About
Adam Wolisz is a full Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), where he founded and led the Telecommunication Networks Group (TKN) from 1993 until 2018. He also served as Executive Director of the Institute for Telecommunication Systems (2001-2018), inaugural Dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (2001-2003), and is currently an Einstein Center Digital Future (ECDF) Fellow. Since 2005 he has held an adjunct appointment at the University of California, Berkeley, and is presently a visiting researcher at the Berkeley Wireless Research Center.
Education
- Dipl.-Ing. in Control Engineering, Silesian Technical University, Gliwice (1972)
- Dr.-Ing. in Computer Engineering, Silesian Technical University, Gliwice (1976)
- Habilitation in Computer Engineering, Silesian Technical University, Gliwice (1983)
Research Interests
Professor Wolisz has spent five decades advancing the architectures, protocols, and performance evaluation of communication networks. His current work centres on mobile multimedia communication, wireless sensor networks, and cognitive/cooperative wireless systems. Methodologically, he combines rigorous analytical modelling with large-scale simulation and real-world experimentation, frequently within the open testbeds run by TKN.
A cross-cutting theme is Quality of Service (QoS)—from early work on real-time operating systems and industrial field-buses to recent studies on QoE-driven adaptive video streaming and ultra-reliable low-latency vehicular communications. His group is internationally recognised for contributions to reinforcement-learning-based MAC scheduling, spectrum sharing between LTE-U and WiFi, and energy-efficient protocol design.
Publication Impact & Trends
Across more than 200 refereed publications, two clear trajectories emerge: (1) a continuous evolution from wired network modelling (WDM optical networks, ATM, early Internet QoS) toward fully wireless and mobile settings, and (2) an increasing reliance on machine-learning techniques to tackle uncertainty and dynamics in dense, heterogeneous wireless environments. Recent papers exploit deep reinforcement learning for scheduling, federated learning for context-aware services, and transfer learning for realistic mobile-app testing.
Scientific Awards & Recognition
- Best Paper Awards: IEEE WoWMoM 2020, IEEE INFOCOM CNERT 2019, ACM MSWiM 2017, IEEE EW 2017, IFIP WD 2017, IEEE EW 2009
- Best Demo Award: ACM/IEEE IPSN 2014 (EVARILOS benchmarking platform)
- Senior Member, IEEE & IEEE ComSoc; Member, ITG (VDE); Steering Board, GI/ITG KuVS
Doctoral Advising, Projects & Funding
Since establishing TKN in 1993, Professor Wolisz has supervised over 60 completed PhD dissertations. Current and recent funding includes the DFG Collaborative Research Centre 1053 “MAKI”, DFG priority programme “SmartSynch”, EU projects (e.g., Fed4FIRE+, H2020 5G-Infrastructure), and industrial collaborations with Deutsche Telekom, Nokia, and Rohde & Schwarz. The group operates large-scale indoor and outdoor testbeds (FIT/IoT-LAB Berlin, TKN campus testbed, EVARILOS benchmarking framework) that are open to external researchers.
Laboratories & Teams
At TU Berlin, Professor Wolisz heads the Telecommunication Networks Group (TKN), comprising more than 25 researchers (post-docs, PhD candidates, MSc students, technical staff). TKN maintains four major labs: the Wireless Communication Lab (software-defined radios, mmWave, IEEE 802.11ax/ay), the Sensor Networking Lab (IoT, 6TiSCH, energy harvesting), the Networking Testbed (optical backhaul, network softwarisation), and the QoE & Multimedia Lab (adaptive streaming, immersive media). Multiple spin-off companies have emerged from TKN research, most recently “Wolisz Technologies” (founded 2020) commercialising AI-driven Wi-Fi optimisation.
