Dr. Ahmed Tewfik, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, has been named the recipient of the 2017 IEEE Signal Processing Society technical Achievement Award. The award "Honors a person who, over a period of years, has made outstanding technical contributions to theory and/or practice in technical areas within the scope of the Society, as demonstrated by publications, patents, or recognized impact on the field."Founded as IEEE’s first society in 1948, the Signal Processing Society is the world’s premier association for signal processing engineers and industry professionals.

In addition, Dr. Tewfik is the IEEE Signal Processing Society’s President-Elect. The Signal Processing Society's history "spans almost 70 years, featuring a membership base of more than 19,000 deeply interested and involved signal processing engineers, academics, industry professionals and students who are all part of a dynamic global community – spanning 100 countries worldwide."

Dr. Ahmed Tewfik holds the Cockrell Family Regents Chair in Engineering in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, and he has served as department chair since 2010. He is a Fellow of IEEE and received the IEEE Third Millenium Award in 2000.