A/ProfNegin Shariati Moghadam

Negin Shariati (Senior Member IEEE) is an Associate Professor in the School of Electrical and Data Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and IT at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia. She established the state-of-the-art Radio Frequency (RF) and Communication Technologies (RFCT) research laboratory at UTS in 2018, where she is currently the Founding Director, leading research and development in RF sensing, energy, and connectivity solutions. She is the UTS Co-Lead for Deep Sector Engagement in Agriculture/Horticulture (Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Vice-President (Research)) and the Commercialisation and Business Development Stream Lead at the NSW Decarbonisation Hub.

Negin Shariati led a 3-year R&D program "Sensing Innovations Constellation" at Food Agility CRC, enabling new innovations in agricultural technologies by focusing on three key interrelated streams: Sensing, Energy, and Connectivity. This collaborative platform enabled multidisciplinary R&D with industry partners, addressing real-world challenges in digital agriculture at scale. Her sustained collaboration with industry and leadership role led to secure several PhD scholarships and over $5M external funding for significant industry projects at UTS.

Since 2018, Dr. Shariati has held a joint academic appointment at Hokkaido University, engaging in research and teaching activities in Japan. She also served as the Director of Women in Engineering and IT (WiEIT) at UTS, driving positive changes in equity and diversity in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).

Over the past four years, Dr. Shariati has secured more than $6 M in research funding across multiple ARC (Australian Research Council), CRC, industry, and government-funded research projects, where she has taken the lead Chief Investigator (CI) role and contributed as a CI team member. She has achieved this by actively engaging with industry partners such as NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation), Zetifi, and Food Agility CRC. She is also a CI and Node Lead in the multi-million ARC ITTC (Automated Vehicles in Rural and Remote Regions) and CI in the ARC Research Hub (Responsible AI for a Sustainable Grain Industry). She leads a 3.5-year multidisciplinary R&D program titled 'Sustainable Sensing, Enhanced Connectivity, and Data Analytics for Precision Urban and Rural Agriculture' in collaboration with NTT DATA, NTT Docomo Business and Food Agility CRC. Dr. Shariati completed her PhD in Electrical-Electronics and Communication Technologies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Australia, in 2016. Prior to that, she worked in industry as an Electrical-Electronics Engineer 2009-2012. Her research interests include RF/microwave/electronics circuits and systems, antennas, RF energy harvesting, IoT- enabled sensing platforms, and AI/ML-driven environmental monitoring.

As the Founder and Director of the RF and Communication Technologies (RFCT) Lab, Dr Shariati has established a cutting-edge R&D facility equipped with over $3.5M worth of equipment. She is responsible for defining the research direction and strategy of the lab and equipping RFCT with world-class RF design, fabrication, testing and pre-compliance verification facilities. The Lab comprises over 30 core members, PhD candidates, associate members, and visiting scholars from UTS, national and international institutions. Under her leadership, the Lab has achieved remarkable success in obtaining R&D grants, industry projects, impactful research translations, high-quality publications, and nurturing multidisciplinary collaborations. She leads a research team of 18 members, including senior researchers, senior engineers, research assistants and PhD students.

In recognition of her commitment to research translation and successful industry partnerships, she has received multiple awards as follws:

• Winner — Vice-Chancellor’s Research Translation Award for enhancing connectivity in rural and remote areas through innovative RF and antenna technologies (2024, UTS)
• Finalist — Awards for Research Commercialization (2024, AFR – Australian Financial Review Higher Education)
• Finalist — Research Translation Award for RF switching and antenna technologies aimed at improving rural connectivity (2024, IoT Alliance Australia)
• Winner — Research Excellence Award for developing roving Wi-Fi solutions for agricultural vehicles in collaboration with industry (2023, Food Agility CRC)
• Finalist — Research Translation Award for next-generation RF and antenna technology research (2023, IoT Alliance Australia)
• Winner — Standout Research Award for pioneering work in RF Energy Harvesting (2022, IoT Alliance Australia)
• Winner — Outstanding Early Career Research Award (2019, UTS)
• Winner —IEEE Victorian Section Best Research Paper Award (2015, IEEE)
  
  

She was also the recipient of the Boeing Scholarship (2013), Research Paper Grants at the European Microwave Conferences (2012, 2014, and 2015), the Best Oral Presentation Prize at the RMIT HDR Conference (2012), and the RMIT Postgraduate Research Scholarship (2012-2015). She was also recognised as a high-performing teaching staff member in 2016 at the School of Engineering, RMIT University.

Dr Shariati is a Senior Member of IEEE, she completed her PhD in Electrical-Electronic and Communication Technologies at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Australia, in 2016. She worked in industry as an Electrical-Electronic Engineer from 2008-2012.