Signal processing enables an understanding of many facets of our lives including audio, visual and cognitive faculties, while enabling nearly every aspect of it: personal safety, environment cognition, communications, and more. The SPARC group conducts research on topics such as the design and optimisation of networked MIMO radar systems, integrated sensing and communications, automotive radars and indoor sensing, but also on new and future applications of radar signal processing in areas like biomedicine and environmental sensing.
Signal Processing Applications in Radar and Communications (SPARC) research group
See the group webpage: https://www.uni.lu/snt-en/research-groups/sparc/
 | M. R. Bhavani Shankar received his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Communication Engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in 2000 and 2007, respectively. He was a Post Doc at the ACCESS Linnaeus Centre, Signal Processing Lab, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden from 2007 to September 2009. He joined SnT in October 2009 as a Research Associate and is currently a Senior Research Scientist/ Assistant Professor at SnT leading the Radar Signal Processing activities. He is currently on the Executive Committee of the IEEE Benelux joint chapter on communications and vehicular technology and serves as handling editor for Elsevier Signal Processing and member of the EURASIP Technical Area Committee on Theoretical and Methodological Trends in Signal Processing. He was a co-recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Contributions to Satellite Communications Award, from the Satellite and Space Communications Technical Committee of the IEEE Communications Society. |
 | Mohammad Alaee received a Ph.D. degree in telecommunication engineering from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Isfahan University of Technology, Iran, in 2017. During his doctoral studies and in 2016, he worked as a visiting researcher at the University of Naples “Federico II” in Italy. After receiving his doctorate, he began working as a research associate at SnT – Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability, and Trust, in the University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg. At the present, he works as a research scientist at SnT and leads the prototyping and lab activities for the SPARC (Signal Processing Applications in Radar and Communications) research group. Along with conducting academic research in the field of radar waveform design and array signal processing, he is working on novel solutions for mmWave MIMO radar systems. Dr. Alaee has more than 12 years of experience working with a variety of radar systems, including those applied in automotive, ground surveillance, air surveillance, weather, passive, and marine applications. |
 | Linlong Wu received the B.E. degree in electronic information from Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU), Xi’an, China, in 2014, and the Ph.D. degree in electronic and computer engineering from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Hong Kong, in 2018. He was with the Wireless Network Group, Alibaba Cloud, from November 2018 to October 2020, as a Research Engineer, where he is working on designing and building commercial RFID based localization systems. Since November 2020, he has been with the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), University of Luxembourg, and is currently a Research Associate with the Signal Processing Applications in Radar and Communications (SPARC) Group. His research interests include signal processing, optimization and machine learning with applications in waveform design, integrated sensing and communication, and the IoT networks. |
 | Moein Ahmadi received his PhD degree from the K.N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran (Iran), 2014. He then worked on more than 40 signal processing and data processing and algorithm implementation projects. His current research interests include signal processing, machine learning, sparsity, and compressive sensing, wireless communications, radar systems, and automotive radars. Moein joined the Signal Processing Applications in Radar and Communications research group, SPARC, headed by Prof. Bhavani Shankar Mysore Rama Rao. |
 | Thomas FEUILLEN received his PhD degree from UCLouvain (Belgium) in 2021. Previously, Thomas was a scientific expert for MERL in Boston and for the SPARC team at SnT. His research interests are in radar signal processing. Thomas joined the Signal Processing Applications in Radar and Communications research group, SPARC, headed by Prof. Bhavani Shankar Mysore Rama Rao. |
 | Mr. Kunwar Pritiraj Rajput received the PhD degree under the supervision of Prof. Aditya K. Jagannatham from the Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India, in Aug. 2022. His research focuses on designing and developing signal processing schemes for MIMO, Massive MIMO, mmWave MIMO and IRS-aided Wireless Sensor Networks. He was selected as one of the finalists for the Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship in 2022. He was also awarded the best teaching assistant award for the 5G wireless technologies course at IIT Kanpur. He secured first rank during his M.Tech degree. He also served as a vice chair of the IEEE Signal Processing Society, IIT Kanpur Student Chapter. Dr. Kunwar Pritiraj Rajput's Ph.D. research work focused on Robust Transceiver Designs for Decentralized Estimation in MIMO Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) which has immense applications in next generation 5G and B5G networks. Dr. Kunwar Pritiraj Rajput has recently joined the Signal Processing for Radar and Communications (SPARC) group at SnT, University of Luxembourg, as a postdoctoral fellow in October 2022, where he is working towards developing novel signal processing algorithms for metacognitive RADAR and Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC). |
 | Dr. Kuntal Panwar received her Ph.D. in Signal Processing from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India, where her research focused on localization algorithms and optimal sensor placement for radar and wireless sensor networks. She holds a B.Tech. and M.Tech. in Electronics and Communication from MNIT Jaipur (India) with a specialization in wireless and optical communication. She is currently a Research Associate in the SPARC Group at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), University of Luxembourg, headed by Prof. Bhavani Shankar. Her research interests include signal processing, photonics-based radar systems, and optimization techniques. |
 | Robin Amar was born in Mohali, India, in 1985. He received the M.Sc. degree in Electronics in 2009 from Devi Ahilya University, Indore and M.Tech degree in Microelectronics in 2012 from Panjab University, handigarh, India. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Dr. M.R. Bhavani Shankar. He joined the Signal Processing Applications in Radar and Communications (SPARC) Group at Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. His research interests include radar waveform design, optimization algorithms, MIMO radars, automotive radars, cognitive radar systems, and statistical signal processing. |
 | Yuan LIU received his Master’s degree from Tongji University (China), in 2020. He was with the group of antennas and propagation at Aalto University (Finland) from 2018 to 2019. He is now working on mmWave/THz radar channels for sensing systems. Yuan joined the Signal Processing Applications in Radar and Communications research group, SPARC, and he will be advised by Prof. Bhavani Shankar MYSORE RAMA RAO. |
 | Tong Wei received his Master degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Shenzhen University (China), in 2020. His research interests include array signal processing, detection & estimation theory, and optimization with application to radar and communication. Tong joined the Signal Processing Applications in Radar and Communications (SPARC) Group at Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), University of Luxembourg, and he will be advised by Dr. Bhavani Shankar. |
 | Min Bo Bo Kyaw received his Master of Science in Engineering – Sustainable Product Creation (Electrical and Computer Engineering)from the University of Luxembourg in 2024. He is a dedicated and proactive professional with a strong interest in sustainability, radar systems, and interdisciplinary research. Throughout his academic and professional career, he has gained valuable experience in test engineering, signal processing, and software development through research projects and industrial internships. He works as a Research Support Technician at SPARC research group. |
 | Zichao Xiao received his B.S. degree in electronics and information engineering and the M.S. degree in information and communication engineering from Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China, in 2021 and 2024, respectively. His research interests include signal processing in wireless sensing and communication. He works as a Doctoral Researcher at SPARC group from January 2025. |
 | Maximilian Klein received an M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering with a focus on Internet of Things and Machine Learning from Trier University of Applied Sciences, Germany. His professional career began with an apprenticeship as an electronics technician for energy and building technology, providing a strong practical foundation that complements his theoretical training. He wrote his master’s thesis at IEE S.A. in Luxembourg, where he developed a framework combining transfer learning, generative adversarial data synthesis, and CNN-based architectures to accelerate and enhance defect detection in industrial production—reducing false positives from over eight percent to less than two percent. Since November 2024, he has been a Ph.D. candidate with the SPARC (Signal Processing Applications in Radar and Communications) research group at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), University of Luxembourg. He began an industrial fellowship with IEE S.A. in August 2025. His research focuses on novel deep learning algorithms and network architectures for radar-based massive MIMO systems, aiming to integrate artificial intelligence into previously underexplored technology fields by using specially synthesized data to shorten development and validation cycles, thereby accelerating and optimizing industrial applications. |
 | Marcel Follmann received the B.Eng. and M.Sc. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Trier University of Applied Sciences, Germany, in 2020 and 2022, respectively. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Dr. M. R. Bhavani Shankar. In 2023, he joined the Signal Processing Applications in Radar and Communications (SPARC) Group at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability, and Trust (SnT), University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg, as an external Ph.D. researcher under a collaboration agreement with Trier University of Applied Sciences. His research interests include radar waveform design and selection, cognitive radar systems, statistical signal processing, and estimation theory, particularly focusing on optimizing Kalman-filter-based tracking performance. |
 | Dipankar Saha received his B.Tech. degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from University of Engineering and Management Kolkata (UEMK), India in 2021. He received his M. Tech degree in RF and Microwave Engineering from the Department of Avionics at Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Thiruvananthapuram, India in 2023. Since December 2023, he is currently pursuing his Ph.D. degree with SPARC research group in computer science and computer engineering at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), University of Luxembourg. His research area includes Electromagnetics of Metamaterials, Electromagnetic Bandgap Structures, Ultra-Wideband Antennas, Broadband Metasurface Design, Microwave and mm-wave technologies, Metamaterials for Radar, and Sensing applications. |
 | Seyedeh Fatemeh Mirhosseini received her MSc. Degree from Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran in 2021. She is now working on Vital Sign Monitoring using Radar as her PhD project. Fatemeh joined the Signal Processing Applications in Radar and Communications research group, SPARC, in 2023. |
 | Jyoti BHATIA received her B.Tech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from NIT Hamirpur, India (2016), and her M.Tech in VLSI Design and Nanoelectronics from IIT Indore (2020). She has industry and research experience in IP verification (UST Global), radar-based object detection and classification using machine learning (WiseNet Lab, UiA, Norway), and operations and control in hydroelectric power systems (JSW Energy Ltd.). In April 2024, she joined the Signal Processing Applications in Radar and Communications (SPARC) group at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), University of Luxembourg, as a doctoral researcher. Her current research focuses on metacognition in radar systems under the supervision of Dr. Bhavani Shankar Mysore Rama Rao. |
 | Kyungmin Hong works as a Doctoral Researcher at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT), University of Luxembourg, in the Signal Processing Applications in Radar and Communications (SPARC) Group, under the supervision of Professor Bhavani Shankar. She received her Master’s degree in Électronique, Énergie Électrique, Automatique (specializing in Radio Systems) from Institut Polytechnique de Paris (France) in 2025. Her research interests include signal processing, WiFi sensing for transportation, and machine learning, with applications in radar and communication systems. |
 | Okyanus Oral received his B.Sc. (2021) and M.Sc. (2024) degrees in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Middle East Technical University, Turkey. He joined the SPARC group in 2024 as a Ph.D. student. His research focuses on signal processing for radar-based computational sensing and imaging. |
Visiting Researchers
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Alumni
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