Beng Chin Ooi

Beng Chin Ooi is a Lee Kong Chian Centennial Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS), School of Computing. He has been with NUS since 1991, progressing through the ranks from Lecturer to his current distinguished position. He previously served as Dean of the School of Computing from 2007 to 2013 and as Director of the Smart Systems Institute from 2011 to 2021.

His educational background includes:

• 1985: B.Sc. (1st Class Honors) from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
• 1989: Ph.D. in Computer Science from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Beng Chin Ooi's research focuses on database systems, large scale analytics, and distributed systems. His work has been instrumental in advancing the field of data management technology, particularly in the context of "big data" in large-scale parallel and distributed systems. He has made significant contributions to spatio-temporal and distributed data management, as well as pioneering research in distributed database management and peer-to-peer based enterprise quality management.

His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on blockchain technology, machine learning systems, and healthcare informatics. There's a clear progression from foundational database research to applications in emerging technologies like blockchain and AI. His work bridges theoretical advances with practical system implementations, as evidenced by multiple open-source projects associated with his publications.

His notable awards include:

• 2021: NUS Research Recognition Award
• 2020: ACM SIGMOD E.F. Codd Innovations Award
• 2020: ACM SIGMOD Research Highlight Award
• 2019: VLDB Best Paper Award
• 2016: Fellow of Singapore National Academy of Science
• 2016: China Computer Federation Overseas Outstanding Contributions Award
• 2014: VLDB Best Paper Award
• 2014: IEEE TCDE CSEE Impact Award
• 2013: Singapore National Day's Public Administration Medal (Silver)
• 2013: NUS Outstanding Researcher Award
• 2012: IEEE Computer Society Kanai Award
• 2011: ACM Fellow
• 2011: Singapore President's Science Award
• 2009: IEEE Fellow
• 2009: ACM SIGMOD Contributions Award

Throughout his career, Professor Ooi has demonstrated exceptional leadership in the database community, promoting high standards of database research at both international and regional levels. His BLOCKBENCH framework became the world's first benchmarking tool for private blockchains, and his work on data provenance on blockchain systems earned both the VLDB Best Paper Award and the ACM Research Highlight Award. He has led several major research initiatives, including the Smart Systems Institute at NUS.

Professor Ooi has established multiple open-source projects including FabricSharp for blockchain data provenance and Cool for cohort online analytical processing. His research group has consistently produced high-impact work that bridges theoretical advances with practical system implementations.