Lab Members

DWSL Personnel

Dr. Kapil Dandekar

Principal Investigator

dandekar ~ drexel.edu
(215) 895-2228
Personal Site

Kapil R. Dandekar is the E. Warren Colehower Endowed Chair Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel Univerity. He also serves as the inaugural Associate Dean for Enrollment Management and Graduate Education in the College of Engineering. Kapil holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include:

  • Software defined radio
  • Medical cyberphysical systems
  • Reconfigurable, metamaterial, and non-traditional material antennas
  • Internet of Things for smart cities
  • Smart antenna systems for wireless communications
  • Wireless physical layer security
  • Engineering education

Dr. Malvin Nkomo

Post Doctoral Researcher

mn696 ~ drexel.edu

Malvin Nkomo is an electronic engineer by training, academic researcher by passion, a data scientist and an entrepreneur at heart. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, in the research area of advanced wireless sensor networks (WSN) and Internet of Things (IoT). He earned an MSc in Information and Communication Engineering specialising in Robotics and Embedded Systems from Shandong University of Science and Technology in Shandong, China. He has a vast industry experience in the field of embedded systems design, architecting and designing state-of-the-art Internet of Things solutions. His research interests include:

  • Intersection of Internet of Things with machine learning
  • Advanced Wireless Sensor Networks (Virtualization and Overlay Networks)
  • Deep Learning (CNN, RNN and Reinforcement Learning)
  • Software Defined Radios
  • Technology Entrepreneurship

Dr. Kyei Anim

Post Doctoral Researcher

ak4259 ~ drexel.edu

Kyei Anim received his BSc in Telecommunication Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, in 2014. He also holds Ph.D. and MSc degrees in Electronic Engineering from Hanbat National University in South Korea. He is currently a postdoctoral associate in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University. His research interests include Millimeter-wave antennas for 5G communications, Reconfigurable antennas, Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces, and Wearable antennas.

Md Abu Saleh Tajin

Ph.D. Student

mt3223 ~ drexel.edu

Tajin received his Bachelors in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2015. His primary research interest is RF technology.

Ankita Paul

Ph.D. Student (co-advised with Prof Anup Das)

ap3737 ~ drexel.edu

Ankita is a PhD student exploring signal processing using Spiking Neural Networks. Prior to this, she has worked as a Software Engineer at Tata Consultancy Services, India. She obtained her B. Tech in Electronic and Instrumentation Engineering from West Bengal University of Technology, India. Her research interest is computational neuroscience, spiking neural networks, signal forecasting.

Md Shakir Hossain

Ph.D. Student

mh3696 ~ drexel.edu

Shakir completed his B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in 2016, and M.Sc. in Renewable Energy Technology from the University of Dhaka in 2018. His research interest is application of machine learning in IoT, wearable devices, etc.

Joshua Palathinkal

Ph.D. Student

jrp394 ~ drexel.edu

Joshua is currently pursuing his PhD in Electrical Engineering at Drexel University. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering at the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, in India, in 2021.

Google Scholar

Brandon Katz

Part-time PhD student
M.S. (2016)

bzk23 ~ drexel.edu

Thesis: “Enabling Real-Time Wireless Channel Based Encryption Key Generation”

Current: Researcher, Advanced Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD.

Alumni

Dr. Vasil Pano

Post Doctoral Researcher

vp93 ~ drexel.edu
Personal Site

Current: Intel Corporation, WA

Dr. Pano received his B.S degree and PhD degrees from Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, in Computer (B.S degree) and Electrical (PhD degree) Engineering in 2014 and 2019, respectively. Dr. Pano has held a graduate intern position at Intel Corporation, Hillsboro, OR in their Data Center Group working towards a scalable network interconnect for exa-scale architectures. His research focuses on network-on-chips, wireless on-chip interconnects, and multi-die systems.

Marko Jacovic

Ph.D. (2021)

mj355 ~ drexel.edu

Dissertation: “Securing Wireless Communication Systems at the Physical Layer”

Current: Lockheed Martin Space Systems

Marko Jacovic received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 2021 after receiving a Bachelor’s in 2013, and Master’s in Electrical and Telecommunications Engineering in 2015. His work focuses primarily on securing wireless communication systems using physical layer techniques, ray-tracing channel emulation, and software defined radio test-bed development. Marko has been awarded the Koerner Family Fellowship, a graduate student research-based recognition, in 2019, 2020, and 2021. He has received the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need Fellowship from 2019 through 2021. Marko has been recognized at the college level for teaching excellence in 2016 and 2017. He is a student member of the IEEE and the IEEE Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society.

Oday Bshara

Ph.D. (2021)

ob67 ~ drexel.edu

Dissertation: “mmWave Beamforming Techniques for Future Wireless Communication Applications”

Current: Toyota North America

Oday received his PhD working on wireless channel modeling at millimeter wave frequencies. He received his BSc. in Computer Systems Engineering from Birzeit University in 2008. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2012, and received his MSc. in Electrical Engineering from NYU Tandon School of Engineering in 2014. His research interests are in physical layer aspects of wireless communications.

Yuqiao (Joe) Liu

Ph.D. (2020)

yl636 ~ drexel.edu

Dissertation: “Novel Antenna Technology for Internet of Things Applications”

Current: Senior Radio Frequency Design Engineer, NJ

Joe worked on RF circuit and hardware design for ultra-wideband communications and on-chip interconnects. He holds M.S. (2006) and B.S. (2004) degrees from Nanjing University of Science and Technology.

Simon Begashaw

Ph.D. (2019)

sgb42 ~ drexel.edu

Dissertation: “Enhancing Multi-User Wireless Networks With Pattern Reconfigurable Antennas”

Current: Apple, Cupertino, CA

Simon developed physical layer algorithms for smart antenna systems, with an emphasis on interference alignment. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering (2010) from Villanova University. Before joining DWSL, Simon worked as an RF engineer at V-Comm.

Danh Nguyen

Ph.D. (2017)

dnguyen ~ drexel.edu

Dissertation: “Agile Spectrum-Sharing Wireless Systems using Software-Defined Radios and Reconfigurable Antennas”

Current: Senior Hardware/Systems Engineer, Qualcomm, Boxborough, MA

James Chacko

Ph.D. (2017)

jjc652 ~ drexel.edu

Dissertation: “FPGA-Based Reconfigurable Physical Layer Architecture for Wireless Applications”

Damiano Patron

Ph.D. (2015)

dp578 ~ drexel.edu

Dissertation: “Compact Reconfigurable Antennas for Wireless Systems and Wearable Applications”

Current: Staff Scientist, WiTricity Corporation, Boston, MA

Nikhil Gulati

Ph.D. (2015)

nikhilgulati ~ gmail.com

Dissertation: “Online Learning for Exploiting Diversity in Adaptive Wireless Networks”

Current: Senior Data Scientist, GE Digital, San Ramon, CA

John Kountouriotis

Ph.D. (2013) (Posthumous)

Dissertation: “Using Reconfigurable Antennas for Wireless MIMO Communications”

Obituary - John Kountouriotis (1979-2013):

It is with great sadness that we have to inform that John Kountouriotis has passed away on 1 October 2013 after a long illness. At the time of his death, John was a doctoral student at the Drexel Wireless Systems Laboratory (DWSL), advised by Dr. Kapil Dandekar. He had also been working with Adant, a communication company that develops antenna systems for wireless communications.

John is survived by his wife Yianna, and we express our heartfelt condolences to her and the rest of his family and friends.

Prathaban Mookiah

Ph.D. (2011)

mprathap ~ drexel.edu

Dissertation: “Reconfigurable Antennas for Wireless Network Security”

Current: Analytical Modelling Scientist, SAS Institute, San Diego, CA

Nicholas Kirsch

Ph.D. (2009)

Nicholas.Kirsch ~ unh.edu
Personal Site

Dissertation: “Experimental Analysis of Power Control and Element Spacing for Unobtrusive MIMO Antenna Systems”

Current: Assistant Professor in ECE, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH

Daniele Piazza

Ph.D. (2009)

daniele.piazza ~ adant.com

Dissertation: “Reconfigure Antennas for Adaptive MIMO Communication Systems”

Current: Vice President and COO, Adant Technologies, Pleasanton, CA

Chao Liang

Ph.D. (2006)

Dissertation: “A Game-Theoretic Approach to Power Management in MIMO-OFDM Ad Hoc Networks”

Current: System Engineer, Augusta Technology, Santa Clara, CA

Alex Lackpour

M.S. Student

alex.lackpour ~ lmco.com

Alex works on spectrum policies and machine learning-based techniques for cognitive spectrum access.

Xaime Rivas Rey

M.S. Student

xr39 ~ drexel.edu
Personal Site

Xaime is a MS student who worked on Augmented Reality and Software Defined Radios. He received his BSc. in Industrial Engineering from the “Escuela Politécnica Superior de Ferrol, Coruña” were he graduated as a Valedictorian in 2014. He received the EAGLES Scholarship in 2015, and obtained his dual MSc. in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University and in Industrial Engineering from the “Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales, Madrid” in 2016. His research interests are application development with Augmented Reality, Software Defined Radios, MIMO communications and hardware design.

Ilhaan Rasheed

M.S. (2017)

ilhaan ~ drexel.edu
Personal Site

Ilhaan is developing vital sign monitoring techniques for the Bellyband smart textile device. He is the lead engineer developing software infrastructure for DWSL’s Software Defined Radio Grid Testbed. He is the resident software expert of DWSL and has provided support for various lab projects using his advanced Linux skills. His research interests include wearables, internet of things and wireless security. Ilhaan holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering (2015) and M.S. in Computer Engineering (2017), both from Drexel University.

Cem Sahin

M.S.

cs486 ~ drexel.edu

Cem shares equal passion for teaching and research. He is the recipient of multiple Teaching Excellence Awards. His research interests include reconfigurable antennas for network security, cross-layer protocol design, and efficient multimedia streaming. Cem holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering (2011) and M.S. in Electrical & Telecommunications Engineering (2017), both from Drexel University.

Logan Henderson

B.S. (2018)

ljh66 ~ drexel.edu

Logan is a B.S. student currently working on BeamViewer, a mobile Augmented Reality framework that can dynamically visualize and control radiation patterns for reconfigurable antennas.

Stephen Wolfe

B.S./M.S. (2017)

saw335 ~ drexel.edu

Stephen completed his B.S. & M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering in 2017. His investigated the use of reconfigurable antennas and adaptive beamsteering algorithms onboard UAVs to improve air-to-ground communication links.

Chase Hamilton

B.S./M.S. (2017)

cch63 ~ drexel.edu

Chase completed his B.S. & M.S. in Electrical Engineering in 2017. He worked on a cognitive radio software platform for educational and competitive applications.

Rebecca Cargan

Undergraduate Volunteer, B.S. (2017)

rac89 ~ drexel.edu

Rebecca worked on signal processing and prototyping platforms for Multi-User MIMO communications. She completed her B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 2017.

Kevin Wanuga

M.S.

ktw25 ~ drexel.edu

Current: InterDigital Communications, Inc.

Doug Pfeil

M.S.

Michael Williams

M.S. (2015)

Current: Alcatel-Lucent, NJ

Boris Shishkin

M.S. (2013)

Current: Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Labs, Cherry Hill, NJ

Rohit Bahl

M.S. (2012)

Thesis: “Impact of Reconfigure Antennas on Interference Alignment”

Current: LTE Firmware Engineer, Intel Mobile Communications, San Diego, CA

Magda Bielinski

B.S. / M.S. (2012)

Current: Engineer II, Dynetics

Srikanth Annangi

M.S. (2012)

Current: Senior Applications Engineer, Synopsys, San Jose, CA

David Gonzalez

M.S. (2012)

Current: Software Engineer, Intel Corp., Allentown, PA

Mikhail Chernyavskiy

M.S. (2012)

Thesis: “Compact Multifunctional Dipole Antenna Array for MIMO Systems”

Current: Communications System Engineer, Lockheed Martin, Newtown, PA

Guillermo Sosa

M.S. (2011)

Thesis: “A Joint Bit-loading and Symbol Rotation Scheme for Multi-Carrier Systems”

Current: IEEE, Uruguay

Kevin Johnson

B.S. / M.S. (2011)

Current: System Validation Engineer, Intel Corp., Allentown, PA

Mihnea Elian Dumitru

M.S. (2010)

Thesis: “FPGA Implementation of Diversity and Spatial Multiplexing for MIMO Free Space Optical Interconnects”

Current: Wireless Software Integration Engineer, NEST Labs, CA

Renee Dorsey

B.S. (2008) / M.S.

Thesis: “Impact of Reconfigure Antennas on Interference Alignment”

Current: USPTO

Rocco Dragonne

M.S. (2008)

Thesis: “Quantifying the Effects of Mutual Coupling in Ultra-wideband Multi-band Multiple Input Multiple Output Systems”

Current: VP Engineering, DataRay Inc., Bella Vista, CA