Postgraduate research students

I am a PhD researcher in the GREEN RF-Enabled Electronics Lab at the University of Glasgow, where I investigate how antennas can function as both sensing and communication devices, enabling a new generation of sustainable, low-cost wireless sensing systems. My research sits at the intersection of electromagnetics, machine learning, wireless sensing, and embedded systems, with a particular focus on antenna-based sensors, chipless RFID, and wearable radio-frequency (RF) sensing technologies.

My work explores how machine learning can be used not only to interpret RF sensing data, but to directly influence the design of sensing hardware itself. Rather than optimising antennas solely for traditional communication metrics such as efficiency and bandwidth, I am developing sensing-aware design methodologies in which measured classification performance is used to guide antenna geometry, materials selection, and operating frequency bands. This research is motivated by the need to bridge the gap between information-rich microwave sensors and the expensive instrumentation traditionally required to interrogate them, enabling practical RF sensing systems for real-world deployment.

A major focus of my current research is wireless human-computer interaction through antenna-based sensing. I have developed and evaluated stretchable wearable antenna sensors capable of recognising hand gestures through changes in their electromagnetic response, demonstrating over-the-air gesture recognition using a single printed antenna sensor. My broader research interests include low-cost RF measurement systems, chipless RFID sensing, sustainable electronic materials, and the development of scalable wireless sensing architectures for future Internet of Things applications.

My research has been recognised through several competitive awards, including the Electronics Weekly Bright Spark Award, which highlights outstanding young electronics engineers in the UK, and an IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Undergraduate Summer Research Scholarship. I am the lead author of a peer-reviewed publication presented at EuCAP 2024 and a co-author on a Nature Communications manuscript currently under review. Beyond research, I am actively involved in public engagement, having won a science communication prize at the University of Glasgow Science Slam, and I serve as Student Chair for European Microwave Week, one of the world's largest microwave engineering conferences.

Alongside my academic work, I contribute to the commercialisation of sustainable RF sensing technologies through the University of Glasgow's REACT Centre and have established collaborations with industrial and academic partners working at the intersection of sensing, communications, and intelligent systems. My long-term goal is to develop sustainable wireless sensing technologies that reduce reliance on conventional electronics and computation while expanding the accessibility and impact of microwave sensing across healthcare, robotics, human-machine interaction, and smart infrastructure.

• Dr Mahmoud Wagih
• Professor Jeff Kettle