Kaushik Dutta, a professor at the University of South Florida (USF) and its vice provost for academic planning and accreditation, has been named a finalist for Tech Educator of the Year at the 2026 Tampa Bay Tech Awards.
Dutta is one of three finalists in the category with Marbin Pazos-Revilla, an associate professor in USF’s Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing, and Jamie K. Spurrier, executive program officer at the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame within USF Research.
The award recognizes individuals in educational roles who have made a significant impact on students’ interest in pursuing technology careers in the Tampa Bay region, according to a university news release.
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Eligible educators include those working in K-12 schools, higher education, technical and vocational training, and corporate upskilling programs. The winners will be announced at the Tampa Bay Tech Awards ceremony on Nov. 13 at Armature Works in Tampa, Florida.
Dutta is a professor in USF’s School of Information Systems within the Muma College of Business. His professional and research experience spans 22 years in enterprise information technology infrastructure, data analytics and big data systems, according to his faculty profile.
His research focuses on big data analytics, combining operations research, data mining and computer science systems to address challenges involving large datasets and information technology infrastructure.
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Dutta has also mentored two startups originating at USF through the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program, which supports the exploration of commercial opportunities for research and technology.
Before joining USF, he held tenured associate professor positions at the National University of Singapore and Florida International University. Earlier in his career, he worked in engineering and served as chief technology officer and vice president of engineering at Mobilewalla, a company that developed mobile advertising platforms based on big data.
Dutta earned a doctorate in management information systems from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in computer science from the Indian Statistical Institute and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Jadavpur University.