270089. Wikidata Q47916916.

References[]