People

Konpal Ali

Lab Director

Konpal Ali received her BS in Electrical Engineering from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and both her MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Before joining the University of Washington Bothell, she served as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Manitoba and then at New York University (NYU) Abu Dhabi. Her research focuses on wireless communication, specifically the physical layer, with an emphasis on the performance analysis, optimization, and design of large wireless networks that accurately model real-world scenarios.

She has utilized stochastic geometry tools to model large wireless networks and analyze their performance. This approach provides insights into the design of current and future wireless networks, enabling the efficient and effective deployment of new technologies. With the growing communication demands in the 5th and 6th generations (5G and 6G), her work emphasizes efficient spectrum reuse technologies such as device-to-device (D2D) communication, full duplex, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), and partial-NOMA. She is also interested in leveraging the deployment of intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs) to enhance different network goals. More recently she has also been working on integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) to reuse spectrum for both sensing/detection and communication simultaneously.

She is also interested in physical layer security, investigating its application in the context of interference correlation and technologies such as NOMA, IRS and ISAC. Another area of focus is the application of machine learning techniques to address complex problems in resource allocation and parameter selection for large wireless networks. Her research also explores the meta distribution, which provides fine-grained information on percentile performance, particularly in the context of next-generation wireless technologies. 

Murali Mridhula

Graduate Student

Murali Mridhula is a master's student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Washington, Bothell. Her master's thesis focuses on leveraging Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces (IRS) to enhance physical layer security in wireless networks. By reconfiguring the wireless propagation environment, her work aims to improve secrecy performance by strengthening legitimate communication links while suppressing eavesdroppers. She is particularly interested in combining IRS design with tools from stochastic geometry and machine learning to optimize secure wireless communication in next-generation networks.

She holds prior degrees in Electronics Engineering from the University of Surrey, United Kingdom, and Electronics and Communication Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Calicut. Before joining UW, Murali worked as a Software Engineer at TETCOS LLP, where she contributed to the development of 5G protocol stacks, RF propagation models, and network simulation platforms. Her broader research interests lie at the intersection of wireless networks, communication theory, and machine learning applications.

Jacob Fontana

Graduate Student

Jacob is a Master of Science student in Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington Bothell. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Washington State University in 2021 and has since worked as a telecommunications engineer at T-Mobile. In his current professional role, he focuses on Network Validation for T-Mobile's T-Satellite Network.

His graduate research interests are centered at the forefront of wireless communications, including 6G systems, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs), and Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC). For his master's thesis, he is developing simulations for interference cancellation in large-scale ISAC networks using heterogeneous networks. This work investigates the performance differences in existing research using homogeneous models, aiming to better reflect the complexities of real-world implementation. He plans to leverage his advanced degree and research experience to continue advancing his career in the telecommunications industry.

Serene Baddar

Undergraduate Student

Serene is an undergraduate senior pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering. Throughout her studies, she has developed a strong interest in several areas of the electrical engineering field. One of these is her research in wireless communications and physical layer security. Over the past few quarters she has gained both theoretical knowledge as well as an understanding of the practical issues in this area. She has become more passionate about the topic and is interested in pursuing directions to make wireless networks more efficient.