OU-Tulsa / Engineering / Faculty and Staff
Hazem Refai
Williams Associate Professor
Telecommunications Networking
hazem@ou.edu
Dr. Hazem H. Refai received his M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Oklahoma (OU) in 1993 and 1999, respectively. Since the fall of 2012, Dr. Refai has served as Professor for OU at the school of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Telecommunication Program in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Dr. Refai’s work is currently focused in the development of optical wireless mobile communication system using free space optics, cognitive radios and networks, vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems, and auto-collision avoidance systems. He is founder and director of the Wireless Electromagnetic Compliance and Design (WECAD) Center at OU-Tulsa. WECAD’s mission is to conduct basic and applied research examining medical device coexistence with various RF wireless systems and technologies, as well as validating electronic and electromagnetic compatibility. Dr. Refai is past IEEE ComSoc Tulsa Chapter President and served as the organization’s North American Distinguished Lecturer Tour Coordinator.
Dr. Refai has published more than 162 referred papers for national and international conferences. He has authored 56 journal articles, and a book chapter.
During Dr. Refai’s tenure at OU-Tulsa, he has developed and taught five new courses, including RF Microelectronics, Digital Signal Processing, Wireless Communication, Wireless Networks and Standards, Network Management and Design, and Telecom Laboratory. He supervised and successfully chaired 48 MS ECE students and 19 ECE PhD students.
Dr. Refai is also the founder and director of Innovative Traffic Systems and Solutions LLC—a company that develops computing and communication systems for use in intelligent transportation and highway systems. Further information is available at the following link: http://itrafficsystems.com/.
Dr. Refai and his students have received numerous awards and recognitions:
Research Interests
Ali Imran
Williams Associate Professor
Telecommunications and Networking
ali.imran@ou.edu
Dr. Imran is a Williams (Associate) Professor of Telecommunication and Networking and Presidential Professor in the school of electrical and computer engineering. He is the founding director of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Networks (AI4Networks) Research Center at the University of Oklahoma (www.ai4networks.com). His research interests include AI and its applications to achieve zero-touch automation wireless networks and transforming sick care into healthcare through advances in cyber-physical systems and AI. His work on these topics has resulted in several patents and over 150 peer-reviewed articles including some of the highly influential papers in the domain of wireless network automation. On these topics he has led numerous multinational projects, given invited talks/keynotes and tutorials at international forums and advised major public and private stakeholders. He holds a B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Pakistan, in 2005, an M.Sc. degree (Hons.) in mobile and satellite communications and a PhD degree from the University of Surrey, Guildford, U.K., in 2007 and 2011, respectively. He is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, U.K. He is also a member of the Advisory Board to the Special Technical Community on Big Data, the IEEE Computer Society and President of the IEEE Comsoc Tulsa Chapter. More about Dr Imran's research can be found at the AI4Networks Research center website, his personal page given below and the google scholar link given below:
Website of AI4Networks research center led by Dr Imran: www.ai4networks.com
Dr Imran's personal website: www.ali-imran.com
Dr Imran's google scholar profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=NA-g40QAAAAJ
Scholarship Opportunities:
I am always looking for brilliant students. If you think you have potential to become a glittering star in the cosmos of wireless cellular communications, drop me your resume at ali.imran at ou.edu.
Samuel Cheng
Associate Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
samuel.cheng@ou.edu
Dr. Samuel Cheng received the B.S. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Hong Kong in 1995, and the M.Phil. degree in Physics and the M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, in 1997 and 2000, respectively. He received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University in 2004. He worked in Microsoft Asia, China, and Panasonic Technologies Company, New Jersey, in the areas of texture compression and digital watermarking during the summers of 2000 and 2001. In 2004, he joined Advanced Digital Imaging Research, a research company based near Houston, Texas, as a Research Engineer to perform biomedical imaging research and was promoted to Senior Research Engineer the next year. He has several patent submissions and has been awarded three US patents in the area of digital watermarking. He is a member of IEEE, Sigma Xi, and AAAS. His research interests include information theory, image/signal processing, and pattern recognition.
Research Interests
Pramode Verma
Emeritus Professor, Tulsa Campus
Electrical and Computer Engineering
pverma@ou.edu
Pramode K. Verma is Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Gallogly College of Engineering of the University of Oklahoma. Prior to that (1999-2016) he was Professor, Williams Chair in Telecommunications Networking, and Director of the Telecommunications Engineering Program. He joined the University of Oklahoma in 1999 as the founder-director of a graduate program in Telecommunications Engineering. He is the author/co-author of over 150 journal articles and conference papers, and several books in telecommunications engineering. His academic credentials include a doctorate in electrical engineering from Concordia University in Montreal, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Verma has been a keynote speaker at several international conferences. He received the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa President’s Leadership Award for Excellence in Research and Development in 2009. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and a Senior Fellow of The Information and Telecommunication Education and Research Association. Prior to joining the University of Oklahoma, over a period of twenty five years, he held a variety of professional, managerial and leadership positions in the telecommunications industry, most notably at AT&T Bell Laboratories and Lucent Technologies. He is the co-inventor of eleven patents.
Research Interests
Denise Davis
Administrative Assistant
dldavis@ou.edu
