People

Elizabeth M. Belding is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  Prof. Belding's research focuses on mobile and wireless networking, including network performance analysis, and information and communication technologies for development (ICTD).  She is a co-developer of the AODV routing protocol for mobile networks, on which 802.11s and Zigbee technologies are based in part.   The original AODV paper published in WMCSA'99 received the 2018 ACM SIGMOBILE Test of Time Award.  Prof. Belding applies her wireless network expertise to a wide range of contexts, and is particularly interested in measuring, mapping, and improving fixed and mobile Internet accessibility in unserved and underserved communities worldwide.  Her past ICTD projects have included work in Zambia, South Africa, Mongolia, refugee camps and, most recently, Native American communities around the US.  In addition to this work, she is currently very interested in and engaged with efforts to accurately measure and quantify fixed and mobile broadband deployments in the U.S.  She is currently co-leading the Marconi Society's 2030 Digital Equity Working group titled "Ensuring Effective Broadband Assessment, Measurement and Mapping."  She is the founder and director of the Mobility Management and Networking (MOMENT) Laboratory.  Prof. Belding is the author of over 150 technical papers on wireless networking and has served on over 80 conference technical program committees.  She was Vice Chair of the UCSB Computer Science department 2009-15 and 2017-19.  She is currently the inaugural Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the UCSB College of Engineering.  Prof. Belding is an ACM Fellow, AAAS Fellow and IEEE Fellow.  She is particularly proud of receiving the UCSB Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award in 2012 and the NCWIT Harrold and Notkin Research and Graduate Mentoring Award in 2015 for her mentorship of graduate students.