Fu, Michael

Professor
Smith Chair of Management Science

Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Institute for Systems Research
Electrical and Computer Engineering

4341 Van Munching Hall

301.405.2241

Website(s):
Personal website

Michael Fu holds the Smith Chair of Management Science in the Robert H. Smith School of Business, Department of Decision, Operations & Information Technologies and has a joint appointment with the Institute for Systems Research and an affiliate appointment with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, both in the A. James Clark School of Engineering. He was named a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher at the University of Maryland for 2004-2005.

His research interests include simulation modeling and analysis, production/inventory control, applied probability and queueing theory, with application to manufacturing, supply chain management, and financial engineering.

He is co-author of the books, Conditional Monte Carlo: Gradient Estimation and Optimization Applications (1997), which was awarded the INFORMS College on Simulation Outstanding Publication Award in 1998, and Simulation-Based Algorithms for Markov Decision Processes (2007, 2nd edition 2013). He also co-edited the books Perspectives in Operations Research, Advances in Mathematical Finance, and the Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science (3rd edition, 2 volumes), and edited the Handbook of Simulation Optimization. Other awards include the Business School's Allen J. Krowe Award for Teaching Excellence (1995), the Institute for Systems Research Outstanding Faculty Award (2002), the IIE Operations Research Division Award (1999), an Operations Research Meritorious Service Award (1999), an IIE Transactions Best Paper Award (1998), two Best Theoretical Paper and one runner-up Awards from the Winter Simulation Conference (2009, 2012, 2019), and the INFORMS College on Simulation Outstanding Publication Award again in 2019.

He served as the Stochastic Models and Simulation Department Editor of Management Science from 2006-2008 and as the Simulation Area Editor of Operations Research from 2000-2005, and on the editorial boards of Mathematics of Operations Research, INFORMS Journal on Computing, IIE Transactions, and Production and Operations Management. He was also Guest co-Editor of a special issue on simulation optimization for the ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation.

His research has been sponsored by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Semiconductor Research Corporation, International SEMATECH, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. He served as Operations Research Program Director at the National Science Foundation 2010-2012 and 2015. He is a Fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In 2018 he received the INFORMS Simulation Society's Distinguished Service Award.

Simulation modeling and analysis, production/inventory control, applied probability, and queueing theory; stochastic derivative estimation, simulation optimization of discrete-event systems, Markov decision processes; with application to supply chain management and financial engineering

Two NSF Awards for ECE Alum Michael Zuzak (Ph.D. ’22)

Receives NSF EAGER and NSF CRII Awards

New features on ingestible capsule will deliver targeted drugs to better treat IBD, Crohn’s disease

Latest iteration of medical device features dissolving microneedles for drug delivery; external magnetic control

Two Papers on Gut-Microbiome-Brain-Axis (GMBA) Published

Research Supported by NSF NCS Program

Dinesh Manocha Inducted into IEEE VGTC Virtual Reality Academy

Manocha has been recognized for his significant contributions to the field of virtual reality.

Reinforcement learning is a game for Kaiqing Zhang

Zhang's research lies at the intersection of machine learning, reinforcement learning, game theory, and control theory.

Understanding the emotion theories that play into social media sharing

ARLIS, ISR and College of Information Studies researchers developed a research method to understand emotions in social media posts.

MRC Faculty, Researchers, and Students Present 24 Papers at ICRA 2023

MRC researchers have a strong showing at ICRA 2023.

ENES 489P holds Spring 2023 undergraduate systems design competition

The 48 students presented their model-based systems engineering design projects to a panel of industry professionals.

Michael Bonthron Wins NDSEG Fellowship

Tubaldi Lab researcher lands prestigious DoD award.

New ‘FRRB’ packaging technology may solve an ingestible capsule challenge

The innovation, which protects fragile components, has been published in the Nature journal Microsystems & Nanoengineering.

Congratulations May 2023 ISR graduates!

Here's a list of May graduates with ISR ties---at all degree levels.

New algorithms for multi-robot systems in low communication situations

Work by Clark School faculty, alumni and students is published on IEEE Access.

Abshire part of CogniSense, a DARPA JUMP 2.0 center

This center will pursue intelligent sensing to action: Sensing capabilities and embedded intelligence to enable fast and efficient generation of actions.

Jonathan Simon Awarded $149,000 Seed Grant

Study will address auditory issues in aging and bilingual populations

ISR-affiliated graduates, December 2022

ISR congratulates these students, all advised by ISR faculty!

Dropping an anchor for better GI tract disease treatment

UMD's new spring actuator, microneedle innovations bring therapeutic ingestible capsules for GI tract diseases closer to reality.

NAWCAD-UMD Seed Grant Review and Discussion strengthens collaboration commitment

The event emphasized research, advanced education, and outreach collaborations for the region, the state of Maryland and the nation.

Michael Fu receives INFORMS George E. Kimball Medal

The medal is given in recognition of distinguished service to INFORMS and to the profession of operations research and the management sciences.

Training Can Improve Older Adults’ Ability to Discriminate Rapid Changes in Sound

Findings support subsequent studies on hearing loss-reversing interventions

The Modern Battle for Maryland’s Oysters

UMD researchers use AI and robotics to help revive a struggling industry.

Michael Fu part of $1M NSF grant to model, disrupt illicit kidney trafficking networks

The work will focus on understanding how these illegal networks work and how they evolve—critical for developing methods to effectively curtail illegal transplants worldwide.

“An Opportunity to Conduct Novel Research”

Three UAS Test Site summer interns put their innovative ideas to the test.

Abshire is part of new DARPA/SRC JUMP 2.0 Center

“CogniSense: The Center on Cognitive Multispectral Sensors” is funded for five years.

Alexander Estes joins ISR faculty

The 2018 UMD Ph.D. alum holds a joint appointment with ISR and the Smith School.

Updates from Maryland Power Electronics Lab (MPEL)

Continued success for the MPEL Team.

Michael Zuzak accepts tenure-track position at RIT

The student of Ankur Srivastava specializes in hardware-oriented security.

New Research Showcased at TRB

Transportation safety, impact of telecommuting among topics covered by UMD experts.

Congratulations to our December 2021 ISR graduates!

ISR advisors graduated 22 Ph.D., 2 M.S., and 4 M.S.S.E. new alumni in December!

MC2 Researchers Present Six Papers at ACM Conference on Information Security

The papers cover hot topics like key management for cryptocurrencies, fuzzy message detection and more.

Michael Fu part of NSF project to improve kidney transplant access and decision-making

Fu will develop a decision-support tool to help individual patients decide what transplant option is best for them.

ISR gives awards to Professor Richard La, four graduate students

ISR's annual awards ceremony was held on the Iribe Building's cantilever plaza.

Pamela Abshire is named UMD Distinguished Scholar-Teacher

She is one of six Clark School faculty honored at the university's annual convocation.

Computer vision advances in contact-centered representations, models

Ego-OMG technology comes in first and second in international computer vision challenge.

ISR faculty leading, playing key roles in ARL cooperative agreement

The $68M 'ARTIAMAS' research agreement features faculty from UMD and UMBC.

Grad student Usman Fiaz wins Pelczar Award

The award is given to a doctoral candidate who has served at least one academic year as a teaching assistant with commendable performance, and who has demonstrated excellence beyond his or her course work.

From Innovation to Inauguration

Pines Announces New Quantum Business Incubator, Presents Invention and Entrepreneurship Awards

Alum Victor De Oliveira elected Fellow of American Statistical Association

The UT San Antonio professor was advised by Ben Kedem.

In memoriam: Dr. Radhakisan Baheti, NSF ECCS Program Director

Dr. Baheti passed away in March and will be greatly missed by ISR, ECE and the Clark School.

'Perfect adherence' to COVID vaccine prioritization hampering distribution says Mike Ball

The operations research expert argues more lives would be saved with a less-rigid strategy.

ARL to Fund $30M in Equipment Innovations for Service Members

UMD announces with the U.S. Army Research Lab agreements in additive manufacturing and battery research.

Bar-Cohen, Distinguished University Professor and Thermal Packaging Pioneer, Passes at 74

Mechanical Engineering Distinguished University Professor Avram Bar-Cohen helped lay the scientific foundations for the thermal management of electronics components.

Qu, Singh, Chakraborty, D'Antonio win 2020 ISR awards

The 2020 ISR Welcome Back Reception and Awards Ceremony was held online due to the pandemic situation.

Fu, Marcus team for new AFOSR project on simulation optimization

Simulation optimization aims to guide planning and decision making under uncertainty in complex dynamic settings.

New algorithms for estimating the latent dynamics underlying biological processes

Work by Miran, Presacco, Babadi, Simon, Fu and Marcus published in PLOS Computational Biology.

MC2 Researchers Have 13 Papers Accepted to Upcoming Cybersecurity Events

The papers highlight the center’s cutting-edge research in programming languages, encrypted databases, and more.

New Markov chain predictive model aids COVID-19 decisionmakers

The research is helping medical team in Wuhan’s Jinyintan Hospital prepare and allocate resources and support decisions.

FAA Extends Funding for NEXTOR III Aviation Operations Research Consortium

In its 23 years, NEXTOR has developed decision support tools, operational and system concepts, and policymaking tools that benefit the FAA, the airline industry and the flying public.

Behtash Babadi promoted to associate professor

Babadi has broad research interests in statistical and adaptive signal processing, neural signal processing, and systems neuroscience.

UMD names Derek Paley as a 2020–2021 Distinguished Scholar-Teacher

The program recognizes faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding scholarly achievement along with equally outstanding accomplishments as teachers.

Clark School faculty 'AIM-HI' to address major health challenges

The new UMB-UMCP program has announced its first grants for projects combining AI and medicine.

Path planning for bridge inspection robots

Lin and La develop algorithm for teams of small mobile robots stationed on bridges.

UMD Presents New Research at TRB Annual Meeting

Papers and poster sessions addressed topics ranging from crash data analysis to tracking the outcomes of major highway projects.

Clark School researchers test decentralized task allocation algorithms for UAV teams

Paper published in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters evaluates UAV team communication performance in imperfect communication conditions.

AlphaGo family of AI programs grew from AMS simulation-based algorithms developed at UMD

New review article by original author Michael Fu traces game-playing AI programs to seminal 2005 paper in Operations Research.

Institute Hosts AMBIC December Conference, Unveils New Research

AMBIC Industry Board members and other researchers convened to discuss new and ongoing projects.

Goldsman and colleagues awarded US Patent for SiC-integrated circuit active photodetector

The new device provides accurate, reliable measurement of ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

Fu, Ryzhov, Qu are issued patent for B2B optimal bidding

The invention uses predictive, prescriptive analytics like statistical modeling and price optimization.

Students advance in Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship competition

Two ECE/ISR student teams have made it to the proposal phase.

Clark School team wins AFRL funding for swarm autonomy planning and metareasoning

The researchers will develop and evaluate hybrid centralized and decentralized multi-agent task allocation methods.

It takes a swarm: These robots talk to each other, make decisions as a group

"Power in numbers" is how Michael Otte, an engineer at the University of Maryland, approaches robot decision making.

UMD, Morgan State Partner to Improve County Evacuation Plans

Researchers are developing a tool to help officials better meet the needs of vulnerable populations.

Nau, Gelfand, Goldstein part of MURI developing the potential of mean-field game theory

The AFOSR initiative funds researchers from Maryland, UCLA, the University of Houston, and Princeton.

Maryland researchers awarded $1M DARPA Lagrange program cooperative agreement

Marcus, Fu, Simon and Babadi will build a scalable, risk-sensitive and real time optimization framework tailored to noninvasive neuroimaging data from the human brain.

Maryland researchers awarded DARPA cooperative agreement to develop robotic swarm strategies

Maryland's is among the first “core swarm sprints” projects awarded in DARPA’s OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) program.

A new unbiased stochastic derivative estimator for simulating complex systems

Read about Michael Fu's research in this story from the UMD Smith School.

MSE Ph.D. Candidate Michael Van Order Discusses Study Abroad Experience

Van Order conducted a semester abroad/internship at TU Dresden last summer, and shares his experience here.

University of Maryland School of Engineering Announces Unprecedented Investment from A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation

Building Together: An Investment for Maryland Will Transform UMD Through $219,486,000 Gift

Fritz, Shamma are collaborators on new DARPA Targeted Neuroplasticity Training Program

The University of Maryland will receive up to $8.58 million from DARPA for the research, which is led by the UMD Center for Advanced Study of Language.

Simon is co-editor of new Springer auditory research book

The Auditory System at the Cocktail Party describes the mechanisms the auditory system employs to focus on specific sounds within a noisy environment.

Statistical Data Fusion: new book by Kedem, De Oliveira, Sverchkov

New statistical methods for improved inference of information coming from many sources.

President Obama names Michael Rotkowitz a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers

The PECASE is the highest federal government honor for science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their careers.

UMD Engineering for Social Change Class Awards Non-Profit V-LINC $10,000 Grant to Support Custom Assistive Technology Program

Grant marks more than $30,000 in student-awarded grants given through landmark engineering philanthropy course.

Researchers write about Google's AlphaGo for OR/MS Today

Chang, Fu, Hu and Marcus write about their contribution to AlphaGo and how the OR and CS/AI communities could better cooperate.

Gary Rubloff named Distinguished University Professor

Rubloff receives highest academic honor conferred by the University of Maryland.

Sennur Ulukus named UMD Distinguished Scholar-Teacher

Ulukus is the ninth ISR faculty member to be so honored.

Maryland research contributes to Google’s AlphaGo AI system

Chang, Fu, Hu and Marcus developed ideas at the core of the system that defeated Go master Lee Se-Dol in early March.

Alumna Enlu Zhou earns tenure at Georgia Tech

The 2009 EE Ph.D. recipient was advised by Steve Marcus and Michael Fu.

UMD has Largest University Showing at 2016 ARPA-E Summit

UMD researchers showcase transformative energy research at ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit

UMD Team Selected to Participate in International Solar Decathlon

Teams will be competing for $2 million in prize money

Ghodssi, Beyaz, Waits issued US patent for microgenerator

The versatile microball bearing supported microgenerator improves micro electromechanical devices.

Pines Recognized with Maryland Speaker's Medallion

Annual award recognizes outstanding service to the state.

Hanrahan, Waits, Ghodssi paper selected as JMM 'Highlight of 2014'

Raceways fabrication technique caps 25 years of microball bearing research for Ghodssi research group.

Michael Fu wins NSF grant for simulation-based optimal decision making

Research will develop new algorithms to improve the efficiency of finding optimal decisions for many problems in the manufacturing and service industries.

Alumna Enlu Zhou wins NSF CAREER Award for optimization and sampling in stochastic simulation

Zhou was co-advised by Steve Marcus and Michael Fu.

Alum Dimitris Tsakiris improves propulsion of robotic octopus

Paper is finalist for two awards at IROS 2014.

Srivastava, Dey, Mirsky, King win 2014 ISR Awards

Awards honor outstanding faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and staff.

UMD Alumni Hatch Sub-$300 Consumer 3D Printer, Raise $3.3 Million on Kickstarter

Alumni-founded company races past $50,000 goal in 11 minutes, hits $1 million in 25 hours.

Clark School Faculty Recognized at Celebration of Innovation and Partnerships

Clark School researchers sweep three categories for 2013 Invention of the Year

UMD neuroscience researchers publish in the journal Neuron

Paper suggests the brain’s auditory, visual and somatosensory systems may have a similar functional hierarchical structure.

Marcus, Fu receive NSF grant for optimization research

The research will develop a new framework for incorporating risk into sequential decision making under uncertainty.

Reza Ghodssi named UMD Distinguished Scholar-Teacher

Ghodssi is the eighth ISR faculty member to be so honored by the university.

Michael Rotkowitz wins NSF CAREER Award

Award will fund research into decentralization and parsimony for implementable control of massively interconnected systems.

Krishnaprasad, Jarzynski part of 'Information Engines' MURI

Project will develop principles and algorithms for synthetic information nanosystems.

UMD Takes Second at 2013 RASC-AL Competition

Undergraduate aerospace design team places second at NASA RASC-AL competition.

Min Wu named Distinguished Scholar-Teacher

Wu is the seventh ISR faculty member to be so honored.

Ephremides named to Institutional Council in Greece

Professor has been elected to 15-member council for the National Technical University of Athens.

Miniature Robotics REU students give final presentations

Ten undergrads from around the country give talks on their summer projects.

MERIT-BIEN and TREND Fair Showcases Undergraduate Research

More than 20 undergraduate students participate in research projects sponsored by ECE and IREAP.

Sandborn co-author on new product obsolescence book

Book covers obsolescence forecasting methodologies, including forecasting tactics for hardware and software.

ISR welcomes 10 REU microbotics students for the summer

Students will develop interdisciplinary research projects in 10-week program.

ISR hosts Iraqi higher education delegation

Delegates meet with President Loh, Provost Wylie and other officials.

Carol Espy-Wilson named 2012-2013 Distinguished Scholar-Teacher

She is sixth ISR professor to be so honored.

Alumna Enlu Zhou wins AFOSR Young Investigators award

She will be investigating “Dynamic Decision Making under Uncertainty and Partial Information.”

Researchers Explore How Cyber-Attackers Think Like Regular Crooks

In unique collaboration, engineer and criminologist apply criminological concepts and research methods to study of cybercrime.

System Failure Averted

Engineer who revolutionized prognostics for electronics systems is inducted into Clark School's Innovation Hall of Fame.

Shapiro wins NSF grant for assembly of colloidal crystals

NSF-sponsored research could lead to technologies such as optical computing, energy harvesting, sub-diffraction limit imaging and invisibility cloaking.

FAA approves NEXTOR II aviation operations research contract

ISR's Michael Ball and David Lovell lead the University of Maryland NEXTOR II team.

2011 ISR Awards Ceremony winners announced

Awards given to faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students.

Maryland students impress at National Robotics Week

Projects highlight Maryland Robotics Center research.

Avis Cohen honored as 2011–2012 Distinguished Scholar-Teacher

Cohen joins Liu, Fu, Marcus and McAvoy as fifth ISR professor honored with the award.

Wang wins best student paper award at Winter Simulation Conference

"Model-based Evolutionary Optimization" presents a new framework for solving global optimization problems.

Bad Virus Put to Good Use

In breakthrough batteries, virally structured nano-electrodes boost energy capacity 10-fold.

Wang Wins ICS 2010 Student Paper Award

ECE Ph.D. student Yongqiang Wang received the INFORMS Computing Society (ICS) 2010 Student Paper Award.

Espy-Wilson, Pruthi Among Business Plan Competition Finalists

Professor & alumnus will present a plan for a speech extraction technology for voice communications.

Work by Zhou, Lin, Marcus and Fu wins 'Best Theoretical Paper' award

'A Numerical Method for Financial Decision Problems under Stochastic Volatility' is honored at the Winter Simulation Conference.

Marcus, Fu receive NSF grant for particle filtering for stochastic control and global optimization

The resulting algorithms will be tested on problems in industries from telecommunications to manufacturing to finance.

Fu, Marcus awarded NSF collaborative research grant

Research will make theoretical and practical advances in simulation optimization.

Fourteen ISR-affiliated students receive Ph.D.s

Congratulations to our ISR-affiliated doctoral graduates!

Enlu Zhou is a winner at Clark School Doctoral Research Award Competition

Student of Steve Marcus and Michael Fu wins third place for her research.

Enlu Zhou To Join Faculty at Univ. of Illinois

ECE Ph.D. candidate will serve as Assistant Professor in Industrial & Enterprise Systems Engineering.

NanoCenter Improves Energy Storage Options

Maryland NanoCenter researchers create new device to store electrical energy.

Enlu Zhou is named ECE Distinguished Dissertation Fellow

ISR grad student is advised by Steve Marcus and Michael Fu.

Six ISR students chosen for Clark School's Future Faculty Program

The program aims to increase the number of Ph.D. graduates who obtain academic positions in prestigious engineering schools.

Six ISR students selected for Future Faculty Program

Clark School program helps students prepare for academic positions.

ISR announces Systems Symposium poster contest winners

Five posters selected for $500 research support prize.

ECE Faculty Honored at Inaugural Scholarship & Research Celebration

Twenty-seven ECE faculty members honored, representing 1/8 of researchers recognized university-wide.

Michael Fu elected as IEEE Fellow

He is honored for contributions to stochastic gradient estimation and simulation optimization.

Ball to speak at airport systems planning and design course

ISR faculty member is co-director of NEXTOR.

Alumnus interview: Ingar Grev

He talks with us about applying systems concepts in the business world.

Marcus, Fu, Chang and Hu co-author Simulation-based Algorithms for Markov Decision Processes

Book explains recent sampling and population-based numerical algorithms that overcome the difficulties of computing an optimal solution in terms of a policy and/or value function.