Acclaimed Columbia University Mathematician Spending Sabbatical Year At Bell Labs.

Business Editors

MURRAY HILL. N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 4, 2002

Bell Labs, the research and development arm of Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU), today announced that Daniel Bienstock, director of the Computational Optimization Research Center (CORC) at Columbia University, has begun a year-long research appointment with Bell Labs' Mathematical Sciences Research Center in Murray Hill, N.J.

While at Bell Labs, Bienstock will work with other researchers on optimization of optical and Internet protocol internetworking and inventory optimization for supply chain networking, among a host of other areas. During this time, he is on a "semi-sabbatical" from Columbia, with considerably reduced academic duties.

"We're thrilled that Professor Bienstock, a highly regarded research mathematician and professor, has chosen to spend his sabbatical at Bell Labs. These types of appointments are critical to cultivating the brilliant ideas and innovations that our scientists work on every day," said Jeff Jaffe, president of Bell Labs research and Advanced Technologies for Lucent. "Dan's reputation in the field of computational optimization is unsurpassed and has particular value to businesses such as Lucent's because of their real world applications to planning and analysis."

Applied to real-world problems, computational optimization attempts to adjust variables so as to maximize benefits (profits, efficiency, functionality, etc.) while minimizing detriments (costs, effort, resources consumed, etc.). Mathematical models have been used to help make business, economic, scientific, engineering and environmental decisions.

Under Bienstock's direction, CORC researchers have carried out advanced studies of difficult, large-scale optimization problems, including problems in networking and telecommunications, approximate solutions of large-scale linear programs, and parallel computing. One algorithm he developed recently can arrive at approximate solutions to very large optimization problems thousands of times faster than the leading programs presently in use.

"I look forward to working closely with some of the very talented researchers at Bell Labs, and I hope my time here will be a mutually beneficial and intellectually stimulating experience for us all," said Bienstock. "Some of the world's most advanced research in networking is taking place at Lucent, and I expect to learn quite a bit here. Likewise, I have spent the last few years developing programs and methodologies that should be quite useful to Lucent and its researchers."

The Bell Labs Math Sciences Research Center is considered one of the world's leading institutions contributing to the advancement of mathematics today. With a distinguished history that dates back to the 1920s, Bell Labs mathematicians have been credited with seminal contributions to fields such as optimization methods, error-correcting codes, high-speed modem coding, and the S language for statistical computing, and even with inventing some entirely new disciplines, such as information theory and the theory of complexity that provides the foundations of computer science. Today, staffed by more than 40 Ph.D.s, the center carries out a program ranging from fundamental research to collaborations with Lucent product developers. Current research addresses critical issues in broadband communications and next-generation network applications and services.

Bell Labs is the leading source of new communications technologies. It has generated more than 28,000 patents since 1925 and has played a pivotal role in inventing or perfecting key communications technologies, including transistors, digital networking and signal processing, lasers and fiber-optic communications systems, communications satellites, cellular telephony, electronic switching of calls, touch-tone dialing, and modems. Bell Labs scientists have received six Nobel Prizes in Physics, nine U.S. Medals of Science and eight U.S. Medals of Technology. For more information about Bell Labs, visit its Web site at http://www.bell-labs.com.

Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, designs and delivers networks for the world's largest communications service providers. Backed by Bell Labs research and development, Lucent relies on its strengths in mobility, optical, data and voice networking technologies as well as software and services to develop next-generation networks. The company's systems, services and software are designed to help customers quickly deploy and better manage their networks and create new, revenue-generating services that help businesses and consumers. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit its Web site at http://www.lucent.com .