By Grace Stanley
Alex Conway, assistant professor of computer science at Cornell Tech and the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, has won the 2025 Early Career Prize by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Activity Group on Applied and Computational Discrete Algorithms (ACDA). The award recognizes Conway’s influential contributions to the design and analysis of algorithms, particularly for data storage systems.
The SIAM ACDA Early Career Prize is awarded every two years to an early-career researcher who has made outstanding contributions to the field of discrete algorithms. In its announcement, SIAM highlighted Conway’s “groundbreaking contributions ranging from theory to practice, in the design, implementation, and application of algorithms and data structures for high-performance memory and storage systems.”
“My work focuses on making the fundamental building blocks of computer memory and storage systems faster and more efficient,” Conway said in the announcement. “Ultimately, this research contributes to a faster, more capable digital infrastructure, which underpins many of the technologies we rely on.”
Conway’s research at Cornell Tech focuses on bridging the gap between theoretical computer science and practical systems. One of his most notable projects is SplinterDB, a high-performance data storage system referred to as a “key-value store.” The project is now open-source and is deployed in commercial VMware products.
To celebrate his achievements, Conway will be recognized and deliver a lecture on his work at the 2025 SIAM Conference on Applied and Computational Discrete Algorithms (ACDA25), taking place from July 30 to Aug. 1 in Montreal, Canada.
“I am honored and excited to receive this award,” Conway said. “The applied and computational discrete algorithms community has been a fantastic place for exchanging ideas and building a strong network of colleagues, and I’m very much looking forward to presenting my work at the upcoming conference.”
