Dr. Zhangyu Guan

Abstract:
Wireless research is increasingly driven by the need for resilient, spectrally efficient, and reproducible experimentation under realistic operating conditions. However, evaluating new waveform designs, adaptive communication mechanisms, and AI-enabled wireless protocols remains challenging. 

This talk will introduce BenchLink, an open benchmarking platform designed to support reproducible wireless research through software-defined radio and system-on-chip-based experimentation. BenchLink provides a flexible framework for evaluating wireless communication links, waveform designs, modulation strategies, pilot adaptation, and performance tradeoffs under controlled yet realistic conditions. This talk will also briefly introduce UnionLabs as a complementary open-source and federated experimental infrastructure.

Biography:

Zhangyu Guan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Prior to joining UMN, he served as Assistant and later Associate Professor at the University at Buffalo starting in 2018. From 2015 to 2018, he was an Associate Research Scientist at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. He is the Director of the Wireless Intelligent Networking and Security (WINGS) Laboratory, where his research focuses on the modeling, analysis, design, and development of next-generation broadband, resilient, and intelligent wireless network systems. He has served the research community in multiple leadership roles, including Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications and Elsevier Computer Networks, Student Travel Grants Chair for IEEE SECON 2019 and 2020, Student Travel Grants Chair for WiOPT 2026, Track Chair for IEEE MILCOM 2023 and IEEE MASS 2025, Demo/ Posters Co-Chair for IEEE INFOCOM 2026, TPC Chair for IEEE CCNC 2025, and General Chair for IEEE CCNC 2027.