Thank you for your interest in the UC San Diego Center for Wireless Communications and your support of the groundbreaking research and its relevant applications that our faculty, staff and students are conducting. Our goal is to ensure 5G connectivity delivers on its promised benefits, and to prepare for the following iteration of connectivity that will push the bounds of possibility even further.
Since its inception in 1995, the Center for Wireless Communications has been a partnership between the university and industry partners from wireless, health, transportation and data sectors, bringing together multidisciplinary researchers from across campus to solve real world problems in the wireless space. As we welcome the era of 5G connectivity and lay the ground work for what will follow, our mission remains the same as it was 23 years ago: identify and pursue high impact opportunities in wireless circuits, networks and applications; pursue relevant research focused on the knowledge base needed for subsequent commercialization; and produce graduates at all degree levels with the skills needed by the wireless communications industry.
This past year has been one of growth for the Center. We’ve expanded our Connected Health program, spearheading research on a virtual physical therapy system for patients with Parkinson’s disease; partnering with the UC San Diego School of Medicine to use health informatics to affect change for patients with conditions like hypertension, as well as mental health conditions like anxiety and depression; and assessing how best to use augmented and virtual reality to create assessment and intervention techniques for various health conditions. All of these projects depend on the extremely reliable, low latency wireless connectivity our researchers are working to provide.
We also launched a Smart Transportation Innovation Program this year to develop technological solutions to tomorrow’s transportation challenges. Our work will tackle challenges like developing computing and communication technologies for assisted and autonomous vehicles; developing transportation solutions for people with disabilities and the elderly; and creating predictive city-wide maps of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. All of these applications require the expertise up and down the wireless stack that our researchers bring to bear.
I’m glad to report that the Center for Wireless Communications has added two new faculty to the Center who are already making significant contributions: Xinyu Zhang has expertise in 5G mmWave networking, multi-user MIMO and RFID sensing, and made a splash when his group recently developed printable metal tags that can be attached to everyday objects, turning them into smart Internet of Things devices. Dinesh Bharadia brings expertise in communication theory, signal processing, wireless imaging and wireless networks to the Center team, and was named an MIT Tech Review Top Innovator Under 35. We’re excited to have them join our effort.
The Center’s corporate partner ranks have also grown, thanks to companies including Kaiser Permanente, Teradata, Samsung Digital Health and Corning. We value the insight of these and all of our partners, and look forward to sharing news on the projects we embark on together.
Again, I thank you for your interest in our Center and the work we’re doing to fully enable all that 5G connectivity, computing and sensing can contribute to enhance our shared human experience.
Professor Sujit Dey
Director, CWC