Hongwei Zhang

Hongwei Zhang is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Computer Science at Iowa State University (ISU). He leads the Center for Wireless, Communities and Innovation (WiCI) and holds affiliations in the College of Engineering. His research focuses on wireless networking, cyber-physical systems, and applications in rural communities, agriculture, and autonomous vehicles.

Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from The Ohio State University.

Research Interests: Hongwei's work spans predictable wireless networking, 5G/6G technologies, and mission-critical applications. He explores challenges in vehicular communication, industrial IoT, and rural broadband infrastructure. Key projects include the ARA wireless living lab for smart rural communities and the CyNet cyberinfrastructure for precision agriculture and transportation.

Publications: Over 100 publications in top venues, emphasizing reliable real-time communication, networked control systems, and testbed development. Notable contributions include protocols for vehicular networks and frameworks for edge computing.

• Awards: NSF CAREER Award (2011), Best Paper Awards at IEEE ICPS (2024), ACM WiNTECH (2023), and multiple recognitions at GENI conferences.
• Grants & Projects: NSF-funded initiatives like US Ignite, PAWR, and GENI, focusing on rural broadband and vehicular sensing.

Labs & Teams: Director of the WiCI Center, managing interdisciplinary teams in wireless infrastructure and smart systems. Collaborates with industry partners like Ford Research and Intel Labs.