Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
Faculty of Engineering
Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, ON
Tel: +807-343-8183
[May 3rd, 2026] Our group member, Mohammed Abufoul, has been appointed as the Session Chair for the “Communication 2” session at IEEE CCECE 2026. Congratulations and well done.
[May 2nd, 2026] "Performance Analysis of Unauthorized UAV Detection Using RF Sensing Under Non-Ideal Transceiver Conditions" work accepted by IEEE OJCOM, congratulations to Dr. Emad Saleh.
[April. 24th, 2026] Our group member, Mohammed AbuFoul, has been awarded the Graduate Student Executive Scholarship in recognition of hiis outstanding research achievements. Congratulations to Mohammed —we wish him all the best!
[April 13th, 2026] Congratulations to Mohammed AbuFoul on passing his PhD comprehensive Exam, well done.
[Feb. 13th, 2026] Design, Test, Discover: Lakehead ECE PhD with Dr. Asma Mustafa: Link.
[November 21st, 2025] "Performance Insights into Neural Estimation in mm-wave Systems" work accepted by IEEE TVT, congratulations to Dr. Islam and Dr. Deeb.
[November 11th, 2025] "Unified Mathematical Framework for Channel Estimation in VLC Systems with Signal-Dependent Noise" work accepted by IEEE CL, congratulations to Dr. Asma and Dr. Maysa.
[Sep. 26th, 2025] Congratulations to Sara Hassan for obtaining her Ph.D. degree. Well done, Dr. Sara.
[September 19th, 2025] Delighted to be listed again this year among the top 2% of scientists in the world according to a study published by Elsevier (prepared by Scientists from Stanford University, USA). This is another opportunity to thank all my mentors, colleagues, and students for their endless support and contributions: Source.
[September 15th, 2025] "Tracking and Positioning Dynamic Targets in VLC: Signal Dependent Noises and Bayesian Bound Analysis " work accepted by IEEE TCOM, congratulations to Sara and Dr. Maysa.
[August 25th, 2025] Congratulations to Mohammed Abufoul on being awarded the AFCCE Scholarship for the Fall 2025 semester by the **Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE), Washington, D.C., USA, Link .
[July 22nd, 2025] Congratulations to Sara on passing her PhD Seminar, well done.
[May 21st, 2025] Congratulations to Islam Abu Mahady for obtaining her Ph.D. degree. Well done, Dr. Islam.
[April 22nd, 2025] Congratulations to Sara on passing her PhD comprehensive exam, well done.
[April. 1st, 2025] Our group member, Sara Hassan, has been awarded the Graduate Student Executive Scholarship in recognition of her outstanding research achievements. Congratulations to Sara—we wish her all the best!
[Jan. 24th, 2025] "Parameter-Based Estimation of Block Time-Varying Channels in OTFS Modulation Systems" work accepted by IEEE Wireless Communications Letters, Congratulations to Mohammed AbuFoul, Dr. Deeb Tubail and Dr. Mohammed Zourob.
[Jan. 18th, 2025] "Advancing Optical Communication: Visible Light Communication and Multi-Layer Airborne Backhaul Networks" has been ACCEPTED for presentation as a tutorial at the 2025 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC) Tutorials. Congratulations to Dr. Maysa and Dr. Elamassie.
[December 12th, 2024] "Enhancing and Generalizing Position-Velocity Tracking in Imperfect mm-wave Systems Using a Low-Complexity Neural Network" work accepted by IEEE OJCOM, congratulations to Dr. Deeb.
[September 19th, 2024] Delighted to be listed again this year among the top 2% of scientists in the world according to a study published by Elsevier (prepared by Scientists from Stanford University, USA). This is another opportunity to thank all my mentors, colleagues, and students for their endless support and contributions, Source.
[September 12th, 2024] "FD MU-MIMO Systems: Performance Analysis in the Presence of Imperfect CSI and Non-ideal Transceivers" work accepted by IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, congratulations to Dr. Emad and Dr. Malek.
[August 14th, 2024] "Bayesian Cramer-Rao Bound, Extended and Unscented Kalman Filters Based Tracking Through Non-Ideal Transceivers in 5G and Beyond " work accepted by IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, congratulations to Dr. Deeb.
[August 9th, 2024] Congratulations to Dr. Emad Saleh on being promoted to Senior IEEE Member.
[August 9th, 2024] IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering 2024 1st Place BEST PAPER AWARDS: "Impact of Hardware Impairments on Physical Layer Security of Cell-Free Massive MIMO", Congratulations to Ayesha Tahreem and Dr. Deeb Tubail.
[July 7th, 2024] "Insights into Visible Light Positioning: Range Tracking and Bayesian Cramér-Rao Lower Bound Analysis " work accepted by IEEE Communications Letters (CL), congratulations to Sara and Dr. Maysa.
[June 17th, 2024] "Signal-Dependent Shot and Relative Intensity Noise in Channel Estimation of Laser Diode-based Indoor VLC Systems" work accepted by Transaction on Communications (TCOM), congratulations to Dr. Maysa.
[May 24th, 2024] Congratulations to Maysa Yaseen for obtaining her Ph.D. degree, well done Dr. Maysa.
[May 5th, 2024] "Impact of Hardware Impairments on Physical Layer Security of Cell-Free Massive MIMO" work accepted by IEEE CCECE2014, congratulations to Ayesha and Dr. Deeb.
[April 25th, 2024] Congratulations to Ayesha Tahreem for obtaining her Master's degree, well done Ayesha.
[April 22nd, 2024] "Hardware Impairments Effects on Over the Air System Assisted by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle" work accepted by IEEE Communications Letters, congratulations to Dr. Hamzih, Dr. Emad and Dr. Malek, well done.
[December 18th, 2023] Congratulations to Deeb Tubail for obtaining his Ph.D. degree. Well done, Dr. Deeb.
[October 6th, 2023] Delighted to be listed again this year among the top 2% of scientists in the world according to a study published by Elsevier (prepared by Scientists from Stanford University USA). Another opportunity to thank all my mentors, colleagues, and students for their endless support and contributions, Source.
[August 1st, 2023] Congratulations to Hamzih Alsmadi for obtaining his Ph.D. degree. Well done, Dr. Hamzih.
[July 22nd, 2023] IEEE BLACKSEACOM 2023 BEST PAPER AWARDS: "An End-To-End Auto-Encoder Algorithm for Hardware-Impaired Transceivers", Congratulations to Sara Elfar, well done. Link
[July 21st, 2023] Congratulations to Maysa Yaseen for passing her Seminar, well done.
[July 12th, 2023] "Range-Direction Tracking and Bayesian Cramer-Rao Bound Analysis in mm-wave Systems Equipped with Imperfect Transceivers" work accepted by IEEE Wireless Communications Letters. Congratulations to Deeb Tubail, well done.
[June 12th, 2023] ''Capacity Analysis of UAV Communications Under the Non-ideal Transceiver Effects", work accepted by IEEE Communications Letters. Congratulations to Hamzih, Dr. Emad and Dr. Malek.
[May 24th, 2023] ''Channel Estimation in Visible Light Communication Systems: The Effect of Input Signal-Dependent Noise," work accepted by the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. Congratulations to Maysa Yaseen, well done.
[May 19th, 2023] Congratulations to Emad Saleh for obtaining his Ph.D. degree, well done Dr. Emad.
[May 19th, 2023] ''An End-To-End Auto-Encoder Algorithm for Hardware-Impaired Transceivers," work accepted by the 2023 IEEE International Black Sea Conference on Communications and Networking. Congratulations to Sara Hasan, well done.
[May 6th, 2023] I have been promoted to the rank of Full Professor.
[May 4th, 2023] Congratulations to Maysa Yaseen for passing her comprehensive exam. Well done.
[May 5th, 2023] Congratulations to Deeb Tubail for passing his Seminar Exam, well done.
[April 28, 2023] ''Physical Layer Security in Downlink of Cell-Free Massive MIMO with Imperfect CSI," work accepted by IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics & Security. Deeb and Dr. Malik, well done.
[April 14, 2023] Tutorial titled: An Overview of Signal Processing for Massive MIMO and Localization with Non-Ideal Transceivers is accepted by the IEEE Black Sea Conference on Communications and Networking, 2023. Deeb and Dr. Ayse, well done.
[April 4th, 2023] Delighted to be listed again this year among the top 2% of scientists in the world according to a study published by Elsevier (prepared by Scientists from Stanford University, USA). Another opportunity to thank all my mentors, colleagues, and students for their endless support and contributions, Source.
[October 26, 2022] ''The Effect of Hardware Impairments on the Error Bounds of Localization and Maximum Likelihood Estimation of mm-Wave MISO-OFDM Systems," work accepted by IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. Congratulations. Deeb, Busra, and Dr. Ayse, well done.
[October 22, 2022] ''RIS-Aided Mobile Localization Error Bounds Under Hardware Impairments," work accepted by IEEE Transactions on Communications. Congratulations, Dr. Fariba, Dr. Malik, and Deeb, well done.
[Oct. 10, 2022] Delighted to be listed again this year among the top 2% of scientists in the world according to a study published by Elsevier (prepared by Scientists from Stanford University, USA). Another opportunity to thank all my mentors, colleagues, and students for their endless support and contributions. Source.
[October 7, 2022] ''Applying Game Theory to Relay Resource Selection in Hybrid-band Wireless Systems," work accepted by IEEE Sensors Journal. Congratulations, Dr. Bushra, well done.
[August 29, 2022] ''Spectral-Energy Efficiency and Power Allocation in Full-Duplex Networks: The Effects of Hardware Impairment and Nakagami-m Fading Channels, " work accepted by IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. Congratulations, Emad, well done.
[July 29th, 2022] Congratulations to Osama Amjad for obtaining her Ph.D. degree. Well done, Dr. Osama.
[June 24th, 2022] Dr. Ikki becomes a Visiting Research Professor (Nokia Scholarship) at Aalto University, Finland: Link, NOKIA
[May 12th, 2022] Congratulations to Bushra Mughal for obtaining her Ph.D. degree. Well done, Dr. Bushra.
[May 2022] Deeb Tubail has been awarded a Lakehead University 2022-23 Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS). Congratulations, Deeb, well done.
[May 2022] ''Less Complex and Higher Spectral Efficiency Resource Allocation Algorithm for UAV Networks", work accepted by IEEE Canadian Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Congratulations, Hamzih, well done.
[April 2022] ''Less Complex Algorithm to Max-Min the Resource Allocation for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Networks'' work accepted by IEEE VTC2022-Spring, congratulations Hamzih, Dr. Huda and Dr. Malek.
[March 2022] ''Multi-UAV Wireless Networks: Joint Trajectory Optimization and Resource Allocation'' work accepted by the IEEE International Conference on Communications, 2022. Congratulations, Dr. Huda.
[March 2022] ''Spectral Efficiency of Full-Duplex MIMO Systems under the Effects of Hardware Impairments,'' work accepted by IEEE VTC2022-Spring, Helsinki, Finland, 2022. congratulation Emad and Dr. Malek.
[Jan. 28th 2022] I got the Merit Award for exceptional performance in research for the period 2019 to 2021, at Lakehead University.
[Jan. 21st 2022] Congratulations to Ahmed Cheema for obtaining his Ph.D. degree. Well done, Dr. Cheema.
Orthogonal Time Frequency Space Modulation (OTFS)
Millimetre-Wave Communications.
Resource Allocation in 5G Networks.
UAV Communications and Networks.
Estimation and detection.
Full-duplex communications.
Localization and Positioning.
Visible Light Communications (VLC).
Rate Splitting Multiple Access (RSMA).
Salama S. Ikki received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Memorial University, St. John’s, NL, Canada, in 2009. He is currently a Full Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada, where he also holds the position of Lakehead University Research Chair in Wireless Communications.
His research interests include wireless communications, 5G/6G networks, orthogonal time frequency space modulation, visible light communications, millimetre-wave communications, UAV communications, localization and positioning, estimation and detection, and resource allocation. He has authored more than 100 journal and conference papers, with more than 8,000 citations and an h-index of 42.
Dr. Ikki currently serves as an Editor for IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications and has previously served on the editorial boards of IEEE Communications Letters and IET Communications. He has also served as a Technical Program Committee member for major IEEE conferences, including IEEE ICC, IEEE GLOBECOM, IEEE WCNC, IEEE VTC, and IEEE PIMRC. He has received several recognitions for his research and professional service, including best paper awards, Lakehead University research merit awards, and exemplary reviewer certificates from several IEEE journals.
BSc, Electrical Engineering, Al-Isra Jordanian University, Amman, Jordan.
MSc, Electrical Engineering, The Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport, Alexandria, Egypt.
Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Memorial University.
1/5/2023--: Full Professor, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada.
1/9/2016-30/4/2023: Associate Professor, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada.
1/9/2013-1/9/2016: Assistant Professor, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada.
1/9/2011--1/9/2013: Lecturer at Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.
NSERC Alliance International 2026, 25,000 CAD, Title: Advancing Robust Quantum Detection and Estimation for Real-World Quantum Systems.
Mitacs 2025, 10,000 $CAD: Title: MeasleScan Field Effect Transistor.
Mitacs 2025, 10,000 $CAD: Title: Autonomous UAV Search and Rescue Using Deep Learning for Emergency Response in Remote and Infrastructure-Free Regions.
NSERC Alliance International 2024, 25,000 $CAD, Title: Spatial and Temporal Prediction of Wireless Communication Channels for 5G+ Communication Systems.
NSERC Alliance International 2024, 25,000 CAD, Title: Quantum Entanglement: Unravelling Full Duplex Communication.
NSERC Alliance 2020, 50,000 $CAD, Title: Early identification and monitoring of the 2019 novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease community spread, (In partnership with Onica.).
Mitacs Globalink Research Internship 2023: Title: "Cognitive Machine-Type Communications for Massive IoT".
Mitacs 2022, 110,000 $CAD, Title: Low-Cost Sensor System for Remote COVID-19 Patient Monitoring.
NSERC-DG 2020, 205,000 $CAD (Two parts: LU 7000 CAD$ + NSERC DG, 200,000 $CAD). Title: Combined Massive MIMO and Interference Alignment for Future Wireless Networks Involving Machine Type Communications.
NSERC-DG: 2014–2019, 125 000 $CAD. Title: High spectral and energy Efficient Multi-user Large MIMO Wireless Systems.
NSERC-ENGAGE: 2016--2017, 50,000 $CAD. Title: LTE-advanced Machine Type Communication for Internet of Things (In partnership with WiMatek Systems).
NSERC-ENGAGE: 2017--2018 40,000 $CAD. Title: Quadrature Spatial Modulation for Large-Scale MIMO Systems (In partnership with Ericsson).
NSERC-ENGAGE: 2017--2018 45,000 $CAD. Title: Mine Safety System Using Wireless Sensor Networks (In partnership with Goldcorp Inc.).
NSERC-ENGAGE: 2018--2019 46,600 $CAD. Title: Machine Learning-Based Cyber Threat Intelligence and Detection in the Smart Grid (In partnership with N-Dimension Solutions Inc.).
IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering 2024 BEST PAPER AWARDS: "Impact of Hardware Impairments on Physical Layer Security of Cell-Free Massive MIMO".
IEEE BLACKSEACOM 2023 BEST PAPER AWARDS: "An End-To-End Auto-Encoder Algorithm for Hardware-Impaired Transceivers".
Outstanding Volunteer Award: Outstanding volunteer contributions as Track Chair to the IEEE Canadian Conference for Electrical and Computer Engineering 2024.
Merit Award for exceptional performance in research, Lakehead University, 2013-2015, 2015-2017, 2017-2019, 2019-2021, 2021-2023, 2023-2025.
Exemplary Reviewer Certificates: (a) IEEE Communications Letters, 2013. (b) IEEE Wireless Communications Letters, 2013. (c) IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, 2015. (d) IEEE Transactions on Communications, 2016.
EURASIP Best Paper Award: Salama Ikki and Mohamed H. Ahmed, “Performance of Multiple-Relay Cooperative Diversity Systems with Best-Relay Selection over Rayleigh Fading Channels," EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing, vol. 2008.
IEEE ComSoc Technology News: IEEE ComSoc Technology News is a web-based publication bringing the top 0.5% of the most interesting, timely, and newsworthy articles to ComSoc members and the entire global community. Salama Ikki and R. Mesleh, “A General Framework for Performance Analysis of Space Shift Keying (SSK) Modulation in the Presence of Gaussian Imperfect Estimations," IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 16, no. 2, 2012.
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Newcastle University, Annual Research Conference, 2014. Second place for “Best Poster".
Editor: IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, 2025--.
Editor: IEEE Communications Letters, 2012--2018.
Editor: IET Communications Proceedings, 2012--2018.
Editor: Telecommunications (New Journal), MDPI, 2018.
Reviewer: IEEE Transactions on Communications
Reviewer: IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology.
Reviewer: IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.
Reviewer: IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing.
Reviewer: IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.
Reviewer: IEEE Communications Letters.
Reviewer: IEEE Wireless Communications Letters.
Reviewer: IEEE Signal Processing Letters.
Reviewer: IEEE Wireless Communications Magazine.
Reviewer: IET Communications.
Reviewer: Elsevier Physical Communications.
Reviewer: Elsevier Ad-Hoc Networks Journal.
(Published) Quadrature spatial modulation system, (Link)
Inventors: Raed Mesleh, Salama Ikki, and El Hadi Aggoune.
Assignee: Sensor Networks and Cellular System, University Of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Patent Application No: 14/972379.
Application date: 17 December 2015.
Publication Date: 7 November 2017.
Document Type and Number: United States Patent 9813278.
(Published) Retransmission Scheme for OFDM-Index Modulation and Spatial Modulation (Link)
Inventors: Ali Afana, A. Bin Sediq, Salama Ikki and Alex Stephenne.
Assignee: Ericsson, Ottawa, Canada.
Patent Application No: WO/2019/069168.
Publication Date: 11/4/2019.
International Filing Date: 20/9/2018.
(Published) System and Methods for Collecting and Processing Data on one or more Physiological Parameters of Monitored Subject (Link)
United States Patent Application 20220296169.
Inventors: Yahia Alghorani and Salama Ikki.
Assignee: Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Patent Application No: 17/695311.
Publication Date: 22/9/2022.
Filing Date: 15/3/2022.
Track Chair: for the “Communications, Networking, and Signal Processing IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering, (IEEE CCECE), 2025.
Track Chair: for the “Communications, Networking, and Signal Processing IEEE Canadian Conference on Electrical and Computer Engineering, (IEEE CCECE), 2024, Link.
External Reviewer for Academic Promotion, Dr. Yaser Al Mtawa, Department of Applied Computer Science at the University of Winnipeg (2024), Dr. Elias Yaacoub, College of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Qatar University, (2023), Dr. Suliman Fati, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering King Saud University, Faculty of Engineering (2023), Dr. Mohammed Hanif, Department of Engineering, Thomsons River University, 2024, Dr. Yasin Mamatjan, Department of Engineering, Thomsons River University, 2024.
Grant Reviewer, The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), 2024-2025.
Grant Reviewer, MITACS, Canada, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Grant Reviewer, NSERC-DG, Canada, 2024.
Grant Reviewer, Canada Research Chair (CRC), Canada, 2024.
NSERC-DG Committee Reviewer, NSERC-DG, Electrical and Computer Engineering, 1520, 2023-2027.
External Ph.D. Examiner: Student name: Mahmoud Elsanhoury, Thesis Title: Modeling, Design and Analysis of Spectral and Energy-Efficient Spatial Modulation, University of Vaasa. School of Technology and Innovations, Computer Science, Finland, 2024.
External Ph.D. Examiner: Student name: Iman Abu Sulayman, Thesis Title: Smart Authentication Mechanisms: Utilizing Big Data For Dynamic and Personalized Security Solutions, The University of Western Ontario, Canada, 2024.
External Ph.D. Examiner: Student name: Insha Amin, Thesis Title: Secure resource allocation in cooperative NOMA with untrusted users, Indian Institute of Technology Jammu, India, 2024.
External Ph.D. Examiner: Student name: Mohammad Irfan, Thesis Title: Modeling, Design and Analysis of Spectral and Energy-Efficient Spatial Modulation, Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, UNIVERSITÉ DU QUÉBEC, 2020.
External Ph.D. Examiner: Student name: Zeeshan SATTAR, Thesis Title: On the Design and Performance Analysis of mmWave-enabled Next Generation of Wireless Networks, ÉCOLE DE TECHNOLOGIE SUPÉRIEURE, UNIVERSITÉ DU QUÉBEC, 2020.
Internal Ph.D. Examiner: Student name: Mohannad Adel Al-Mousa, Thesis Title: A Knowledge-based Approach for Semantic Similarity, Relatedness, and Word Sense Disambiguation using WordNet, Electrical Engineering Department, Lakehead University, 2020.
External Ph.D. Examiner: Student name: Alaa Hassan, Thesis Title: Efficient Algorithms for Polar Codes, Carleton University, 2018.
External Ph.D. Examiner: Student name: Mohammed Zourob, Thesis Title: Novel Channel Estimation Techniques for Next Generation MIMO-OFDM Wireless Communication Systems: Design and Performance Analysis, University of Western Ontario, 2018.
External Ph.D. Examiner: Student name: Imene Trigui, Thesis Title: Capacity and Performance Analysis of Advanced Relay-Assisted Communication Systems, University of Quebec, INRS, 2015.
Internal Ph.D. Examiner: Student Name: Mohannad AlMousa, Lakehead University, 2015.
Internal Ph.D. Examiner: Student Name: Ayman Alahmar, Lakehead University, 2018.
Internal Ph.D. Examiner: Student Name: Mohamed Ahwiadi Mahwiadi, Lakehead University, 2018
Digital Communication Systems (Graduate Class), EELE 5132.
Statistical Signal Processing (Graduate Class), EELE 5631.
Advanced Wireless Communication Networks, (Graduate Class), EELE 5631.
Wireless Communications (Undergraduate Class), EELE 0578.
Communications Systems (Undergraduate Class), EELE 4053.
Digital Signal Processing (Undergraduate Class), EELE 4631.
Electronic Communications I (Undergraduate Class), EELE 2133.
Linear Algebra and Probability Theory (Foundation Class), EELE 5631.
Advanced Engineering Analysis II, (Undergraduate Class), ENGI 3022.
Electric Circuits Theory II, (Undergraduate Class), EELE 1536.