Fellows

Name: Mohammad Eskandarinia

Institution: Industrial Systems Institute Athena Research Center

Supervisor: Dr. Christos Verikoukis

Brief CV:

Mohammad Eskandarinia is a dedicated researcher with a strong academic foundation and a commitment to advancing communication technologies. His academic journey began with a profound interest in mathematics during high school in Tehran, which motivated him to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at Amirkabir University (GPA: 3.4/4). This program sharpened his analytical and problem-solving skills through a variety of hands-on projects. Building on this foundation, he further specialized with a Master’s degree in Optical Communication at the same institution, where he developed expertise in optical fiber networks, wireless communication systems, signal processing, and machine learning. His thesis, “Design and Analysis of the Cost of Different Services in Elastic Optical Networks,” proposed innovative resource allocation methods to optimize service costs, fueling his ambition to extend this work into wireless networks through advanced machine learning techniques and digital twin technologies.

In his professional career, he contributed to the implementation of ORAN for MCI, a leading mobile network operator, where he gained proficiency with tools such as Docker, Kubernetes, and virtual machines, while refining his technical and teamwork capabilities. As a manager at Fiber Gostar Optic Processing Company, he led Fiber Optic Network implementation projects and BTS antenna maintenance, expanding his technical knowledge and enhancing his leadership and project management skills. His research focuses on optical communication, with an emphasis on optimizing power and cost in the presence of nonlinear noise.

Name: Mohammadreza Dibaj

Institution: Iquadrat Informatica S.L

Supervisor: Dr. John Vardakas

Brief CV:

Mohammadreza Dibaj received his Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering (Telecommunications) from Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Iran, in 2024, graduating with a GPA of 3.88/4. His thesis, “Learning the Optimal Resource Allocation in Optical Networks for Joint Transmission of Classical and Quantum Traffic,” focused on developing optimization strategies for dynamic quantum and classical traffic coexistence in multi-band elastic optical networks.

He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Babol Noshirvani University of Technology in 2021 with distinction (GPA: 3.83/4). He has co-authored multiple high-impact publications, including articles in the Journal of Lightwave Technology (JLT) and IEEE Communications Letters, on topics such as traffic-aware optimization, noise analysis in QKD, and resource allocation in optical networks.

Currently, as a Research Engineer at Iquadrat in Barcelona, he is contributing to cutting-edge research in the EMPOWER-6G project under the supervision of Dr. John Vardakas. His expertise includes optical network optimization, quantum key distribution (QKD), and machine learning applications in telecommunications.

Name: Pouya Mehdizadeh

Institution: Iquadrat Informatica S.L

Supervisor: Dr. John Vardakas

Brief CV:

Pouya Mehdizadeh received his Master’s degree in Telecommunications from Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Iran, in 2024. His thesis, titled “Learning-Based Quality of Transmission Estimation for Quantum Traffic in Optical Networks,” proposed innovative machine learning models for dynamically optimizing quantum signal placement in multi-band (O+E+S+C+L-band) fiber-optic networks.
He previously earned his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Babol Noshirvani University of Technology in 2021, graduating with distinction. His contributions include co-authoring several peer-reviewed publications, such as in IEEE Communications Letters and the Journal of Lightwave Technology (JLT). These works explore topics like noise analysis of QKD, machine learning-based resource allocation, traffic-aware optimization, and cost-efficient quantum communication networks in multi-band and multi-fiber environments.
He is now affiliated with IQUADRAT, where he plays a key role in advancing telecommunications research as a member of the Marie-Curie EMPOWER-6G program.

Name: Sai Vikranth Goud Pendem

Institution: Chalmers University of Technology

Supervisor: Prof. Paolo Monti, Dr. Carlos Natalino from Chalmers and Dr. Antonio Napoli from Infinera.

Brief CV:

Sai Vikranth finished his Master of sciences in Physics from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning (India) in 2021 securing a Gold Medal for his academic acheivements . He finished his Master of Technology(M.Tech) in Optoelectronics and Optical Communications from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (India) in 2023. His M.Tech thesis titled – “Machine Learning for Nonlinear compensation in coherent optical communication systems” aimed at employing ML techniques for improving the quality of transmission of an optical link and decreasing the coherent receiver’s complexity compared to traditional DSP technique for nonlinear compensation. He worked as an Optical hardware engineer(R&D) at Tejas networks ( Tata sons pvt. Ltd) till October 2024 during which he played a pivotal role in developing line card supporting 1.2Tbps data rates per wavelength and developing C+L solution. He is currently a Marie Curie Empower 6G Doctoral student focusing on developing next-generation metro-access networks supporting 6G mobile networks. His studies involve optimizing and evaluating the performance of network scenarios where transceivers use digital sub carrier multiplexing technology in coherent point-to-multipoint optical networks.

Name: Panagiotis Panagoulas

Institution: Iquadrat Informatica S.L

Supervisor: Dr. John Vardakas

Brief CV:

Panagiotis Panagoulas received his Integrated Master’s Degree in Telecommunications from the University of Thessaloniki in 2021. His Master’s thesis focused on simulating and optimizing elliptical microstrip antennas in wireless communication systems, exploring novel strategies like the usage of metamaterials, to enhance performance and efficiency of antennas radiating in various sets of frequency ranges while keeping the losses extremely low. Following his graduation, Panagiotis joined Intracom Telecom and worked as a Software Engineer, where he was responsible for the implementation and testing of scalable telecommunication software products. He has since transitioned to IQUADRAT, where he is working on cutting-edge telecommunications technologies as part of the Marie-Curie EMPOWER-6G program.

Name: Tianzheng Miao

Institution: KU Leuven

Supervisor: Prof. François Rottenberg (Academic Supervisor) and Dr. Md Arifur Rahman (Industrial Supervisor)

Brief CV:

Tianzheng Miao received his Master of Philosophy degree in Computer and Information Engineering from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, in 2024. His research primarily focuses on Intelligent Reflecting Surface (IRS)-assisted Integrated Sensing and Communications. He previously earned a dual degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Xidian University (China) and Heriot-Watt University (UK), in 2022. Currently, he is part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Project (EMPOWER-6G doctoral network), where he is designing and implementing novel distributed Cell-Free networks based on real channel data. Additionally, he is developing dynamic algorithms to optimize cooperation levels between Distributed Units (DUs) and Access Points (APs), aimed at minimizing interference and enabling scalable fronthaul deployment.

Name: Reza Ghasemi Alavicheh

Institution: IS-Wireless Company and KU Leuven University

Supervisor: Dr. Md Arifur Rahman (Industrial Supervisor) and Prof. François Rottenberg (Academic Supervisor)

Brief CV:

Reza Ghasemi Alavicheh received his Master’s degree from Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) in 2023. His primary research interests are centered on the physical layer aspects of telecommunications, particularly MIMO communication systems. His Master’s research explored the utilization of Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) technology in Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN). This research led to a publication in the IEEE Open Journal of Communications Society. Following his graduation, Reza joined a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Project (EMPOWER-6G doctoral network) in collaboration with KU Leuven University and IS-Wireless Company. During this PhD project, he aims to introduce a state-of-the-art approach to cell-free massive MIMO network design that aligns with Open RAN (O-RAN) principles by integrating Physical Layer Security (PLS) concepts.

Name: Adel Sefiane

Institution: NVIDIA

Supervisor: Dr. Juan Jose Vegas Olmos

Brief CV:

Adel Sefiane received his Integrated Master’s Degree in Informatics from the University of Edinburgh in 2023. His Master’s thesis focused on optimizing TCP congestion control for mobile networking systems, exploring novel strategies to enhance performance and efficiency of uplink data transfer in wireless communication environments. Following his graduation, Adel joined Palantir Technologies as a Software Engineer, where he was responsible for the design and implementation of scalable data analytics platforms. He has since transitioned to NVIDIA, where he is working on cutting-edge telecommunications technologies as part of the Marie-Curie EPOWER-6G program.

Name: David Miguel Franco Rodrigues

Institution: Institute of Communication Computer Systems

Supervisor: Dr. Manos Varvarigos

Brief CV:

David Rodrigues received a Bachelor’s Degree in Informatics Engineering from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Portugal) in 2021. He obtained a double Master’s Degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico (Portugal), majoring in Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity, and in Health and Medical Data Analytics from EIT Health and the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain), graduating from both programs in 2023. He then worked as a Machine Learning Engineer at Loka, contributing to innovative GenAI-related projects that leveraged natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision for multiple clients. Currently, he is enrolled in the Marie Curie EMPOWER-6G doctoral network, working at the Institute of Communications and Computer Systems (ICCS) on applying AI to resource management and the optimization of Next Generation Networks.

Name: Alberto Otero casado

Institution: Chalmers University of Technology and Infinera.

Supervisor: Dr. Antonio Napoli

Brief CV:

Alberto Otero casado received his Bachelor Degree in Telecommunications Engineering from Universidad de Granada (Spain) in 2021. He received a joint Master degree from the Erasmus Mundus programme in Photonics, issued by the Université Jean Monnet (France), University of Eastern Finland and Politecnico di Torino (Italy), in 2023. His Master thesis concerned the development of a Silicon Photonics Chip for telecommunications, which especifically covered the implementation of an optical add-drop switch and the design of the mask to implement it. After that, he has enrolled in the Marie-Curie EMPOWER-6G program, to obtain an industrial PhD at Chalmers University of Technology and Infinera.