People
Rafael Perez
Professor Emeritus
Biography
Dr. Rafael Perez is currently emeritus professor in the Department of Computer Science
and Engineering at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, FL. Previously
at
USF, he has held the positions of Interim Dean of the Patel College of Global
Sustainability, Interim Dean of the College of Engineering, Associate Dean for
Academics in the College of Engineering, and Professor of Computer Science and
Engineering. Dr. Perez's career spans a broad range of experiences with 13 years in
industry and more than 30 years in academia. Before joining the University of South
Florida, he worked for the Westinghouse Research Laboratories and for the
Westinghouse International Corporation where he worked in many foreign countries on
a variety of industrial projects. While at USF as a professor of Computer Science
and
Engineering, he has been the primary investigator in numerous externally funded
research projects to develop intelligent systems. His work on innovative mobile apps
for
cell phones has resulted in 16 issued U.S. patents. The patented inventions cover
a
wide variety of location-aware applications, from techniques that provide real-time
transit navigation instructions for public transportation riders with disabilities
to the next-
generation emergency alert notifications. Dr. Perez received his PhD in Electrical
Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.