PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Hamid Sheikh

Also known as Hamid R. Sheikh, H.R. Sheikh, Hamid Rahim Sheikh

Hamid Sheikh is an electrical engineer and computational-imaging researcher whose work connects image-quality assessment with AI camera systems. He joined UT Austin’s LIVE lab in 2000 and coauthored a 2004 paper on the Structural Similarity Index (SSIM); he shared the 2009 IEEE Signal Processing Society Best Paper Award and a 2015 Engineering Emmy for the model. At Texas Instruments, he led camera technology work; by 2022 he headed Samsung’s Intelligent Imaging Team and contributed to phone features such as Night Mode and Expert RAW, and Samsung named him an IEEE Fellow in 2023. As of October 2026, he is Vice President R&D at Samsung Research America’s Mobile Processor Innovation Team, where he leads AI computational-imaging work for flagship smartphones.

Timeline

  1. 1999–2002

    UT Austin’s LIVE lab

    He earns a B.Sc. in electrical engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore, then joins UT Austin in fall 1999. In January 2000, he joins the Laboratory for Image and Video Engineering (LIVE) as a graduate research assistant and earns an M.S. in engineering in May 2001 while pursuing a PhD under Alan C. Bovik.

  2. 2004

    The SSIM quality metric

    In April 2004, he coauthors “Image Quality Assessment: From Error Visibility to Structural Similarity” with Zhou Wang and Alan C. Bovik. Their Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) estimates perceived image and video quality and is used to train AI networks in image processing.

  3. 2009

    An IEEE Best Paper Award

    He shares the 2009 IEEE Signal Processing Society Best Paper Award with Zhou Wang and Alan C. Bovik for their 2004 paper on structural similarity.

  4. 2015

    An Engineering Emmy

    He shares the 2015 Engineering Emmy with Zhou Wang, Alan Bovik and Eero Simoncelli for the Structural Similarity (SSIM) video-quality measurement model. The model estimates perceived image and video quality.

  5. By 2022

    TI and Samsung camera work

    At Texas Instruments, he leads camera technology in the OMAP Platform Business Unit and develops image signal processing (ISP) and camera solutions. By 2022, he heads Samsung Research America’s Intelligent Imaging Team in the Mobile Processor Innovation Lab and contributes to Super Resolution Zoom, Low Light Shot, high dynamic range imaging, Night Mode and Expert RAW.

  6. 2023

    An IEEE Fellowship

    Samsung names him an IEEE Fellow in 2023. As vice president of Samsung Research America’s Mobile Processor Innovation Lab, he leads camera algorithm and AI engineers developing Night, Expert RAW, high-megapixel, under-display-camera, Super Resolution Zoom and HDR technologies for Galaxy phones.

  7. As of October 2026

    Vice president at Samsung

    He is Vice President R&D at Samsung Research America’s Mobile Processor Innovation Team, where he leads AI computational-imaging experts developing algorithms and features for flagship smartphones. In May 2026, he gives an ICASSP industry keynote on AI signal processing for consumer experiences.

  1. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  2. The United States employs an estimated 53% of people in our data with a known employment countryOur estimates of where AI careers are concentrated now and how countries’ shares of dated positions changed over time.
  3. 46% of living people in our data with known birth and employment countries work outside their birth countryOur estimate of cross-border careers in AI, from country of birth and the country of each current organization.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionOur estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Hamid Sheikh yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Wireless Networking and Communications Seminar signal.ece.utexas.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Bovik, Wang and Sheikh Receive Best Paper Award for 2009 from IEEE Signal Processing Society | Texas ECE - Electrical & Computer Engineering at UT Austin ece.utexas.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Honorees Announced for the 67th Engineering Emmy Awards | Television Academy televisionacademy.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. Experts Talk Collaborating on the Galaxy S22 Series’ Expert RAW App | Samsung Newsroom India news.samsung.com. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Industry Program - 2026 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing 2026.ieeeicassp.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  6. Hamid Sheikh and Sven Dickinson of Samsung Electronics Named IEEE Fellows | Samsung Research research.samsung.com. Checked 19 October 2026.