Chicago, IL — The Marconi Society, a nonprofit dedicated to creating a connected world where information and communications technologies empower everyone to reach their full potential, announces the recipients of the 2025 Paul Baran Young Scholar Award, honoring four exceptional early-career researchers whose work is advancing the future of information and communications technology (ICT).
The Paul Baran Young Scholar Award recognizes individuals 27 years of age or younger who have demonstrated outstanding scientific achievements, leadership, and entrepreneurial spirit in advancing the connected world.
Introducing the 2025 Paul Baran Young Scholars:
Ruth Gebremedhin – New York University Tandon School of Engineering
Ruth Gebremedhin is a PhD candidate in Electrical and Computer Engineering at NYU Tandon and a researcher with NYU Wireless. Her work focuses on physics-based channel modeling, including thermal conduction for communication and near-field MIMO. A recipient of the IEEE GLOBECOM 2022 Best Paper Award and Outstanding Innovation Awards from Nokia Bell Labs (2022, 2024), Ruth combines rigorous theoretical work with practical applications to design scalable communication architectures. Beyond the lab, she mentors Ethiopian students and contributes to community efforts such as Mozilla Common Voice for low-bandwidth contexts. Her goal is to translate physics-accurate channel representations into practical, scalable communication architectures.
Thomas Micallef – Polytechnique Montréal / TandemLaunch Ventures
Thomas Micallef earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal, where he researched energy harvesting, multifunctional radar architectures, and multiband/harmonic radar systems. An active IEEE volunteer and leader, Thomas serves as Chair of the IEEE Student Branch at Polytechnique Montréal, Lead of the New Initiatives Subcommittee for IEEE Region 7 (Canada), and Lead for Entrepreneurship and Innovation within the IEEE Montréal Young Professionals Affinity Group. His work has earned several distinctions, including the Tom Brazil Fellowship Award and Best Student Paper at IEEE WPTCE 2024.
Yidong Ren – Michigan State University / Qualcomm
Yidong Ren recently earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Michigan State University and now serves as a Senior System Engineer at Qualcomm. His research advances low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN), AI-enabled wireless systems, and battery-less communications for the Internet of Things (IoT). By developing end-to-end networking systems and protocols, Yidong’s innovations have already been adopted in large-scale agricultural IoT deployments, improving the reliability and efficiency of connected systems for smart cities and critical infrastructure.
Raghav Subbaraman – University of California San Diego / Apple
Raghav Subbaraman recently completed his PhD at UC San Diego, where his research in spectrum awareness redefined how wireless networks sense and use radio frequencies. His work led to the first full-duplex IoT gateway, enabling networks to scale to far more devices while improving efficiency and security. He also developed high-fidelity spectrum sensors that enhance real-time monitoring for equitable and secure spectrum access. Raghav is currently a Wi-Fi R&D Engineer at Apple and is committed to open-sourcing his research to advance accessibility and collaboration across the wireless community.
“These remarkable researchers represent the ingenuity, passion, and collaboration that define the next era of connectivity,” said John Janowiak, President and CEO of the Marconi Society. “Their work honors the legacy of Guglielmo Marconi by advancing the science and impact of communications technology for a more connected and sustainable world.”
The 2025 Young Scholars will present their work at the Academic Forum on November 14 as part of the 2025 Marconi Awards Gala & Institute Forums at UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. They will also be honored at the Marconi Awards Gala, alongside 2025 Marconi Fellow Nick McKeown and Martin Cooper, the recipient of the 2025 Marconi Society Lifetime Achievement Award.
About the Marconi Society
The Marconi Society celebrates and supports individuals advancing technology that promotes global connectivity and sustainability. Founded in 1974 by Guglielmo Marconi’s daughter, Gioia Marconi Braga, the Marconi Society honors technical excellence, entrepreneurship, and humanitarian impact in the spirit of Marconi’s legacy. Learn more at www.marconisociety.org.
Nominations for the 2026 Paul Baran Young Scholar Award will open in January 2026.
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