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Seminar Title: ‘RESOURCE ALLOCATION AND LEARNING FOR WIRELESS NETWORKS: UNDERWATER AND RADIO FREQUENCY USE CASES’

Date: April 2024

�����Dz���������:��Prof Urbashi Mitra is Gordon S. Marshall Professor in Engineering at the University of Southern California (USC) with appointments in Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science.

She has won a number of awards, is an IEEE Fellow, and has held numerous IEEE posts including inaugural Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-scale Communications.

Her research interests are in wireless communications, structured statistical methods, communication and sensor networks, biological communication systems, detection and estimation and the interface of communication, sensing and control.

Seminar Title: 'QUANTUM NEXUS FOR SENSING, COMMUNICATION, CONTROL, AND COMPUTING’

Date: April 2024

�����Dz���������:��Prof Moe Z. Win is the Robert R. Taylor Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the founding director of the Wireless Information and Network Sciences Laboratory.

He is an IEEE Fellow, and has won two IEEE Technical Field awards, numerous other awards and served in a number of IEEE positions.

His research interests include: Network Localization and Navigation; Quantum Information Science; Ultra-Wideband Communications; Adaptive Diversity Communications; and Interference Engineering.

Seminar Title: ''Beyond Transmitting Bits: Semantic and Pragmatic Communications’

Date: August 2024

�����Dz���������:��Deniz Gündüz received the B.S. degree in electrical and electronics engineering from METU, Turkey in 2002, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from NYU Tandon School of Engineering in 2004 and 2007, respectively. In 2012, he joined the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department at Imperial College London, UK, where he is currently a Professor of Information Processing, and serves as the deputy head of the Intelligent Systems and Networks Group. Dr. Gündüz is a Fellow of the IEEE, and serves as an area editor for the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory and IEEE Transactions on Communications. He is the recipient of the IEEE Communications Society - Communication Theory Technical Committee (CTTC) Early Achievement Award in 2017, Starting (2016), Consolidator (2022) and Proof-of-Concept (2023) Grants of the European Research Council (ERC), and has co-authored several award-winning papers, including the IEEE Communications Society - Young Author Best Paper Award (2022), and the IEEE International Conference on Communications Best Paper Award (2023). He received the Imperial College London - President's Award for Excellence in Research Supervision in 2023.

Abstract: With the widespread adoption of machine learning (ML) technologies, most of the communication traffic in the near future will be among intelligent machines. While human communications focus on content delivery (text, audio, and increasingly video),  machines (for now) are not interested in watching a movie or listening to a song, but instead make inferences or take actions based on received signals. Currently, ML algorithms to achieve such goals are designed either for centralised implementation at cloud servers, or assume delay- and error-free communication links among distributed agents. In this talk, I will show that this conventional approach of separating communication system design from ML algorithm design can be highly suboptimal for emerging edge intelligence applications, and a joint ML and communication system design taking into account the “semantics” of the underlying data and the final “goal” at the receiver are essential. I will provide examples of how semantic and goal-oriented design can push the boundaries of edge intelligence for future communication systems.

Seminar Title: ‘Learning and Control in Power Distribution Grids’

Date: February 2024

�����Dz���������:��Steven Low is the F. J. Gilloon Professor of the Department of Computing & Mathematical Sciences and the Department of Electrical Engineering at Caltech. Before that, he was with AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, and the University of Melbourne, Australia. He has held honorary/chaired professorship in Australia, China and Taiwan. He was a co-recipient of IEEE best paper awards, an awardee of the IEEE INFOCOM Achievement Award and the ACM SIGMETRICS Test of Time Award, and is a Fellow of IEEE, ACM, and CSEE. He was well-known for work on Internet congestion control and semidefinite relaxation of optimal power flow problems in smart grid. His research on networks has been accelerating more than 1TB of Internet traffic every second since 2014. His research on smart grid is providing large-scale cost effective electric vehicle charging to workplaces. He received his B.S. from Cornell and PhD from Berkeley, both in EE.

�������ٰ�������:��The power distribution system, where most smart grid innovations will happen, is not well modeled, with the topology and line parameters poorly documented, inaccurate or missing. This makes maintaining voltage stability challenging as renewable generation continues to proliferate. We present three results to address this challenge. The first result is a method to exactly identify the topology and line admittances of a radial network from voltage and current measurements even when measurements are available only at a subset of the nodes, provided every hidden node has a degree at least 3. The second result is a learning-augmented feedback controller that can leverage real-time measurements to stabilize voltages without explicit knowledge of the network model. We provide convergence guarantee for the proposed method. Finally we describe the design and deployment of a large-scale EV charging system and an open-source research facility built upon it.

Seminar Title: ‘So, You Want to Stat a Space Technology Company?’

Date: Feburary 2024

�����Dz���������:��Joel Sercel is a proven space technology pioneer and team leader whose technical expertise spans space mission design, space propulsion, satellite design, architectural design, and systems engineering. As founding President and founding CEO of TransAstra, he runs an agile company where young engineers are inspired and empowered to build, test, break, and bust through technical limits and mature innovations at breakneck speed. He is a seven-time winner of the prestigious NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, including the first ever Phase 3 NIAC contract, and has more than a dozen patents issued and more than a dozen more pending in the areas of space resources and in-space transportation technology. TransAstra has been more successful with NIAC than any other organization in translating the technology to private space ventures and advancing the TRL of the tech to readiness and use. His expertise and leadership have been sought out by world class organizations including NASA, Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, the US intelligence community, and the US Air Force. Joel’s PhD is from Caltech in plasma physics and space propulsion. He spent 14 years at NASA JPL where he served in nearly all the technical roles and conceived the first ion propulsion system used in deep space missions (Dawn) to a comet and asteroids Ceres and Vesta. Joel was a member of the FAST for the Asteroid Redirect Mission and was the chief engineer for the Air Force on a 22$ Billion project. Sercel served as the founding CTO of Momentus Space before returning to TransAstra to fulfill his lifelong dream of working to establish a thriving in-space economy that will offer unbound potential for future generations.

Seminar Title: ‘Terahertz Technology: from Devices and Systems towards Sensing and Communications’

Date: Feburary 2024

Biography: Withawat Withayachumnankul earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electronic engineering from King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), Thailand, in 2001 and 2003, respectively. He later obtained a doctorate degree in electrical engineering from the University of Adelaide, Australia, in 2010. Following the completion of his doctoral study, Dr. Withayachumnankul was honoured with a prestigious 3-year Australian Research Council (ARC) Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2010. In 2015, he further expanded his global research experience as a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) at Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Currently serving as a Professor at the University of Adelaide, Dr. Withayachumnankul is also the Leader of the Terahertz Engineering Laboratory. Additionally, he has held the position of Visiting Researcher at Osaka University since 2017. Actively contributing to the academic community, he serves as a member of the Australian Research Council (ARC) College of Experts and holds the role of Track Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology. During the period of 2017-2018, Dr. Withayachumnankul served as the Chair of the IEEE South Australia Joint Chapter on Microwave Theory and Techniques (MTT) & Antennas and Propagation (AP). His scholarly contributions are reflected in over 110 journal publications. In recent years, he has taken the lead in four ARC Discovery Projects, securing funding exceeding AUD 2 million. Dr. Withayachumnankul's research interests span a diverse range, encompassing terahertz integration, metasurfaces, antennas, radar, communications, and non-destructive evaluation. Notably, he received the IRMMW-THz Society Young Scientist Award in 2020 and holds the distinction of being an Optica Fellow 2024 Class.

Abstract: Recent advancement in terahertz technology has spurred an ongoing paradigm shift in the field from physics to engineering. Consequently, the field inches closer towards practical applications in sensing and communications. Soon, we can envisage deployment of terahertz systems for in-situ non-destructive evaluation, stand-off security screening, and 6G+ communications with terabit-per-second data rates. Here in this talk, I will provide an overview of latest research activities in my group, spanning broadly from devices and systems towards sensing and communications. We will delve into metasurfaces that break the limitations of natural materials in this frequency range. We will explore unorthodox antennas and our own proprietary integrated platform, specifically designed for terahertz waves. We will understand how terahertz waves can offer new sensing capabilities in security, defence, food, and agriculture. Our recent breakthroughs in communications over 300 GHz carriers will be discussed. Owing to the unique location of terahertz waves on the electromagnetic spectrum, techniques and tools from both the microwave and photonic domains have been adapted and enhanced by novel materials, fabrication, and design approaches. A forward-looking dimension will accompany all these research activities.

Seminar Title: ‘Aerial Access Networks for 6G: From UAV, HAP, to Satellite Communication Networks’

Date: June 2024

�����Dz���������:��Prof Zhu Han received the B.S. degree in electronic engineering from Tsinghua University, in 1997, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1999 and 2003, respectively. From 2000 to 2002, he was an R&D Engineer at JDSU, Germantown, Maryland. From 2003 to 2006, he was a Research Associate at the University of Maryland. From 2006 to 2008, he was an assistant professor at Boise State University, Idaho. Currently, he is a John and Rebecca Moores Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department as well as the Computer Science Department at the University of Houston, Texas. Dr. Han is an NSF CAREER award recipient of 2010, and the winner of the 2021 IEEE Kiyo Tomiyasu Award. He has been an IEEE fellow since 2014, an AAAS fellow since 2020, ACM Fellow since 2024, an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer from 2015 to 2018, and an ACM Distinguished Speaker from 2022-2025. Dr. Han has also been a 1% highly cited researcher since 2017.

�������ٰ�������:��Providing “connectivity from the sky” is one new innovative trend in wireless communications for beyond 5G or coming 6G communication systems. Satellites, high and low-altitude platforms, drones, aircraft, and airships are being considered as candidates for deploying wireless communications complementing the terrestrial communication infrastructure. Utilizing modern information network technologies and interconnecting space, air, and ground network segments, the aerial access network (AAN) has attracted much attention from both academia and industry and has been recognized as a potential solution for the 6G systems. AANs are subject to heterogeneous networks that are engineered to utilize satellites, high-altitude platforms (HAPs), and low-altitude platforms (LAPs) to build network access platforms. Compared to terrestrial wireless networks, AANs are characterized by frequently changed network topologies and more vulnerable communication connections. Furthermore, AANs have the demand for the seamless integration of heterogeneous networks such that the network quality-of-service (QoS) can be improved. Thus, designing mechanisms and protocols for AANs poses many challenges. To solve these challenges, extensive research has been conducted. Notice that AANs are not intended to replace the above existing technologies, but instead to work with them in a complementary and integrated fashion. However, design, analysis, and optimization of AANs require multidisciplinary knowledge, namely, knowledge of wireless communications and networking, signal processing, artificial intelligence (e.g., for learning), decision theory, optimization, and economic theory. Therefore, this talk first provides a general introduction to AANs integrated networks based on physical, MAC, and networking layer requirements, followed by some state-of-the-art AANs along with possible applications.

Seminar Title: ‘Brillouin Optomechanics in Scalable Photonic Integrated Platforms’

Date: July 2024

�����Dz���������:��David Marpaung is a full professor and the chairholder of the . He is a fellow of Optica (formerly OSA). 

David received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Twente, the Netherlands in 2009. From 2009 to 2012 he was a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Twente, working on microwave photonic system integration for optical beamforming. He joined CUDOS University of Sydney, Australia in August 2012 as a research fellow. From 2015 to 2017 he was a senior research fellow leading the nonlinear integrated microwave photonics research activities in CUDOS University of Sydney.

David was the recipient of the 2015 Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) from the Australian Research Council and the 2017 Vidi award and the 2018 START UP grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). In 2022 he received the ERC Consolidator grant. 

His research interests include RF photonics, photonic integration, nonlinear optics, and phononics. 

Seminar Title: ‘GNSS As Signals-of-Opportunity for Ionosphere, Atmosphere, Earth Surface Remote Sensing and Navigation’

Date: Feburary 2024

�����Dz���������:��Dr. Jade Morton is Helen and Hubert Croft Professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research expertise lies at the intersection of satellite navigation technologies and remote sensing of the ionosphere, troposphere, and Earth surface. She received her PhD in Electrical Engineering from Penn State. Dr. Morton is a fellow of the IEEE, the Institute of Navigation, and UK’s Royal Institute of Navigation.

Abstract: GPS/GNSS has impacted nearly every aspect of our modern society. Yet, it relies on extremely low power signals traversing a vast space to reach the Earth surface. Numerous factors interfere with the signals along their propagation path, including ionosphere plasma, moisture in the lower troposphere, multipath reflections from Earth surface, and intentional and unintentional radio frequency sources. These nuisance factors enable satellite navigation signals to function as signals-of-opportunity for low cost, distributed, passive sensing of the signal propagation environments. This presentation will discuss the latest research work in the Satellite Navigation and Sensing Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder in applying satellite navigation signals for space weather monitoring, atmospheric profiling, ocean wind retrieval, precision altimetry measurements, radio frequency interference mapping, ionospheric effects on signals transmitted from LEO satellites. GNSS receiver signal processing techniques to mitigate the various effects will also be highlighted.

Seminar Title: ‘Federated Learning in Resource Limited Wireless Networks’

Date: May 2024

�����Dz���������:��Arumugam Nallanathan is a Professor of Wireless Communications and the founding head of the   Communication Systems Research (CSR) group in the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at Queen Mary University of London since September 2017. He was with the Department of Informatics at King’s College London from December 2007 to August 2017, where he was Professor of Wireless Communications from April 2013 to August 2017. He was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, from August 2000 to December 2007. His research interests include 6G Wireless Networks and the Internet of Things (IoT). He published more than 700 technical papers in scientific journals and international conferences. He is a co-recipient of the Best Paper Awards presented at the IEEE International Conference on Communications 2016 (ICC’2016), IEEE Global Communications Conference 2017 (GLOBECOM’2017), and IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference 2017 (VTC’2017). He is a co-recipient of the IEEE Communications Society Leonard G. Abraham Prize, 2022.

�������ٰ�������:��Federated learning (FL) is an efficient and privacy-preserving distributed learning paradigm that enables massive edge devices to train machine learning models collaboratively. Although various communication schemes and algorithm designs have been proposed to expedite the FL process in resource-limited wireless networks, the unreliable nature of wireless channels, device heterogeneity, and data heterogeneity are still less explored. In this talk, a number of solutions will be discussed for addressing the above practical challenges in wireless FL. Firstly, to tackle the unreliable wireless channels, a novel FL framework, namely FL with gradient recycling (FL-GR), which recycles the historical gradients of unscheduled and transmission-failure devices to improve the learning performance of FL, will be discussed. Secondly, to solve the heterogeneity issues, partial model aggregation, knowledge-aided learning and adaptive model pruning-based FL framework will be explained. Based on our research experience, some open problems of wireless FL will be provided.

Seminar Title: ‘Near-field Terahertz Networking’

Date: August 2024

�����Dz���������:��Dr. Mittleman received his B.S. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988, and his M.S. in 1990 and Ph.D. in 1994, both in physics from the University of California, Berkeley. He then joined AT&T Bell Laboratories as a post-doctoral member of the technical staff, where he built one of the early terahertz time-domain spectrometers for material spectroscopy and imaging. Dr. Mittleman joined the ECE Department at Rice University in September 1996. In 2015, he moved to the School of Engineering at Brown University. His research interests involve the science and technology of terahertz radiation. He is a Fellow of the OSA, the APS, and the IEEE, and a Humboldt Research Award winner, and in 2023 he is a Mercator Fellow of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. He has recently completed a three-year term as Chair of the International Society for Infrared Millimeter and Terahertz Waves.

�������ٰ�������:��The recent dramatic growth in interest in the use of high-frequency (millimeter-wave and terahertz) carrier waves for wireless communications has spurred a great deal of research activity. In some cases, such as fixed point-to-point backhaul, systems operating above 100 GHz are already in or nearing commercial deployment. On the other hand, significant research challenges remain for the deployment of local area networks, which must manage factors such as user mobility and line-of-sight blockage of directional beams. Interestingly, such networks may often be able to operate in a regime in which most or all of the broadcast sector is located in the near field of the transmitter. This possibility opens up a host of new ideas for wave front engineering, in particular wave fronts that can only exist in the electromagnetic near field. Here, we discuss a few examples, focusing on the class of wave fronts that can be engineered to curve around an intervening obstacle, delivering data to a user located in the shadow of the obstacle. This near-field effect presents an intriguing alternative to the popular notion of intelligent reflecting surfaces for blockage mitigation.

Seminar Title: ‘Orthogonal Time-Frequency-Space (OTFS) Modulation for Underwater Acoustic Communications’

Date: September 2024

�����Dz���������:��Prof Yahong Rosa Zheng received a Ph.D. degree from Carleton University, Ottawa, ONT, Canada, in 2002. She was an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow for two years with the University of Missouri-Columbia. Then, she was on the faculty of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology for 13 years. Since Aug. 2018, she has been a professor in the ECE department at Lehigh University. Her research interests include underwater and underground IoT, wireless communications, wireless sensor networks, compressive sensing, machine learning and robotics. She has served as a Technical Program Committee (TPC) member for many IEEE international conferences. She served as Associate Editor for three IEEE journals and a senior editor for IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine. She is currently an Associate Editor for the IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering. She is the recipient of an NSF faculty CAREER award in 2009. She has been an IEEE fellow and a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society since 2015. She has also served on the IEEE Fellow evaluation committee for the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society since 2018.

�������ٰ�������:��This talk first introduces the channel characteristics of underwater acoustic communication channels, then discusses the Single Carrier Coherent Modulation (SCCM), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), and Orthogonal Time-Frequency Space (OTFS) modulation schemes and their application to acoustic communications. Field experiments demonstrate the pros and cons of OTFS in comparison to SCCM and OTFS.