Juan Carlos Niebles, who received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Princeton last year, is one of seven researchers worldwide to be recognized with a 2012 Microsoft Research Faculty Fellow award.

Niebles is currently a postdoctorial researcher at the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Columbia. He designs algorithms for video automatic detection and recognition of human motion, activities and behaviors. This work can be applied to improve, expand and create technology used for personal robots and smart homes, smart video surveillance, medical diagnosis and monitoring, automated sports analysis and semantic video search.

Besides a cash award to bolster their research early in their careers, recipients gain access to other Microsoft resources, such as software, invitations to conferences, and engagements with Microsoft Research personnel. Award winners are chosen for advancing computer research in novel directions and having the potential to be thought leaders in their fields.