NYU WIRELESS was pleased to welcome NSF Program Directors Gerry Tian and John Zavada to campus on November 21st. Dr. Tian’s program responsibilities at NSF involve Communications, Circuits, and Sensing-Systems (CCSS), Enhancing Access to the Radio Spectrum (EARS), and Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC). Dr. Zabada works together with Dr. Tian in the ECCS division of NSF, serving as the Program Director for Photonics.

NYU WIRELESS Director Ted Rappaport provided a full tour of the NYU WIRELESS space to Drs. Tian and Zavada, giving them a first-hand look at the center’s state of the art research facilities and the work being done in mmwave wireless. Tian and Zavada were able to meet with the rest of the Electrical and Computer Engineering faculty and students, giving a presentation on grant funding through NSF and the types of projects they are looking to support. They also gave insight to students regarding their career journey which took them to the National Science Foundation and how students interested in working for NSF might forge such a path.

Students were also able to interview Dr. Tian and Dr. Zavada one-on-one over lunch and gain a valuable education towards how research projects like the ones being done at NYU WIRELESS are funded and come to fruition.