BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:IEEE vTools.Events//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260308T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=11 TZNAME:EST END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20251222T151431Z UID:CF5D77D0-11A3-480E-8CB7-FA83FAB504FA DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251220T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251220T210000 DESCRIPTION:The Washington and Northern Virginia Sections are proud to host Dr. Sastry Kompella's seminar\, Signals Through Time: The Story of Wirele ss Innovation on December 20th\, 2025 at the College Park Airport Operatio ns Center.\n\nWireless communications has transformed the arc of modern ci vilization-from early human signaling systems such as smoke signals and op tical beacons\, to the first electromagnetic transmissions that crossed a room\, and ultimately to the global\, intelligent\, software-defined netwo rks that now knit together billions of devices across land\, sea\, air\, s pace\, and cyberspace. This lecture traces the remarkable technological\, scientific\, and societal journey of wireless systems over the past 130 ye ars\, highlighting the enduring ideas that shaped the field and the disrup tive breakthroughs that repeatedly redefined it.\n\nWe begin with the foun dational experiments of Hertz\, Marconi\, and Tesla\, exploring how early insights into electromagnetic wave propagation evolved into structured com munication theory and engineering practice. The talk then follows the matu ration of radio during the World Wars\; the rise of information theory\, d igital modulation\, and cellular architectures\; and the advent of spread spectrum\, MIMO\, OFDM\, and software-defined radios that enabled the expo nential growth of mobile systems. The narrative continues through the emer gence of 4G and 5G as complex cyber-physical platforms that blend networki ng\, cloud computing\, and AI/ML—ushering in a transition from communica tion-centric systems to multi-purpose platforms that integrate sensing\, c omputing\, and decision-making.\n\nBy revisiting the past\, understanding the present\, and imagining the future\, this lecture aims to provide a co hesive perspective on how wireless communications became one of the most t ransformative technologies of our time-and the opportunities for new break throughs to emerge.\n\nIn addition to the seminar on the history of commun ication\, the Washington and Northern Virginia sections will use this oppo rtunity to present awards to their section volunteers and introduce their 2026 AdCom officers. Dinner will be provided to attendees prior to the lec ture.\n\nSpeaker(s): Sastry Kompella\, \n\nAgenda: \n6:00 - 7:00 PM Introd uctions\, Awards\, and Dinner\n\n7:00 - 8:30 PM Signals Through Time: The Story of Wireless Innovation\n\n8:30 - 9:00 PM Concluding Remarks and Refr eshments\n\nRoom: 2nd Floor\, Bldg: College Park Airport Operations Buildi ng\, 1909 Corporal Frank Scott Dr\, College Park\, Maryland\, United State s\, 20740\, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/517203 LOCATION:Room: 2nd Floor\, Bldg: College Park Airport Operations Building\, 1909 Corporal Frank Scott Dr\, College Park\, Maryland\, United States\, 20740\, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/517203 ORGANIZER:frank.block@ieee.org SEQUENCE:66 SUMMARY:Signals Through Time: The Story of Wireless Innovation URL;VALUE=URI:https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/517203 X-ALT-DESC:Description: <br /><p class="MsoNormal">The Washington and North ern Virginia Sections are proud to host Dr. Sastry Kompella's seminar\, Si gnals Through Time: The Story of Wireless Innovation on December 20th\, 20 25 at the College Park Airport Operations Center.</p>\n<p class="MsoNormal ">Wireless communications has transformed the arc of modern civilization-f rom early human signaling systems such as smoke signals and optical beacon s\, to the first electromagnetic transmissions that crossed a room\, and u ltimately to the global\, intelligent\, software-defined networks that now knit together billions of devices across land\, sea\, air\, space\, and c yberspace. This lecture traces the remarkable technological\, scientific\, and societal journey of wireless systems over the past 130 years\, highli ghting the enduring ideas that shaped the field and the disruptive breakth roughs that repeatedly redefined it.</p>\n<p class="MsoNormal">We begin wi th the foundational experiments of Hertz\, Marconi\, and Tesla\, exploring how early insights into electromagnetic wave propagation evolved into str uctured communication theory and engineering practice. The talk then follo ws the maturation of radio during the World Wars\; the rise of information theory\, digital modulation\, and cellular architectures\; and the advent of spread spectrum\, MIMO\, OFDM\, and software-defined radios that enabl ed the exponential growth of mobile systems. The narrative continues throu gh the emergence of 4G and 5G as complex cyber-physical platforms that ble nd networking\, cloud computing\, and AI/ML&mdash\;ushering in a transitio n from communication-centric systems to multi-purpose platforms that integ rate sensing\, computing\, and decision-making.</p>\n<p class="MsoNormal"> By revisiting the past\, understanding the present\, and imagining the fut ure\, this lecture aims to provide a cohesive perspective on how wireless communications became one of the most transformative technologies of our t ime-and the opportunities for new breakthroughs to emerge.</p>\n<p>In addi tion to the seminar on the history of communication\, the Washington and N orthern Virginia sections will use this opportunity to present awards to t heir section volunteers and introduce their 2026 AdCom officers. Dinner wi ll be provided to attendees prior to the lecture.</p><br /><br />Agenda: < br /><p>6:00 - 7:00 PM Introductions\, Awards\, and Dinner</p>\n<p>7:00 - 8:30 PM Signals Through Time: The Story of Wireless Innovation</p>\n<p>8:3 0 - 9:00 PM Concluding Remarks and Refreshments</p> END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR