Hugh Brendan McMahan

Title: Innovations of Hugh Brendan McMahan

Introduction

Hugh Brendan McMahan is a prominent inventor based in Seattle, WA, known for his significant contributions to the field of computing. With a total of 16 patents to his name, he has made remarkable advancements in areas such as federated learning and distributed mean estimation.

Latest Patents

One of McMahan's latest patents is titled "Federated learning with adaptive optimization." This innovation presents a computing system and method that implements a version of federated learning (FL) incorporating adaptivity, such as leveraging an adaptive learning rate. The framework allows clients to perform multiple epochs of training using a client optimizer to minimize loss on their local data, while a server system updates its global model by applying a gradient-based server optimizer to the average of the clients' model updates. This approach enables the use of adaptive optimizers without increasing client storage or communication costs.

Another notable patent is "Systems and methods for communication efficient distributed mean estimation." This patent outlines a system where multiple vectors reside on different clients, and a centralized server device estimates the mean of these vectors. The client computing device can rotate a vector by a random rotation matrix and perform probabilistic quantization on the rotated vector. This innovative method enhances the efficiency of communication in distributed systems.

Career Highlights

Hugh Brendan McMahan has established himself as a key figure in the tech industry, particularly through his work at Google Inc. His expertise in machine learning and optimization has led to groundbreaking developments that are widely recognized in the field.

Collaborations

Throughout his career, McMahan has collaborated with notable colleagues, including Daniel Ramage and Blaise Hilary Aguera-Arcas. These partnerships have contributed to the advancement of innovative technologies and methodologies in computing.

Conclusion

Hugh Brendan McMahan's contributions to the field of computing through his patents and collaborations highlight his role as a leading inventor. His work continues to influence advancements in federated learning and distributed systems, showcasing the importance of innovation in technology.