Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University

Big goals. Big opportunities. Big accomplishments.

When we asked the ECEN community to share what they've been working on, the responses didn't disappoint, from industry internships and research opportunities to post-graduation achievements.

Swipe through to see what fellow Aggies are accomplishing this summer. 👏

After more than two decades of shaping classrooms, mentoring students, and advancing research, three long-serving faculty members are preparing to close a defining chapter of their careers at Texas A&M ECEN. 📚

Dr. Scott Miller is retiring after 27 years with the department, while Dr. Weiping Shi and Dr. Mina Rahimian each conclude 25 years of service. Over that time, their work has advanced ECEN’s mission by strengthening student experience and outcomes through a sustained commitment to teaching and academic excellence.

🎓Together, they have helped strengthen the department’s academic foundation, supported its research growth, and shaped generations of engineers who now carry their influence into industry and academia.

We thank Dr. Miller, Dr. Shi, and Dr. Rahimian for their lasting contributions to Texas A&M ECEN!

🚀 Student Spotlight: Fidel Makatia Omusilibwa

From advanced semiconductor design to AI-powered hardware innovation, ECEN PhD student Fidel Makatia Omusilibwa is helping shape the future of intelligent computing.

Fidel is spending the summer at Qualcomm, working on next-generation high-speed SerDes and optical interconnect technologies. His current focus is the early exploration of AI-SerDes architectures for future AI and high-performance computing applications.

🏆Adding to an already impressive summer, Fidel recently earned national recognition as a winner of the ChipFoundry ASIC Design Challenge for his project, SenseEdge.

SenseEdge is an edge AI ASIC designed for predictive maintenance, enabling real-time machine health monitoring and fault classification directly in hardware. The winning design combines ASIC development, embedded machine learning and edge intelligence in a manufacturable open-source workflow.

As part of the award, the project will receive fully sponsored chip fabrication, packaging and PCB development support through Chipfoundry, with fabricated chips expected later this year.

📰Fidel was also recently featured by IEEE Transmitter, where he shared advice for young technologists and insights into his current endeavors.

Congratulations to Fidel on this outstanding achievement! We look forward to seeing what your future holds. 🌟

⚡Texas A&M Electrical & Computer Engineering is playing a part in the future of medical imaging.

Last month, Texas A&M held the inaugural International Meeting on Ultra-High Gradient Whole-Body MRI in Houston, hosted through the Texas A&M Advanced Medical Imaging (TAMI) Network. ECEN professor Dr. Steven Wright joined the program committee in developing the event and participated in moderating discussions on protocol design and whole-body safety.

The historic event received coverage in Radiology Today and the International Society for Engineering Health (see comments for more) and brought together 175 researchers and industry leaders from six countries to advance next-generation MRI technology and early disease detection.

This event marked the first international forum dedicated specifically to the emerging field of ultra-high gradient whole-body MRI, and was a huge step forward in showcasing the latest in MRI technology.

The conference also highlighted the power of collaboration across Texas A&M, with contributions from Engineering Medicine, Psychology, Veterinary Medicine, Arts & Sciences and other university partners alongside experts from Harvard, Stanford, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and leading medical imaging companies.

Read story here -> tx.ag/MRIConvention

⭐Student Spotlight ⭐ Hudson Elbert & Daniel Bui

ECEN students Hudson and Daniel are starting their summer strong with internships at Kiewit!

💼The two have begun their professional careers at one of the largest engineering and construction companies in North America. The two applied to the sought-after Kiewit internships at the Texas A&M career fair, which led to interviews where they said A&M’s support in learning communication skills helped tremendously.

Daniel secured a transmission line internship, while Hudson received an electrical field engineer internship.

“Hudson and I were able to get selected to intern at such a great company due to A&M's help,” Daniel said. “The jobs you can get with an electrical engineering degree at A&M are very diverse, which is shown through how different our internship roles are.”

⚡Now, the two are spending the summer in Kansas City on Kiewit’s campus, gaining hands-on industry experience and building the foundation for their future careers.

Congratulations to these two incredible Aggies. You have a bright future ahead! 👍

🏆 Congratulations to Dr. Xin Chen on receiving the prestigious NSF CAREER Award!

One of the NSF’s highest honors for early-career faculty, CAREER Award recipients are selected based on an individual’s leadership potential in research and education. The award includes major funding to help build research teams, purchase equipment, train students, and test new ideas.

Chen’s winning project focuses on safely and efficiently managing large numbers of connected energy devices with AI-based control for power grids. These devices include solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles, etc.

This research could play an important role in improving grid stability, as utilities across Texas and the United States face increasing energy demands and rapidly growing electricity consumption.

He aims to improve the reliability, efficiency, and intelligence of future power networks while supporting the transition toward cleaner and more flexible energy systems.

Read more here -> tx.ag/ChenCAREERAward

The Texas A&M ECEN External Advisory Development Council (EADC) recently convened on campus to discuss the future growth and direction of the department.

During the meeting, industry leaders and alumni engaged with faculty on emerging trends in electrical and computer engineering, offering insights to help guide curriculum development, research priorities, and industry alignment in the years ahead.

Attendees also toured ECEN labs, gaining a firsthand look at the hands-on learning and cutting-edge research taking place across the department.

The meeting reinforced a shared commitment to advancing ECEN’s impact and ensuring students are prepared to lead in rapidly evolving fields.

Thank you to our dedicated EADC members for all of your time, contributions, and support!

Our department recently hosted instructors from NVIDIA for an Adding Knowledge to LLMs workshop. 💡

Participants explored topics including data curation, synthetic data generation, evaluating and customizing large language models, and optimizing LLMs for deployment through a full day of interactive learning and discussion.

Creating opportunities like this is part of our mission to enhance student experiences and outcomes by fostering collaboration, expanding access to emerging technologies and connecting our community with industry expertise. 🤝

Thank you to NVIDIA and everyone who participated in making the workshop a success!

Dr. Chen and Dr. Enjeti have put together a series of workshops bringing together industry leaders, researchers and students to tackle Texas’ growing power grid challenges. ⚡

With ERCOT projecting that energy demand could double by 2031, the workshops provide a critical platform for developing solutions. Attendees from multiple backgrounds and academic disciplines come together to share knowledge, foster collaboration and explore innovation opportunities.

💡“I felt it was important to create a platform where researchers and professionals could come together to understand what is happening, think critically and come up with creative solutions,” Chen said.

Read more ->tx.ag/CALLStory

Congratulations to our honors capstone student, Sanjay Patel, on winning 2nd place at the Student Research Competition at the IEEE Texas Symposium on Wireless & Microwave Circuits and Systems (TSWMCS) this year!🏆

His winning poster was titled "Designing a UAV Micro-Doppler Signature Model at Millimeter Wave Frequencies for Machine Learning-Based Classification" and is based on his honors thesis.

🌟 Sanjay’s poster competed against 35 others from graduate and undergraduate students from schools like Rice, UT, UT Dallas, and more. Sanjay shared 2nd place with a student from UT, with 1st Place awarded to PhD students from UT Dallas and Baylor.

🙌 We are proud to see our students competing and excelling at this level!