Marconi Society Names Four 2018 Paul Baran Young Scholars
11 September 2018 - 12:00PM
Business Wire
Innovative researchers are honored for
game-changing work advancing wireless and optical networking and
disruptive healthcare applications
The Marconi Society, dedicated to furthering scientific
achievements in communications and the Internet, has named four
2018 Paul Baran Young Scholars, honoring them for their outstanding
research and academic performance. The four will receive their
awards at the Society’s annual awards ceremony in Bologna, Italy on
October 2, 2018.
Dr. Di Che, a Member of Technical Staff at Nokia Bell Labs, is
selected for his work on short-reach optical links for applications
like data center inter-connectivity and optical access networks.
His work is critical for companies like Google and Facebook, who
build data centers around the world to support huge data transfers.
These networks use large numbers of optical transceivers and Che’s
proposed digital subsystems can be applied to upgrade existing
systems in a cost effective manner that increases speed while
reducing power consumption.
Che’s advisor from the University of Melbourne, Professor
William Shieh, says, “Di has conducted breakthrough work on
coherent optical short-reach communications that significantly and
cost-effectively increases the capacity-distance product. Some of
this original work on novel digital optical subsystems has created
new research directions which are being investigated in recent
top-tier conferences like the Optical Fiber Communication
Conference (OFC) and the European Conference on Optical
Communication (ECOC).”
Qurrat-Ul-Ain Nadeem, a PhD candidate at King Abdullah
University of Science and Technology (KAUST), is recognized for her
work in full-dimension (FD) massive MIMO technology. FD-MIMO has
attracted significant attention from the wireless industry as a
promising technology for Fifth Generation (5G) cellular systems.
Nadeem’s work to make this technology viable includes the design
and implementation of large-scale antenna arrays and the extension
of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 2D spatial
channel model to the third dimension. These schemes are extremely
beneficial in urban scenarios with high-rise buildings, more than
doubling the average throughput performance of existing LTE
systems.
“Qurrat’s work establishes a proper link between the industry’s
vision for FD-MIMO and the theoretical study of 3D beamforming,”
says KAUST Professor Mohamed-Slim Alouini, Nadeem’s advisor. “She
published pioneering works on the development of 3D channel models
and spatial correlation functions. More recently, she put different
aspects of FD-MIMO together to provide a mathematical framework for
the design of elevation beamforming schemes in single-cell and
multi-cell scenarios. Her works have gained a lot of visibility in
a short time.”
Rajalakshmi Nandakumar is PhD candidate at the University of
Washington conducting ground-breaking work that enables the
detection of potentially life-threatening health issues using
commonly available smartphones. Taking inspiration from the
sonar-based navigation system that bats use, Nandakumar created
technology that turns an ordinary smartphone into an active sonar
system capable of detecting physiological activities, such as
movement and respiration, without requiring physical contact with
the device. Her technology has been licensed by a leading provider
to help patients detect sleep apnea from the comfort of their own
bedrooms, rather than in expensive and uncomfortable sleep lab
settings. Nandakumar’s technology is also being tested to detect
opioid overdoses.
“Rajalakshmi has a knack for selecting problems with high social
impact,” says Dr. Shyam Gollakota, an associate professor at
University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science
& Engineering and Nandakumar’s advisor. “What’s incredible is
that she has developed technology that seems like science fiction
and has gotten it adopted by hundreds of thousands of people in the
real world. It is rare for a graduate student to have such impact
with even one application, and she is doing it time and again.”
Dr. Ding Nie, an RF Engineer at Apple, is recognized for his
work in developing models and systems to greatly increase
throughput in wireless systems. Over the past decades, technical
advances and consumer demand started the shift to devices with
multiple antennas. While multiple antennas should theoretically
increase throughput, they often suffer from issues associated with
coupling, or the transmission of power between the antennas. Nie
developed new throughput bounds for today’s multi-antenna systems
by understanding the effects of coupling, guiding the design of
antennas and circuits that will lead to increased throughput and
faster wireless communications for consumers worldwide.
“Ding is the kind of person that you can let loose on a problem
with little guidance and he comes up with very original ideas for
solutions. He made a big advance in solving an open problem by
coming up with new results that let us apply Bode-Fano bounds to
multi-antenna systems,” says Dr. Bertand Hochwald, Nie’s PhD
advisor at the University of Notre Dame. “Ding’s work is so
important that it attracted funding and leaves a legacy in my lab
for another group of researchers.”
Young Scholar candidates are nominated by their academic
advisors. Winners are selected by an international panel comprised
of engineers from leading universities and companies, and receive a
$5000 prize plus expenses to attend the annual awards event. This
year’s Young Scholars will be honored at the annual Marconi Awards
Dinner where Akamai Co-founder, Dr. F. Thomson Leighton, a pioneer
in the content delivery network services industry, will receive the
$100,000 Marconi Prize.
Note to Editors: Photos Available Upon Request
About the Marconi Society
Established in 1974 by the daughter of Guglielmo Marconi, the
Nobel Laureate who invented radio, the Marconi Society promotes
awareness of key technology and policy issues in telecommunications
and the Internet and recognizes significant individual achievements
through the Marconi Prize and Young Scholar Awards. More
information may be found
at www.marconisociety.org. Subscribe. Follow: LinkedIn,
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Marconi SocietyHatti Hamlin,
925-872-4328Hattihamlin@MarconiSociety.orgorPaula Reinman,
415-254-2004Preinman@MarconiSociety.org