Advancements in Network Restoration for Next-Generation Communication Networks

Babatunde S. Awoyemi is a National Research Foundation (NRF)-rated researcher at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He received a Bachelor's degree (with Honours) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria (2008), a master's degree in electronic engineering from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (2014) and a PhD in Electronic Engineering from the University of Pretoria, South Africa (2017). His research interests are in next-generation wireless communication networks, with particular interest in solving edge computing-based resource allocation and network restoration problems in beyond 5G networks. He is the co-author of the book Developments in Cognitive Radio Networks: Future Directions for beyond 5G published in 2022. He is an active researcher and has published articles, conference papers and book chapters in his area of research interest in the field of Electronic Engineering and wireless communications. He is a regular reviewer for journals in his field, and works efficiently with other colleagues in organizing conferences, seminars, symposiums, etc. in Electronic Engineering and Telecommunications. His drive is to become a leading voice in the advancement of next-generation wireless communications for Africa and beyond.

Bodhaswar T. Maharaj (Sunil) is a Professor in the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering. He has a combined experience of more than 33 years in industry as a microwave and RF design engineer, academia and consulting. He holds a BSc Engineering (Electronic), MSc Engineering (Electronic), MSc Operational Telecommunications and a PhD Engineering. He is also a professional engineer registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), a Fellow of the South African Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers and Senior Member of IEEE. In 2018 he was the founding Chair of the IEEE SA Section Vehicular Technology Society (VTS) Chapter. He has been involved in organizing many conferences and technical events such as IEEE Africon, IEEE ICC 2010 and as General Conference Chair for IEEE VTS 2019 Wireless Africa Conference and the 2020 and 2022 World Engineering Education Federation and Engineering Deans Council Conference. He has been the first African Dean to be elected as the Global Engineering Dean Council Chair and assumed the Chair in November 2021. Dr Maharaj since 2008 held the position of Sentech Chair in Broadband Wireless Multimedia Communications and has more than 170 international peer reviewed conference and journal articles, 2 international patents and winner of 10 national and international awards. His research interests are in broadband wireless communications with a focus on 5G cognitive radio sensor networks resource allocation, OFDM-MIMO systems, wireless channel modelling and edge computing communications systems. Dr Maharaj was in 2021/2022 the President of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) and since 2017 Chair of TuksNovation NPC Board which is a hi-tech business incubator and accelerator. He was previously the Head of Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering and between 2014 and 2022 served as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology (EBIT) until his appointment as Vice-Principal: Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Education on 1 August 2022.