News

Professor Derya Malak has won the Best Paper Award at the 20th International Symposium on Modeling and Optimization in Mobile, Ad hoc, and Wireless Networks (WiOpt 2022). Malak, who is currently an assistant professor in the Communication Systems Department at EURECOM, was recognized for her solo-authored paper, “Throughput and Energy Tradeoffs for Retransmission-based Random Access Protocols.” The paper extends work on the fundamentals of massive Internet of Things uplink communications that Malak conducted during her Ph.D. and in collaboration with Howard Huang of Nokia Bell Labs.

WNCG faculty member Nanshu Lu is now a full professor in the Dept. of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics. Lu has been with The University of Texas since 2011; she also holds appointments in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. She joined WNCG in 2018 and soon after served as a faculty co-organizer of the 2019 Texas Wireless Summit, "Connectivity and Sensing at the Human-Machine Frontier."

WNCG professor Alex Dimakis of has been invited to serve as a member of the AI Commission of the US Chamber of Commerce. The Commission on Artificial Intelligence Competitiveness, Inclusion, and Innovation (AI Commission) will research and recommend artificial intelligence policies as it relates to regulation, international research and development competitiveness, and future jobs. The AI Commission will convene field hearings in key locations around the U.S. and internationally to explore these critical issues.

WNCG researchers and alumni were selected as Best Paper Award Runners-up at this year’s ACM MobiHoc: International Symposium on Theory, Algorithmic Foundations, and Protocol Design for Mobile Networks and Mobile Computing. WCNG postdoctoral fellow Daniel Vial’s paper, “Robust Multi-Agent Multi-Armed Bandits,” was one of the papers selected as a runner-up. Co-written by Sanjay Shakkottai and R. Srikant, this paper develops algorithms for online collaborative learning in a setting where malicious agents might inject false information into the learning system.

WNCG alumni were among the recipients of major paper awards from the Communications Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE ComSoc). The awards were presented at the International Conference on Communications (IEEE ICC), which took place virtually last month.

WNCG professor Todd Humphreys has been elected Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation “for improving understanding of GNSS vulnerabilities and pioneering the use of alternate techniques to achieve resilience.” Formed in 1947, the Royal Institute of Navigation aims to advance the art, science, and practice of navigation while promoting knowledge of the subject and its associated sciences such as positioning, timing, and tracking.

WNCG professor Jeff Andrews has received the Gordon T. Lepley Teaching Award from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are among the trendiest technologies in the world right now, and The University of Texas at Austin is rapidly becoming a leader in advancing these concepts as they come to impact more aspects of our daily lives.

WNCG professor Jeff Andrews has been elected Chair of the Communication Theory Technical Committee (CTTC) of the IEEE Communications Society.  CTTC sits at the forefront of theoretical research on communications. The committee is especially interested in “novel use of communication theory and/or information theory to solve problems in areas that include (but are not limited to) source and channel coding, storage, modulation, detection, estimation, synchronization, multiple access, interference mitigation, and networking.”

Ted Rappaport, founding director of the Wireless Networking and Communications Group, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Membership in the Academy honors those who have “made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, or education, including […] significant contributions to the engineering literature.” They are accomplished pioneers of new and developing fields of technology, credited with major advancements in traditional engineering fields or innovations in engineering education.