THEODOROS SALONIDIS, 48, of Wayne, PA passed away on 29 May 2023 at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA after a 3 year battle with cancer.
He was born on 13 June 1974 in Thessaloniki, Greece to Nikolaos and Anastasia Salonidis. He grew up in Drama, Greece. Theodoros received his undergraduate degree from the Technical University of Crete, Greece, M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. While a Postdoctoral Researcher at Rice University he met his future wife, a graduate student, who worked on the same floor of the engineering building.
He was a Researcher with Intel Research, Cambridge, U.K., and Thomson/Technicolor, Paris, France. At the time of his death he was a Principal Research Staff Member at IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. He was a Senior Member of IEEE and a member of ACM.
Theodoros was a passionate lifelong learner and an established researcher with more than 70 publications, 7000+ citations and more than 50 patents. His scientific work has been widely recognized with awards, including the well-known IEEE Leonard G. Abraham Prize in 2021 as well as Top 5 out of 1200 papers at AMIA in 2019, and the 2020 RedDot Design award. At IBM Research he was well known for his leadership and contributions to research in the areas of Edge Computing, Federated Learning, and Automated Machine Learning. For his work he was recognized with multiple prestigious IBM awards including the IBM Corporate Award for AutoAI in 2021 and Outstanding Accomplishment Awards for AutoAI in 2020 and Federated Learning in 2021. In 2022 he became an IBM Master Inventor which recognizes the value he brought to the patent community and his engagement in mentoring new inventors.
Theodoros loved to travel, explore new cultures, and meet new people. He had the precious ability to hold a conversation with anybody, simply powered by his warm smile and genuine laugh. He was a persistent cultural ambassador for Greece; he shared frappe making skills with friends everywhere he went. He adored his children and crafted beautiful bedtime stories that gave them a glimpse into his dreams for them.
He is survived by his wife, Lada Kyj-Salonidis and their children Nikolas, Lydia and Maria; parents Nikolaos and Anastasia Salonidis; sister Maria Salonidou; in-laws Myroslaw and Larissa Kyj; brother-in-law Alex (Jessica) Kyj and their children Roman and Christian; brother-in-law Evhen (Nicole) Kyj and their son Julian; sister-in-law Anne (Adam) Pluta
Friends and family are invited for visitation on Friday, June 2nd starting at 10:30am with a service at 12pm at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church at 800 W Lea Blvd, Wilmington, DE 19802. A burial will take place in Drama, Greece at a later date. In lieu of flowers, we have partnered with an orphanage for autistic children in Lviv, Ukraine. Contributions may be made to the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee (UUARC) for “Orphans with Autism” https://www.uuarc.org/our-programs/aid-to-orphans-orphanages
He was born on 13 June 1974 in Thessaloniki, Greece to Nikolaos and Anastasia Salonidis. He grew up in Drama, Greece. Theodoros received his undergraduate degree from the Technical University of Crete, Greece, M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. While a Postdoctoral Researcher at Rice University he met his future wife, a graduate student, who worked on the same floor of the engineering building.
He was a Researcher with Intel Research, Cambridge, U.K., and Thomson/Technicolor, Paris, France. At the time of his death he was a Principal Research Staff Member at IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. He was a Senior Member of IEEE and a member of ACM.
Theodoros was a passionate lifelong learner and an established researcher with more than 70 publications, 7000+ citations and more than 50 patents. His scientific work has been widely recognized with awards, including the well-known IEEE Leonard G. Abraham Prize in 2021 as well as Top 5 out of 1200 papers at AMIA in 2019, and the 2020 RedDot Design award. At IBM Research he was well known for his leadership and contributions to research in the areas of Edge Computing, Federated Learning, and Automated Machine Learning. For his work he was recognized with multiple prestigious IBM awards including the IBM Corporate Award for AutoAI in 2021 and Outstanding Accomplishment Awards for AutoAI in 2020 and Federated Learning in 2021. In 2022 he became an IBM Master Inventor which recognizes the value he brought to the patent community and his engagement in mentoring new inventors.
Theodoros loved to travel, explore new cultures, and meet new people. He had the precious ability to hold a conversation with anybody, simply powered by his warm smile and genuine laugh. He was a persistent cultural ambassador for Greece; he shared frappe making skills with friends everywhere he went. He adored his children and crafted beautiful bedtime stories that gave them a glimpse into his dreams for them.
He is survived by his wife, Lada Kyj-Salonidis and their children Nikolas, Lydia and Maria; parents Nikolaos and Anastasia Salonidis; sister Maria Salonidou; in-laws Myroslaw and Larissa Kyj; brother-in-law Alex (Jessica) Kyj and their children Roman and Christian; brother-in-law Evhen (Nicole) Kyj and their son Julian; sister-in-law Anne (Adam) Pluta
Friends and family are invited for visitation on Friday, June 2nd starting at 10:30am with a service at 12pm at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church at 800 W Lea Blvd, Wilmington, DE 19802. A burial will take place in Drama, Greece at a later date. In lieu of flowers, we have partnered with an orphanage for autistic children in Lviv, Ukraine. Contributions may be made to the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee (UUARC) for “Orphans with Autism” https://www.uuarc.org/our-programs/aid-to-orphans-orphanages