Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. (MERL)
Company typeSubsidiary
Headquarters
Cambridge, Massachusetts
,
United States
Key people
Richard Waters (President & CEO)[1]
Number of employees
Over 50
ParentMitsubishi Electric US
Websitewww.merl.com

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL) is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Electric US Holdings, Inc., which is the principal subsidiary of Mitsubishi Electric in the United States. MERL acts as North American arm of Mitsubishi's Corporate R&D organization and is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.

MERL engages in application-motivated basic research and advanced development in areas crucial to Mitsubishi Electric. The facility employs more than 50 PhDs who conduct research and development across a wide range of fields, including digital signal processing, digital audio and video processing, wired and wireless digital communications, spoken language interfaces, computer vision, mechatronics and fundamental algorithms. Since its founding in 1991, MERL has been awarded over 700 patents.[2][3]

History

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1991 by the Mitsubishi Electric CR&D organization. In the late 1990s, MERL merged with two other laboratories that were part of Mitsubishi Electric. This consolidated all of Mitsubishi Electric’s North American research into one organization, creating the MERL that exists today. Richard C. Waters, was a founding member of MERL and has been president since 1999.[1]

László Bélády was the head of MERL from 1991 to 1998,[4][5] James D. Foley, who co-authored many of the most widely used university textbooks on computer graphics, was the president from 1998 to 1999.

Research areas

MERL conducts application motivated basic research and advanced development in

• Electronics & Communications: Wireless and optical communications, advanced signal processing, optical and semiconductor devices, and electro-magnetics, RF& Power

• Multimedia: Efficient acquisition, representation, processing, security, and interaction of multimedia.

• Data Analytics: Predictive analytics, decision analytics, modeling, simulation, and optimization.

• Spatial Analysis: Processing data from across space and time to extract meaning and build representations of objects and events in the world.

• Mechatronics: Advanced control.

An Algorithms group supports all five sectors, developing fundamental algorithms.

Products, projects, and technology

MERL generates new technology and intellectual property, and has been involved in numerous products and projects, including:

References

  1. ^ a b Richard C. Waters profile. Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories web site. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  2. ^ Ranked List of Organizations with 200 or More Patents from 1/1/1992 to 12/31/2011. Electrical classes. U.S. Patent and Trade Office, Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  3. ^ Ranked List of Organizations with 200 or More Patents from 1/1/1992 to 12/31/2011.Telecommunications classes. U.S. Patent and Trade Office. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  4. ^ Lee, John (1995. International Biographical Dictionary of Computer Pioneers. Taylor & Francis. p. 76. ISBN 1884964478. Retrieved October 28, 2012.
  5. ^ [Belady, Laszlo (2002). "Oral history interview with Laszlo A. Belady." Charles Babbage Institute. Retrieved October 28, 2012.
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