Young Scholar Award recipient

"Guglielmo Marconi helped ignite the wireless era, and Paul Baran showed how resilient, distributed networks can serve everyone. Their legacy treats connectivity as essential and public infrastructure. Their vision reminds me that communication technology is not just engineering—it’s a force for human progress—they are role models whose work I admire and strive to learn from."

Yidong Ren, 2025

Research Area

Wireless Networking, Wireless Communication, and Internet of Things (IoT), especially on Low-power Wide-area Networks (LPWAN), AI enabled next-generation wireless networks, radio frequency sensing and battery-less communication in rural settings.

Current Position

PhD Candidate, Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State University

Education

  • Michigan State University
  • University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

Young Scholar Research

Build wireless systems that let tiny, low-power sensors share useful data reliably over long distances. Yidong tackles three hard problems: coverage, reliability, and battery life—how to keep sensors connected across miles of farmland, infrastructures or inside concrete buildings without constant battery replacement. His approach is end-to-end: Yidong co-designs the hardware, radio signals, and network software so messages travel farther while using much less energy. To reach truly remote areas, the system piggybacks on Low-Earth-Orbit satellites and uses battery-free devices that harvest ambient radio energy, so the system works even where power and internet are scarce. Instead of stopping at lab demos, he prototypes and tests these ideas in complex, real-world environments to make sure they’re practical and affordable. His research has already helped farmers monitor soil and save water, and the same technology could also help cities manage infrastructure and connect remote communities—reliably, efficiently, and at very low cost.

Other Honors

  • 2025 Dissertation Completion Fellowship, Graduate School at Michigan State University
  • 2024 Distinguished Artifact Reviewer, ACM MobiCom
  • 2024 Student Travel Grant, ACM MobiCom
  • 2024 Student Travel Grant, ACM MobiSys
  • 2023 Student Travel Grant, ACM MobiHoc
  • Student Travel Grant, IEEE ICNP