The Michigan State University (MSU) College of Engineering recently honored eight distinguished graduates with the 2023 Alumni Awards on 6 May at MSU’s Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center. Dr. Brendan Klare, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Rank One Computing (ROC), received the Computer Science and Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award.
Celebrating Thought Leaders, Entrepreneurs, and Innovators
Each spring, MSU honors select outstanding graduates for their personal and professional accomplishments. Awards are presented at the annual alumni banquet in East Lansing, Michigan.
“The world-class achievements of these alumni exemplify how Spartan Engineers change our communities and world. We will gather together and extend our heartiest congratulations to each of them.”
Leo Kempel, Engineering Dean, MSU
“I am humbled by this award,” said Dr. Klare in a recent statement. “Spartan Computer Science and Engineering has a substantial legacy, and both myself and ROC.ai have benefited tremendously from the mentorship and alumni network within the halls at MSU. We currently have eight former Spartans working at ROC, four of whom have received Ph.D.s in Computer Science while being advised by three different professors who specialize in machine learning, computer vision, and biometrics: Anil K. Jain (University Distinguished Professor), Arun Ross (Martin J. Vanderploeg Endowed Professor in the College of Engineering), and Xiaoming Liu (Anil K. and Nandita Jain Endowed Professor of Engineering). MSU is at the core of our successes, as well as so many other global engineering firms. On a more personal level, I am forever grateful for Professor Jain. He is still a mentor of mine, and more importantly, a close friend and one of the most trustworthy and honorable persons I have ever known.”
“As a professor with over 50 years of experience, one thing I know for sure is the quality of my research depends on the motivation, hard work, and intellect of my Ph.D. students. Brendan’s remarkable combination of deep face recognition expertise, cordial and professional demeanor, and leadership qualities have made ROC.ai one of the top face recognition companies globally. It has been a pleasure to supervise Brendan during his Ph.D. days and I appreciate his continuous support and friendship over the years since he graduated.”
Anil K. Jain, University Distinguished Professor, MSU
From Army Ranger to Spartan to Elite Computer Visionary
Prior to his academic studies, Dr. Klare served as an airborne infantryman in the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, U.S. Army, from 2001 to 2005, where he deployed three times to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Dr. Klare completed his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering at MSU in 2012. During his academic studies, Brendan published dozens of peer-reviewed technical articles, including several highly cited papers. He was closely advised by Professor Anil K. Jain, one of the highest-cited research professors in the history of computer science. After leaving the military, Dr. Klare completed his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering at MSU in 2012. During his academic studies, Brendan published dozens of peer-reviewed technical articles, including several highly cited papers. He was closely advised by Professor Anil K. Jain, one of the highest-cited research professors in the history of computer science. Brendan spent the next three years in the Washington D.C. area advising agencies such as the U.S. Department of State, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Defense, and Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity on the use of face recognition, computer vision, and machine learning. In 2015, Brendan helped lead the founding of ROC to build a world-class provider of facial recognition, computer vision, and machine learning algorithms. From the very beginning, the business was focused on supporting the unique challenges of the U.S. government, state and local law enforcement agencies, and financial sector. Today, ROC is a thriving employee-owned technology company experiencing rapid growth while maintaining its foundational ethical guidelines. In addition to creating one of the most accurate face recognition algorithms in the world, the ROC.ai research team catapulted to the top of the world fingerprint rankings, maintaining its competitive advantage via numerous groundbreaking research advancements, such as Presentation Attack Detection (PAD).
A World Leader in Biometrics, Face Recognition, and Computer Vision
At ROC, we believe in the power of future-forward technologies to make the world safer, more secure, and more convenient – without bias or threats to privacy. Trusted by the U.S. military, law enforcement, fintech, and commercial organizations, our multimodal solutions deliver game-changing results with battle-tested reliability across NIST government testing, military applications, and 300M+ successful identity proofing transactions. ROC.ai is employee-owned, ethics-driven, and 100% made in America. Our company has offices in Denver, Colorado and Morgantown, West Virginia.