Biography
Henrique (Rico) Malvar is a Microsoft Distinguished Engineer and the Chief Scientist for Microsoft Research. He joined Microsoft Research in 1997, founding the signal processing group, which developed new technologies such as new media compression formats used in Windows, Xbox, and Office, and audio technologies used in Windows, Xbox, Kinect, and HoloLens. Currently he also heads the MSR NExT Enable group, which develops technologies for people with disabilities. Rico was a key architect for the WMA and JPEG XR formats and made key contributions to the H.264 video format, used by most Web video services. Prior to Microsoft, Rico was Vice President for Research at PictureTel Corp. He has over 120 issued US patents and over 160 publications. He is an IEEE Fellow and has received many awards, including a Technical Achievement Award from the IEEE Signal Processing Society and the 20th Century Landmark Award from the IEEE Seattle Section in 2014.
Specializations
Data compression, signal Processing, image compression, audio compression, multimedia signal enhancement, multimedia protection and forensics, new interfaces for accessibility.

Affiliations
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Fellow
IEEE (1997) -
Member
US National Academy of Engineering (2012)
Education
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Ph.D., 1986
M.I.T (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)