Team

Dr. Adnan Ahmad Cheema obtained BSc in Computer Engineering from the COMSATS University Islamabad, Pakistan and MSc in Signal Processing for Communication from the King’s College London, UK. He has a Ph.D. degree in Electronics Engineering from Durham University, UK, in 2015 funded by Durham University and HMGCC, UK. His PhD thesis was relating to the development of channel sounder for use-cases in cognitive radio and radio propagation channel in sub-6 GHz band.

From 2015 to 2017, he worked in Durham University, UK as a postdoctoral research associate on a project funded by OFCOM, UK, dealing with the 5G radio propagation channel measurements and modeling (sub-6 GHz and 24-90 GHz). His work has been part of various ITU recommendations like of 1238 and 1411. In 2017, he joined Ulster University, UK, as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Electronics Engineering and currently leading the Sensing and Communication (SenComm) research lab.

His research interests include channel measurements and modeling, spectrum monitoring and management, AI analytics and modeling, testbeds and proof of concept system development. He is a regular reviewer of leading journals.

Dr. Ardavan Rahimian (AFHEA, MIEEE) received an MEng (Hons) degree in Electronic and Communications Engineering from the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK, in 2009, and a PhD degree in Electronic Engineering from the Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), London, UK, in 2018.

His doctoral thesis focused on mmWave array beamforming technologies for next-generation wireless subsystems, and in particular, developing flexible/conformal and large-scale Rotman lenses.

From 2018 to 2019, he was a Postdoctoral Research Assistant with the School of EECS at QMUL, working on a research project on the design and feasibility study of a lens-type antenna feeding network for 5G, supported by Huawei Technologies.

Since 2019, he has been a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Electronic Engineering with the School of Engineering at Ulster University, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, UK. He is also affiliated with the School of Computing, as well as the SenComm Research Lab.

He regularly serves as a reviewer for leading journals, flagship conferences, book proposals, and funding applications. He was also the winner of the Rohde & Schwarz Technology Prize in 2009.

His current research interests lie primarily in the broad areas of microwaves and antennas, networks and communications, and their interdisciplinary applications. He has authored or co-authored several papers in these areas. 

Dr. Sunish Kumar Orappanpara Soman (Member, IEEE) received the B.Tech degree in electronics and communications engineering from the Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, India, in 2005, the M.B.A. degree in human resource management and finance from Kerala University, Thiruvananthapuram, India, in 2010, the M.Tech degree in optoelectronics and communication systems from the Cochin University of Science and Technology in 2013, and the Ph.D. degree in computer engineering from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada, in 2020. From 2012 to 2013, he was a Project Assistant with the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India. From 2020 to 2021, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

In 2021, he joined the Ulster University, Jordanstown, Northern Ireland, U.K., as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) of electronics and software engineering. Currently, he is also working as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada and an International Faculty at the Ulster College, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Xi'an, China. He has authored or co-authored many reputed journal papers and flagship conference proceedings in the area of optical communications and digital signal processing. He is serving as a reviewer for various reputed journals such as IEEE/OPTICA Journal of Lightwave Technology, IEEE Communications Letters, IEEE Systems Journal, and IEEE Access.

His research interests include the application of digital signal processing, and the machine learning techniques in various areas of digital and optical communications engineering.

He was the recipient of the Babasaheb Dr. Ambedkar Fellowship National Award, 2011, from India, the Hira-Kamal Ahuja International Graduate Fellowship Award (Ahuja Fellow), 2015, and the Fellow of the School of Graduate Studies Award, 2020, at Memorial University, Canada.

Dr. Usman Hadi (Member IEEE, IEEE YP Chair Region 8) is currently working as a Lecturer in Electronic Engineering in the School of Engineering at Ulster University, Jordanstown campus. Prior to that, he worked as a Post-Doctoral researcher at Aalborg University, Denmark & Ext Research Engineer at Nokia Standards (Nokia Bell Labs) in Aalborg Denmark (2019-2021). He received his Ph.D. degree in Electronic Engineering from the Department of Electronic Engineering University of Bologna, Italy in 2019. At the same time, he was a Visiting Researcher (2017–2019) at Université Paris-Est, ESYCOM, ESIEE Paris, Noisy-le-Grand, France and Nokia Bell Labs, NJ, USA.

His research interests are in the area of wireless communication for 5G and Beyond 5G particularly Time Sensitive Networks, microwave photonics, machine learning including Radio over Fibre systems, devices for telecommunications, and wireless sensor networks. He has published more than 50 Scientific Journals, Transactions and SCI articles. Dr. Hadi was listed in top 2% researcher from the Web of Sciences in 2021. He serves as an editorial for IEEE Access, Photonics, Electronics and Optics Communication.

Dr. Gabriel Gonçalves Machado obtained his BSc degree in Electronic Engineering from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Brazil. He has a PhD in Electronic Engineering with focus in the area of antennas and propagation, obtained from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), UK. His PhD was related to thin FSS based microwave absorbers for applications in ‘busy’ antenna environments and the reduction of the radar cross-sections of metal backed antennas.

In 2021, he joined as a research fellow at the Centre for Wireless Innovation (CWI), part of Queen’s University Belfast, and his research has involved: virus and microwave interaction, GNSS antenna development, microwave absorbers, and his most recent focus is on the development of millimetre wave Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) for 5G and 6G communications.

He joined Ulster University in August 2023, where he teaches Embedded Systems and Sensors to MSc in IoT students. Beyond his interest in RIS development, he has a particular interest in the development of devices and practices in antennas and propagation focused towards sustainability, e-waste reduction, and energy efficiency.

Kd M Raziul Islam received a B.S. degree in electronics and communication engineering from Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET), Bangladesh, in 2010, and an M.S. degree in Electrical/Electronics and Computer Engineering from the University of Ulsan, South Korea, in 2021.

From 2012 to 2016, he was an Operations Specialist Engineer with Banglalink Digital Communication Limited, where he was involved in the operation and maintenance of a telecommunication network. He worked with Huawei as a wireless engineer from 2016 to 2019. He is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Ulster.

His research interests include tunable/reconfigurable metasurface, beam-steering methods, beam-focusing lens, active microwave metasurface absorbers, metasurface-based antenna design, broadband metasurface, and active microwave components.

Muhammad Yunis Daha is a PhD student at the Ulster University. He is working on Edge Intelligence for 5G and Beyond 5G Networks using AI. In 2022, he completed his master’s degree in Information Technology (by Research) from the top-ranked University Technology PETRONAS, Malaysia. His master’s thesis title is “Community Detection-based Link Failure Recovery in SDN” and he used network emulator Mininet and POX controller for simulation performance evaluation. His master's research work as a first author got published in two ISI index journal and two IEEE international conferences. 

His research interests are in the domain of wireless communication, MIMO, massive MIMO and Next-Generation Communication Networks.  

CHI NGUYEN received a B.S. degree in electronics and telecommunications engineering from the University of Transport and Communications, Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2011, and the M.S. degree in telecommunication engineering from  Hanoi University of Science and Technology, in 2016. She is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Ulster. 

Her research interests include channel modeling, deep learning, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), physical layer security, underwater communications, and visible light communications