Qing He – a Rising Star in Computer Networking and Communications

Congratulations Qing! How does it feel being selected in the top 10 of IEEE Comsoc's N²Women 2020 list of Rising Stars in Computer Networking and Communications?

"I am greatly honoured and very glad to be on the list of rising stars selected by IEEE Comsoc's N²Women in the field of computer networking and communications. I consider this as recognition of my past scientific work, and more importantly, a motivation and encouragement for my current and future research. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation to Prof. György Dán (KTH), Prof. Di Yuan (Uppsala), Prof. Anthony Ephremides (UMD), and all other collaborators during my research career."

Briefly, what is your research about?

"In the past two decades, we have witnessed great advances in information and communication technologies, which have significantly changed our daily life and society at large. Meanwhile, to accommodate the exponentially increasing user demand, modern networked systems, such as mobile Telecommunications and Internet-of -Things, are becoming very complex. To support a variety of applications requiring fresh information, a great challenge is to deliver digital information over ubiquitous connections in a timely fashion, thereby it is of critical importance to optimise network systems such that they can be more efficient, environmentally friendly, and smart, and this is the focus of my research. The research on network optimisation could employ traditional model-based approaches as well as the emerging paradigm of machine learning, which enables effectively addressing various problems and challenges, using data-driven approaches."

What do you think is the most exciting research going on right now within your field?

"There are many exciting developments in this field, ranging from new results on classic topics such as network optimisation and resource management, green communication, systems security and privacy, to the emerging paradigm of machine learning in the networking domain. For me personally, the most exciting topic is developing intelligent networked systems with direct societal applications, such as smart buildings, the smart grid, and intelligent transportation systems, which would form smart cities and eventually a smart planet."

What problems do you hope to solve with your research, in let’s say 5 or 10 years?

"In the next five years, I would like to devote my time to the design and optimisation of next-generation mobile networks using artificial intelligence-based techniques. I am particularly interested in the topic of age of information (AoI). The notion of AoI is proposed to capture the freshness of information, and AoI-based network optimisation could significantly improve the timelessness of end-to-end information delivery. We expect that novel methodologies and approaches developed in our research would be deployed in 5G networks and beyond, and thus they could benefit various applications and mobile users, including you and me."

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Interviewed by: Maria Malmqvist