Dr. Wills received her S.B. (1985), S.M. (1986), and Ph.D. (1992) degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her graduate research focused on automating software understanding to enable software evolution and reuse. At Georgia Tech, she teaches and conducts research in embedded computer vision, parallelizing multimedia applications, and innovative computing systems education. Dr. Wills was the first recipient of the Demetrius T. Paris, Jr. Professorship. She is a senior member of the IEEE and IEEE Computer Society and a member of ACM.
- Ph.D., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1992
- S.M., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1986
- S.B., Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1985
Professor Wills’ research focuses on the intersection of machine learning, computer vision, and signal processing. Her work includes developing novel algorithms and systems for pattern recognition, image and video analysis, and data-driven modeling. She emphasizes collaborative, student-involved research that advances understanding and applications of intelligent systems in various engineering contexts, contributing to theoretical foundations and practical innovations.
Professor Wills’ teaching interests encompass foundational and advanced courses in electrical and computer engineering, with an emphasis on signal processing, machine learning, and computer vision. She is committed to integrating hands-on learning experiences and fostering interdisciplinary understanding. Her teaching approach actively supports both undergraduate and graduate students, encouraging the development of practical and theoretical skills essential to contemporary engineering challenges.
- Hesburgh Award Teaching Fellow 2007-2008
- Best Paper Award, IFIP International Conference on Embedded and Ubiquitous Computing, 2005
- Demetrius T. Paris Professorship, 2001-2004
- IEEE Control Systems Magazine Outstanding Paper Award, 2002-2003
- National Science Foundation Career Award, 2001
- IEEE Certificate of Appreciation for Best Paper of Session Award, 19th Digital Avionics Sys. Conference, 2000
- Best Paper Award, IEEE International Conference on Software Maintenance, 1995
- IEEE Computer Society Certificate of Appreciation, 1995
- ACM Recognition of Service Award, 1995
- D. F. Fitzgerald, D. S. Wills, and L. M. Wills, “Real-time, parallel segmentation of high-resolution images on multi-core platforms,” Journal of Real-Time Image Processing, vol. 13, no. 4, 2017.
- S. Azmat, L. M. Wills, and D. S. Wills, “Parallelizing Multimodal Background Modeling on a Low-Power Integrated GPU,” Journal of Signal Processing Systems, vol. 88, no. 1, 2017.
- J. Danner, L. M. Wills, E. M. Ruiz, and L. W. Lerner, “Rapid Precedent-Aware Pedestrian and Car Classification on Constrained IoT Platforms,” ESTIMedia, pp. 29–36, 2016.
- M. Kang, J. Kim, L. M. Wills, and J.-M. Kim, “Time-Varying and Multiresolution Envelope Analysis and Discriminative Feature Analysis for Bearing Fault Diagnosis,” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 62, no. 12, 2015.
- S. Azmat, L. M. Wills, and D. S. Wills, “Multilayer background modeling under occlusions,” Machine Vision and Applications, vol. 25, no. 6, 2014.