Professor Giesbrecht's research interests are in the area of computer algebra, algebraic algorithms and computational complexity. He is a member of the Symbolic Computation Group in Waterloo, and a founding member of the Ontario Research Centre for Computer Algebra with Waterloo and Western Ontario. He is an active participant in the computer algebra research community and has served as Program Committee Chair of the International Symposium on Symbolic and Algebraic Computation (ISSAC 2013) and the Chair of the ACM Special Interest Group on Symbolic and Algebraic Computation (ACM SIGSAM).
"This award is well deserved recognition for Mark's excellent research work in symbolic computation and his leadership through chairing program committees, being editor of journals, and chairing the Special Interest Group on Symbolic and Algebraic Manipulation," wrote Professor David Taylor, Director of the Cheriton School of Computer Science in an e-mail.
The ACM Distinguished Scientist award recognizes ACM members with at least 15 years of professional experience (including some education experience) and five years of continuous professional membership who have achieved significant accomplishments or have made a significant impact on the computing field.