Industry Panels
1 – Title – 6G Panel (moderator: Robert Calderbank)
8 October 2024, 11:00 – 12:30, Amphitheater
Tom Rondeau, OUSD
Charlie Zhang, Samsung Research America
Junyi Li, Qualcom
Jonathan Ashdown, AFRL/RI
Scott Migaldi, T-Mobile
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2 – Title – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
8 October 2024, 14:00 – 17:30, Oceanic A
- The aim of this panel is to promote Diversity, Career Advancement, and Outreach in the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society—and in the Engineering Community as a whole—by fostering the connection of women, under-represented groups, professionals from academia and industry at all stages of their engineering careers.
- The panel intends to create an opportunity for sharing experiences and views on how to enhance diversity and inclusion to benefit the Engineering Community.
- The panel will be an onsite interactive discussion with presentations and panel session. We encourage everyone to attend and contribute their experiences and ideas.
Organizers:
Dr. Carmela Cozzo, Samsung
Prof. Sarah Katie Wilson, Santa Clara University
Prof. Ping Wang, York University
Dr. Taimoor Abbas, Interdigital
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3 – Title – The Sprint to the Stratosphere: Opportunities, Challenges, State of the Art, and Research Directions
8 October 2024, 14:00 – 15:30, Amphitheater
Description: High altitude platform stations (HAPS) have recently emerged as a new key stratospheric player in non-terrestrial networks (NTN) alongside satellites and low-altitude platforms. In this special session (in the form of short presentations followed by a panel discussion involving academics as well as engineers/scientists from the industry), we present the main advantages and applications of HAPS in comparison to other NTN platforms. We also discuss the current challenges that HAPS need to overcome before gaining wide adoption worldwide. We plan also to go over the state of the art in this industry as well as on-going research activity in this promising area.
Objectives:
1) Understand the role of HAPS in non-terrestrial networks (NTN)
2) Identify key advantages and applications of HAPS
3) Examine the challenges facing HAPS
4) Review the state of the art in HAPS technology
5) Foster industry and academic collaboration in the HAPS area
6) Evaluate the tuture prospects of HAPS
Moderator: Mohamed-Slim Alouini KAUST, Saudi Arabia
Halim Yanikomeroglu Carleton University, Canada
Panelists: Alberto Carrasco-Casado NICT, Japan
Graeme Daly Stratotegic Inc., Canada
Douglas Hutchison Abside Networks, USA
Barry A. Matsumori Skydweller Aero, USA
Veena Rawat GSMA, USA
Russel Van Der Werff Aerostar, USAv
MODERATORS:
Dr. Mohamed-Slim Alouini, was born in Tunis, Tunisia. He earned his Ph.D. from the California Institute ofTechnology (Caltech) in 1998 before serving as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota and later at Texas A&M University at Qatar. In 2009, he became a founding faculty member at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), where he currently is the Al-Khawarizmi Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the holder of the UNESCO Chair on Education to Connect the Unconnected. Dr. Alouini is a Fellow of the IEEE and OPTICA and his research interests encompass a wide array of research topics in wireless and satellite communications. He is currently particularly focusing on addressing the technical challenges associated with information and communication technologies (ICT) in underserved regions and is committed to bridging the digital divide by tackling issues related to the uneven distribution, access to, and utilization of ICT in rural, low-income, disaster-prone, and hard-to-reach areas.
Dr. Halim Yanikomeroglu is a Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. His research interests cover many aspects of wireless communications and networks including non-terrestrial networks (NTN). He gives 20-25 invited seminars, keynotes, panel talks, and tutorials every year. His extensive collaborative research with industry resulted in 40 granted patents. Dr. Yanikomeroglu is a Fellow of IEEE, Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC), Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), and Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA). He is a Distinguished Speaker for IEEE Communications Society and IEEE Vehicular Technology Society, and an Expert Panelist of the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA|CAC). Dr. Yanikomeroglu is currently serving as the Chair of the Steering Committee of IEEE’s flagship wireless event, Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC). He is a member of a number of IEEE committees and councils. He has also served in the editorial boards of various IEEE periodicals. Dr. Yanikomeroglu received several awards for his research, teaching, and service. He holds a PhD degree in electrical and computer Engineering from University of Toronto.
PANELISTS:
Dr. Alberto Carrasco-Casado is a Telecommunications Engineer from Spain, currently living in Tokyo, Japan, since 2015. He holds a PhD in Electrical, Electronic and Automatic Engineering, as well as three Master’s Degrees in Telecommunications, Space Science and Technology, and Advanced Electronic Systems. He has received various awards for his work related to space laser communications, including the successful completion of satellite missions. In his 20-year career, he has conducted research at various top-class universities and national research institutes on topics such as quantum key distribution and optical wireless communications. After spending the last 10 years at the Japanese National Institute of ICT, he currently holds a permanent position as a senior researcher, leading a research line focused on developing novel space laser-communication terminals, including an ongoing satellite mission scheduled for launch in 2026.
Graeme Daly is an accomplished engineering leader, currently serving as the Head of Engineering at Stratotegic. Prior to this, Graeme dedicated over five years to designing and certifying aviation software at Pratt and Whitney Canada, showcasing his expertise in the aerospace sector. Graeme holds a Bachelor of Applied Science from Queen’s University and a Master of Engineering from the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies. Presently, Graeme is at the forefront of developing a comprehensive navigation solution for Lighter than Air High Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) with an objective to make HAPS a more viable solution to connect the unconnected. Graeme’s blend of practical experience and academic excellence positions him as a key player in the engineering landscape of Canada’s aerospace industry.
Doug Hutchison has been focusing on hard communications problems for multiple decades including Abside’s eight years with the Google Loon team. Abside delivered the world’s first and only commercial stratospheric base station to date with a 1.4 kg LTE remote radio head (RRH) as part of the Loon 15 kg total four cell eNB solution that served commercial users on multiple continents. After Loon, Abside continued developing and flying complete stratospheric LTE solutions including flying the eNB and core. Building on the Google Loon technology success Abside today produces the largest commercial digital array for terrestrial 5G as part of their complete gNB solution and Abside has also started work on very large stratospheric arrays, the next evolution in stratospheric base station technology.
Barry Matsumori is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Skydweller Aero. He is a space industry veteran that has had executive leadership roles at SpaceX, Virgin, and Impulse Space. At SpaceX, he was Sr. VP of Sales and Business development and his team was responsible for the rapid growth of SpaceX from 2011 to 2015. He was also the CEO of BridgeComm, a laser communications company where he co-developed a patented design for signal transmission. At Additionally, Mr. Matsumori has a background in communications technology as an early member of Qualcomm along with experience in other telecommunications companies. Mr. Matsumori has a B.S. in Business from Arizona State University and a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Arizona. He is also named in over 20 patents.
Dr. Veena Rawat, O.C., Hon Doc., is President of Expert Strategies International, a US-based consulting firm, advising national and international organizations on telecommunication policies and regulations. She is consulting for GSMA as Senior Spectrum Advisor. In 2014 she was awarded ‘Officer of the Order of Canada’ for her “contributions to telecommunications engineering and for leadership in establishing the global regulatory framework for radio spectrum management”. She had many trailblazer ‘firsts’ and has a long list of national and international awards. She is a Fellow of WWRF and of Canadian Academy of Engineering and member
Russ Van Der Werff serves as Vice President of Stratospheric Solutions at Aerostar. Aerostar has been in the stratosphere since its founding in 1956, building systems for NASA, the U.S. military, and commercial enterprises such as Loon. Aerostar balloons have logged over a million hours in the stratosphere over the last five years. Russ has twenty years of engineering and leadership experience, and has had the privilege of growing the Stratospheric Solutions team from a couple dozen to more than one hundred engineers, designers, operators, and technicians. He also serves as a stratospheric ambassador, spreading the Gospel of Ballooning, and presented a HAPS-related TED talk (“To the Stratosphere!”). Prior to Aerostar, Russ was Director of Product Management for Sencore, a private company building video transcoders and satellite modulators for broadcast applications. Russ holds Bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Mathematics, as well as a Master’s degree in Business Administration.
–Special Evening Event–
Wireless Futures – Pizza and Soda Evening Panel 7:15pm on the 8th
Panel members: Grehard Fettweis, Andrea Goldsmith, Khaled Letaief, Ted Rappaport
Abstract: Whilst the 5G have been rolled out across much of the developed world, researchers have turned their attention to next-generation systems. Numerous technical solutions are under consideration both in the world of academia and industry, but there is a pressing need for considering the use-cases as well, which fundamentally determine the deliberations of the standards bodies as well, such as the 3GPP. It is anticipated that the following topics would be touched upon by the speakers and the audience: PHY solutions, such as OTFS, OTSM, ODMM, new channel coding schemes, cell-free networking and cross-layer operation, wireless security including QKD, multi-component optimization for determining the Pareto-front of all optimal solutions, URLLC+ – just to name a few.
Organizer
Lajos Hanzo (FIEEE’04) received Honorary Doctorates from the Technical University of Budapest (2009) and Edinburgh University (2015). He is a Foreign Member of the Hungarian Science-Academy, Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng), of the IET, of EURASIP and holds the IEEE Eric Sumner Technical Field Award. For further details please see http://www-mobile.ecs.soton.ac.uk, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lajos_Hanzo
Bio: Gerhard Fettweis earned his Ph.D. degree from Aachen University of Technololgy (RWTH) in 1990. From 1990 to 1991, he was Visiting Scientist at the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, CA, developing signal processing innovations for IBM’s disk drive products. From 1991 to 1994, he was a Scientist with TCSI Inc., Berkeley, CA, responsible for signal processor IC development projects for cellular phone chip-sets. Since 1994 he holds the Vodafone Chair at Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. Gerhard Fettweis has co-authored 500 publications and more than 25 patent families. He was TPC Chair of IEEE ICC 2009 (Dresden), and chair of the 2012 Technology Time Machine (TTM) conference. Among receiving other awards, as the Alcatel-Lucent Research Award, he is an IEEE Fellow, a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, and a member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering. During his career, Dr. Fettweis has led research on wireless transmission and chip design, helped establish eleven tech start-ups and secured €500 million in funding for projects in broadband wireless, network performance measurement, satellite communications, IoT solutions, and machine vision for manufacturing. Start-ups founded by Dr. Fettweis include: Systemonic (now NXP and ST-NXP Wireless), Radioplan (Actix), Signalion, InCircuit, Dresden Silicon (Signalion), Freedelity, RadioOpt, and Blue Wonder Communications. In his current role of “Vodafone Academic Ambassador”, he assists Vodafone in strategic guidance of international academic research collaborations.

Bio: Khaled Letaief is a distinguished leader in wireless communications and networks, specializing in artificial intelligence, integrated sensing and communication, distributed intelligence, edge computing, and 6G systems. He is a member of the United States National Academy of Engineering and the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences, holding fellowships with IEEE and the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers. His accolades include the 2024 Distinguished Purdue University Alumni Award, the 2022 IEEE Communications Society Edwin Howard Armstrong Achievement Award, the 2019 Joint Paper Award from IEEE Communications Society and Information Theory Society, and the 2016 IEEE Marconi Prize in Wireless Communications.
Since 1993, Dr. Letaief has been with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), where he has held various leadership positions, including Senior Advisor to the President and Dean of Engineering. His commitment to professional societies is evident in his role as the founding Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, as well as his service on the IEEE Board of Directors and as President of the IEEE Communications Society. He has also chaired multiple prestigious conferences, including IEEE GLOBECOM and IEEE VTC. Dr. Letaief earned his BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University and received an honorary Ph.D. from the University of Johannesburg in 2022.
Bio: Theodore (Ted) S. Rappaport (tsr@nyu.edu) is the David Lee/Ernst Weber Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Tandon School of Engineering at New York University (NYU), and is a professor in the NYU Courant Computer Science Dept. and the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He founded the NYU WIRELESS research center in 2012 and the wireless research centers at the University of Texas Austin (WNCG) and Virginia Tech (MPRG) earlier in his career. He has authored or co-authored widely used textbooks on wireless communications, millimeter wave communications, smart antennas, and simulation. He has provided fundamental knowledge for wireless system design and radio propagation channels used to create the IEEE 802.11Wi-Fi standard, the first U.S. digital TDMA and CDMA standards, the first public Wi-Fi hotspots, and has led the world to adopt millimeter wave and sub-Terahertz frequencies for 5G, 6G, and beyond. His work influenced the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to open up the world’s first mobile telephone spectrum in the millimeter wave bands in 2014-2016 as part of the FCC Spectrum Frontiers ruling, and he again led the FCC to open up spectrum in the sub-Terahertz bands above 95 GHz with the FCC Spectrum Horizons ruling in 2018-2019. He founded two businesses that were sold to publicly traded companies — TSR Technologies, Inc. which pioneered software defined radios for cellphone/paging over-the-air intercept and the first Emergency-911 (E911) cellphone position location system, and Wireless Valley Communications, Inc., a leader in site-specific wireless deployment, and was an advisor to Straight Path Communications which sold 5G millimeter wave spectrum to Verizon. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and is in the Wireless Hall of Fame, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Inventors, recipient of IEEE’s Eric Sumner Award, and a life member of the American Radio Relay League. His ham radio call sign is N9NB.
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4 – Title: Future Perspectives – beyond 100
9 October 2024, 11:00 to 12:30, Amphitheater
The 100th VTC is the right occasion to look forward and anticipate the future, or at least the main challenges that will keep motivating new generations of Engineers.
This speculative panel brings together renown experts in a variety of areas underpinning the challenging developments ahead around Vehicular and ancillary technologies.Eric Burger, Virginia Tech & Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, USA – Cybersecurity
Eric Burger, Virginia Tech & Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, USA – Cybersecurity
Ingrid Moerman, imec-UGent, Belgium – Deterministic Wireless Communications
Joseph Mitola III, ENSCO, USA – Cognitive Everything
Mischa Dohler, Ericsson Inc., USA – Generative AI
Monisha Ghosh, Notre Dame Univ., ex-FCC, USA – Spectrum & Spectrum Management
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5 – Title: Open Source/Open-RAN for 6G
10 October 2024, 11:00 to 12:30, Amphitheater