Elahe Soltanaghai

Elahe Soltanaghai is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and a Faculty Affiliate in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is also a 2022 NCSA Fellow and received her PhD in Computer Science from the University of Virginia (2019), MS in Computer Engineering from Sharif University of Technology (2014), and dual BS degrees in Computer and Information Technology Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology (2011, 2013).

• PhD: University of Virginia, Computer Science, 2019
• MS: Sharif University of Technology, Computer Engineering, 2014
• BS (Computer Engineering): Amirkabir University of Technology, 2011
• BS (Information Technology Engineering): Amirkabir University of Technology, 2013

Her research spans wireless sensing and communication, focusing on Millimeter-wave Radar Sensing (for automotive, mixed reality, structural monitoring), Machine Learning for Wireless Systems (adaptive sensing/communication), Forest IoT (through-canopy biomass and soil sensing), Metaverse Technologies (gaze-based VR/AR), and Low-Power Backscatter Communication (WiFi/power-line tags). She directs the Wireless, Sensing & Embedded Networked Systems (iSENS) Lab and co-directs the Illinois Center for IoT.

Her work bridges wireless networking with cyber-physical sensing, emphasizing environmental monitoring (e.g., wildfire fuel detection via radar tags) and human-computer interaction (e.g., gaze-tracking in VR). Recent articles include innovations in passive radar profiling, through-canopy biomass characterization, and integrated communication-sensing protocols.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Google Research Scholar Award (2022)
  • N2Women Rising Star (2021)
  • ACM SIGMOBILE Dissertation Award (2020)
  • EECS Rising Stars (2019)
  • NCSA Faculty Fellowship (2023)
  • Best Demo Runner-up, IPSN (2023)
  • Teaching Excellence Award (2023)
• Grants:
  • NASA FireTech Program Grant (2025)
  • NSF Grant for Radar-based Perception (2024)
  • Insper-Illinois Grant for VR Research (2024)
  • Keysight Research Gifts (2022, 2023)
  • T-Mobile Research Gift (2022)