Boost to wireless research facilities after £1.5million donation

The new facilities are equipped with £1.5M worth of wireless and mobile test equipment donated by Aeroflex, a leading global provider of wireless communications testing and measurement equipment.

These resources will complement the department's large portfolio of communications research, which aims to bring together wireless, optical and internet technologies to extend the reach and capacity of communications networks.

"Aeroflex's very generous donation will make a huge difference to the work of this department, and this new equipment will accelerate our research into 3G, 4G and future wireless technologies," said Professor Izzat Darwazeh, the Head of the Communications and Information Systems Group in UCL  Electronic & Electrical Engineering. "Our relationship with Aeroflex, and the opportunities it provides for our students, helps to prepare them for their future careers as well as enhancing our worldwide academic reputation."

The laboratory will be used not only for research, but also in MSc teaching for Telecommunications and Wireless and Optical Communications programmes, where Aeroflex equipment and expertise will allow the design of student projects with direct real world applications and challenges.

This builds on an established relationship with Aeroflex which has incorporated both financial support and work placements, as well as invited lectures from industry researchers, and marks a new wave of connections between the institutions.

"The inauguration of this new laboratory affirms Aeroflex's commitment to supporting academic research, and continues our program of assisting universities who are at the forefront of wireless technology in order to nurture the talented engineers that the industry needs to be competitive in the future," said Dr Hayk Manukyan, Technical Product Manager and Head of Collaborations with Universities at Aeroflex. "We are very pleased to support UCL in this way, and we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership with them."

The Aeroflex laboratory will provide resources to turn existing strengths in fundamental wireless research into the practical improvements to ICT infrastructure which are priorities for future development.

Technologies developed here could have a real impact on the next generation of wireless communication networks and user equipment, such as smartphones, tablet PCs, and future mobile devices.

Image: From left to right: Professor Steve Caddick (UCL Vice Provost for Enterprise), Professor Izzat Darwazeh (Head of Communications Systems Group), Dr Ioannis Andreopoulos, Prof Marek Ziebart (Vice Dean for Research at UCL Engineering), Professor Alwyn Seeds (Head of UCL Electronic & Electrical Engineering) and Dr Hayk Manukyan (Technical Product Manager and Head of Collaborations with Universities at Aeroflex)

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