Simon Haykin (born in 1931 as Sahir Sabir Hakim [1][2]) is an electrical engineer noted for his pioneering work in Adaptive Signal Processing with emphasis on applications to Radar Engineering and Telecom Technology. He is currently Distinguished University Professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Education and career
Haykin received BSc (First-Class Honours) (1953); Ph.D. (1956), and DSc. (1967), degrees-all in Electrical Engineering from University of Birmingham, UK (England). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for contributions to signal processing, communications theory, and electrical engineering education.[3] In 2002 he became a recipient of Henry Booker Gold Medal from URSI and in 1999 received Hon. Degree of Doctor of Technical Science from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and many other medals and prizes.
In mid-1980s, Haykin shifted the thrust of his research effort in the direction of neural computation, which was re-emerging at that time and intrinsically resembled Adaptive Signal Processing. All along, he had a vision of revisiting fields of radar engineering and telecom technology from a brand new perspective. That vision became a reality in early years of this century with publication of two seminal journal papers:
“Cognitive Radio: Brain-empowered Wireless communications”, which appeared in IEEE J. Selected Areas in Communications, Feb. 2005.
“Cognitive Radar: A Way of the Future”, which appeared in the IEEE J. Signal Processing, Feb. 2006.
Cognitive Radio and Cognitive Radar are two important parts of a much wider and integrative field: Cognitive Dynamic Systems, research into which has become his passion.