Rico Malvar

Henrique (Rico) Malvar is a Microsoft Distinguished Engineer and the Chief Scientist for Microsoft Research. In that role he oversees cross-lab collaborative projects. He also manages the Microsoft Research NExT Enable group, which aims to empower people living with disabilities. Previously, Rico was the Managing Director of Microsoft Research Redmond, and before that he was a Principal Researcher in and founder and manager of the Communications, Collaboration, and Signal Processing group at Microsoft Research.

Before coming to Microsoft in 1997, Rico was Vice President of Research and Advanced Technology at PictureTel (later acquired by Polycom). Prior to that, he headed the Digital Signal Processing research group at Universidade de Brasília, Brazil.  He received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT, under the advice of Prof. David Staelin, in 1986, a M.Sc. in electrical engineering from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (COPPE-UFRJ) in 1979, under Prof. Luiz P. Calôba, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the Universidade de Brasília in 1977, working with Prof. Carlos Lisboa. He is the inventor or co-inventor of over 120 issued U.S. patents and over 160 technical articles in journals, conferences, technical reports, and standards contributions.

Rico is a “carioca”, which means he was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.