Launched in 2017, Facebook’s Emerging Scholar Awards support talented students from under-represented groups in the technology sector to encourage them to continue their PhD studies, pursue innovative research, and engage with the broader research community.
“This year we received over 800 applications from promising and talented PhD students from around the world,” said Sharon Ayalde, Fellowship Program Manager at Facebook. “We are pleased and excited to award 17 Fellows and six Emerging Scholars — a significant increase from last year.”
Supervised by Khuzaima Daudjee, Abebe is a member of the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science’s Data Systems Group. His research interests are at the intersection of distributed systems, data systems and machine learning, specifically designing and building large-scale data systems that are elastic, scalable and self-managing.
“I’m delighted to see Facebook recognize Michael’s contributions to distributed data systems and for the organization to support his research and studies through this significant award,” said Khuzaima Daudjee.
In addition to receiving a 2018 Facebook Emerging Scholar Award, Abebe is currently supported by an NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship.