Liu Lands Air Force Faculty Fellowship

A University of Kansas electrical engineering professor has received a highly competitive summer fellowship with the United States Air Force.

Lingjia Liu, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science (EECS), has been selected as a Faculty Fellow for the 2013 Air Force Summer Faculty Fellow Program (AF SFFP). Only 20 faculty members from across the nation were awarded fellowships.

Working with research engineers in the Air Force Research Laboratory, Dr. Liu will conduct research on dynamic spectrum access networks, such as cognitive radio and software-defined radio networks. These adaptive wireless networks will enable greater efficiency of and access to the radio frequency (RF) spectrum, which billions of devices―from smartphones and computer tablets to Blu-ray players and e-book readers― are gobbling up.

“This is indeed a great honor and opportunity for me to have the chance to interact with professors around the nation and collaborate with top-notched researchers in the Air Force Research Laboratory,” said Dr. Liu. “This will also provide a fantastic opportunity to showcase sample research capabilities available at KU.”

At KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center (ITTC), Dr. Liu is working to increase the efficiency of wireless devices and networks to support ever-growing numbers of users and traffic per user. Currently, narrow frequency bands ensure TV and radio broadcasts, mobile devices, and other wireless communication avoid interference with one another. Software-defined radio devices can access numerous frequencies simultaneously, making it possible to share spectrum.The added flexibility will help meet the growing demand for mobile broadband Internet and other bandwidth intensive applications.  

Dr. Liu joined KU in 2011, after conducting extensive research with Samsung Research America on the standardization of 3GPP LTE/LTE-Advanced systems. He has received a New Faces of Engineering Award from the National Engineers Week Foundation, a coalition of engineering societies, major corporations, and government agencies. He serves as an editor for IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications (TWireless), the leading international journal in wireless communications. His research is funded by the National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and Samsung Research America.