Ahmed Maksud, Ph.D.
Wireless systems researcher · IEEE 802.11 MAC · OFDM/MIMO DSP · PHY-layer security · ML/RL for wireless
I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Texas State University, working on modern wireless systems across protocol (IEEE 802.11 MAC, channel access, QoS, power saving), signal (OFDM/MIMO DSP, channel modeling, physical-layer security), and intelligence (ML/RL-driven scheduling and control). My current work develops intelligent, energy-aware Wi-Fi using reinforcement-learning-based Target Wake Time (TWT) scheduling and RF energy harvesting for IEEE 802.11, which is designed to be protocol-compliant, built on standard MAC mechanisms, and released as open-source, reproducible ns-3 pipelines (C++/Python, Stable-Baselines3). I received my Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from UC Riverside (2024), where I worked on physical-layer security, focusing on continuous encryption functions, MIMO secret-key capacity, and OFDM secrecy optimization; bridging formal analysis (information theory, statistical signal processing) with validated implementation (MATLAB/Python testbeds, Monte-Carlo simulation).
News
- Apr 2026$70,000 Comcast Innovation Fund secured for Agentic TWT Scheduler for Future Home Wi-Fi.
- Apr 2026Paper accepted at IEEE ICCCN 2026: Deep Reinforcement Learning-based Dynamic TWT Scheduling for Heterogeneous Wi-Fi Networks.
- Sep 2024Started as Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Texas State University (PI: Marcelo M. Carvalho).
- Aug 2024Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering granted, UC Riverside — thesis: Novel Methods for Wireless Network Security.
- May 2024Letter published in IEEE Wireless Communications Letters: Secret-Key Capacity From MIMO Channel Probing.
Experience
- New family of SVD-based continuous encryption functions for wireless physical-layer security, robust against ML-based and known-ciphertext attacks
- Reliable secret-key generation from channel reciprocity using the SVD-CEF
- Physical-layer encryption for UAV-to-Ground communication using symbol and constellation hiding
- Closed-form secret-key capacity (SKC) bounds for MIMO channels
- Optimal carrier pairing and power allocation for secure OFDM links, based on the two-phase STEEP protocol
I supported operations and maintenance of a 225 MW dual-fuel combined-cycle power plant, helped prepare its detailed monthly energy-sales billing, and assisted in diesel fuel procurement.
Education
Selected Honors
- $70K Comcast Innovation Fund (2026) — Agentic TWT Scheduler for Future Home Wi-Fi
- Dean's Distinguished Fellowship, UCR Electrical and Computer Engineering (2018)
- Second Runner-up, IEEE Video and Image Processing (VIP) Cup (2017)
- Honorable Mention, International Physics Olympiad (2012)
- Technical Reviewer — IEEE IROS, ISIT, ICC, WCNC, ICMLCN, GLOBECOM, WiOpt (2023–present); TPC Member, IEEE Cloud Summit 2026