Rui Zhang has received this year’s Paul Baran Young Scholar Award from the Marconi Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a connected world where information and communications technologies empower everyone to reach their full potential. Zhang is a recent Ph.D. graduate of the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering where she was advised by Professor Xiaoli Ma. She is currently a staff engineer at MediaTek USA.

The Marconi Society Paul Baran Young Scholar Award honors the world’s most innovative young engineers in information and communications technology (ICT). It is presented to researchers who are 27 years old or younger to commemorate Guglielmo Marconi’s age when he made his first successful wireless transmission.

“The network continues to be a great social equalizer and economic driver. Advancements that make networks operate together more efficiently and cost effectively will be critical to ensuring that everyone has access to the opportunities of our connected world,” said Vint Cerf, chair of the Marconi Society. “Our Paul Baran Young Scholars represent the future of information and communications technology and we are honored to welcome [this year’s awardees] to the Marconi Society family.”

Zhang is being recognized for her innovations of communication systems and ultra-capacity networking techniques to address flexibility, efficiency, and reliability issues. She has been working on these research challenges since 2017 in the NSF-sponsored Center of Fiber-Wireless Integration and Networking (FiWIN).

Her research areas include the design and performance of data center communications, long-haul optical fiber transmission, 6G and beyond radio access networks, and fixed access using fiber wireless integration technologies. Her research will facilitate and support massively connected IoT devices, emerging machine learning applications, and ubiquitous computing in a cost-effective and reliable way.

“It is my great honor to receive this award,” said Zhang. “I look forward to being part of the Marconi Society and to working with other Young Scholars to contribute to communications research that makes the world a better-connected community for all the people.”

Zhang will be celebrated alongside fellow Young Scholar honoree Gregroy Tanyi of the University of Melbourne — as well as wireless innovator and 2022 Marconi Fellow, Siavash Alamouti — during the Marcon Society’s annual Gala on November 3 at the University of California at Berkeley.