Troy, N.Y. — Alhussein Abouzeid, assistant professor of electrical, computer, and systems engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been awarded a Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Abouzeid will use the projected five-year, $400,000 grant to investigate dynamic wireless networks with applications in environmental sensing, disaster response, and connecting homes within a community. 

Abouzeid will focus on designing new protocols for “multi-hop” wireless networks, in which data has to hop over multiple points to get where it needs to go. He also is developing mathematical tools that will serve as a theoretical foundation for understanding the tradeoffs involved in their design. These networks could be essential tools for disaster responders, who might need to form an impromptu wireless network among various laptops and handheld electronic devices, according to Abouzeid.

Most current wireless networks are based on protocols developed for the Internet, which was not designed as a wireless system, Abouzeid says. He plans to investigate several alternative approaches that could offer greater reliability, scalability, and performance.

“Professor Abouzeid is a top-notch educator who is doing research at the cutting edge of wireless communication technology,” said Omkaram “Om” Nalamasu, vice president for research at Rensselaer. “We are proud to see him recognized with this prestigious award.”

The CAREER Award is given to faculty members at the beginning of their academic careers and is one of the NSF’s most competitive awards, placing emphasis on high-quality research and novel education initiatives.

Abouzeid’s research will be integrated with education through a combination of course materials and high school student exercises, as well as involvement of undergraduate students in research projects. He plans to work with Rensselaer’s New Visions program to provide hands-on, college-level experience in computer networks to high school students by developing learning games and exercises. New Visions is a program for high school students who are considering a college major in math, engineering, technology, or science. 

Abouzeid earned a bachelor’s from Cairo University in 1993, and a master’s and doctorate from the University of Washington in 1999 and 2001, all in electrical engineering. He joined the Rensselaer faculty in 2001.

Contact: Jason Gorss
Phone: (518) 276-6098
E-mail: gorssj@rpi.edu