News

The Wireless Networking and Communications Group is home to some of the brightest minds at The University of Texas at Austin. The Student Leadership Award is presented annually to the student or students who best embody WNCG’s mission and values: academic excellence, leadership, service, and a commitment to innovative and collaborative research. The 2023 award went to two very deserving graduates: Drs. Joshua Ebenezer and Ian Roberts.

Each year, WNCG presents the Student Leadership Award to an outstanding student—or students—who not only displays excellence in research and academic activities, but also embodies the spirit of the group’s mission to create a collaborative research environment. This year, the award goes to two students: Ahmad AlAmmouri and Jessica Hoffmann.

As an interdisciplinary center for research and education, WNCG is home to many talented minds. The group has grown steadily since its inception over 15 years ago and now comprises 23 faculty members and over 150 students and research staff. The upward trends don’t stop simply at the number of group members. Over the years, WNCG has built an exceptional network of industry partners, increased the number of its sponsored research projects yielding groundbreaking results, and successfully graduated Masters and Ph.D. students who go on to a wide range of careers in industry and academia.

Each year, WNCG faculty nominate one outstanding student to receive the WNCG Student Leadership Award. The award is presented to a student based on their cumulative contributions to the center, including their representation of WNCG to the greater community, their mentorship of fellow students, their research visibility and recognition from external organizations.

Each year, the UT Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) hosts a series of Senior Design Projects, which the undergraduate student teams present at the end of each semester during the Senior Design Open House. The day-long Open House event provides a unique opportunity for students to showcase and demonstrate their work. While WNCG consists mostly of graduate students, a select few undergraduates also engage in research projects and startups with WNCG faculty and students.

Just like Edison turned on the light bulb, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the Wireless Networking and Communications Group (WNCG) at UT Austin are switching kids on to the field of engineering. Part of a STEM program geared towards middle school and high school students, the Edison Lecture Series celebrates fun over fundamentals and enables kids to have fun with science.

Construction began in Fall 2013 on the new Engineering Education and Research Center (EERC) scheduled for completion by the start of the Fall 2017 semester. At 430,000 square feet, the new building will house interdisciplinary research labs, teaching labs and offices, Student Affairs, the Richard W. McKinney Engineering Library and the Cockrell School’s largest department, Electrical and Computer Engineering. 

Every year, from the 100-plus graduate students that constitute WNCG, one or two students are recognized for their leadership: both contributions within WNCG and impact on the broader community. This year two students share this award: Omar and Tom. Omar, working towards his PhD with Prof. Robert Heath, has been a leading student contributor to several WNCG events: multiple open houses, board and WiCAT meetings, and TW Summits. He has also been a dependable resource for organizing student-led and student-oriented activities within WNCG. Omar has also represented WNCG at CTIA 2010.

Jubin Jose Wins 2001 Student Leadership Award' This year's winner of the WNCG student leadership award was Jubin Jose. Jubin has shown initiative and leadership in a number of areas important to WNCG, including student life, scholarship, and the WNCG organization itself. Perhaps most impressively, Jubin has been critical in revitalizing the WNCG student seminar series & a forum for our students to share ideas, and more importantly, to convey to one another the excitement for research, scholarship, and collegiality.