CHICAGO—Illinois Tech Assistant Professor of Computer Science Binghui Wang has been awarded the 2025 Distinguished Junior R&D Award by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Chicago Section for his work in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
“This recognition reflects not only my work, but also the support of my students, collaborators, and colleagues at Illinois Tech and beyond,” Wang says. “It was both a meaningful acknowledgment of past efforts and a strong motivation to continue pursuing impactful research. I felt deeply honored and grateful.”
The IEEE Chicago Section feted its 2025 award winners at its annual awards dinner on March 24, 2026. The Junior R&D Award recognizes an IEEE member with fewer than 10 years of experience who has made significant progress in research and development.
The awards committee cited Wang’s impactful research in AI security and trustworthy machine learning as setting his work apart from his peers. Wang’s published catalogue of 114 papers and his CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation also caught the committee’s attention.
“My current research is focused on developing provably secure and trustworthy AI systems, especially in the context of large-scale models and real-world deployment,” Wang says. “This includes understanding and mitigating emerging risks such as backdoor attacks, data leakage, and unreliable model behavior, as well as designing new frameworks for privacy-preserving and robust learning. More broadly, I am interested in bridging rigorous theoretical guarantees with practical, deployable systems that can be trusted in critical applications.”
The IEEE Chicago Section honored 10 researchers and educators for their work in areas including quantum computing and cybersecurity, as well as volunteer leadership and community partnerships that advance STEM education.
The IEEE Chicago Section Awards Committee said that the winners represent the very best of what the local engineering community has to offer.
“This award is especially meaningful to me, as it is presented annually to a single recipient,” Wang says. “I was both surprised and deeply honored to receive it. It serves as a strong motivation to continue advancing my research and mentoring students.”