Dr. Octavia Dobre and longtime member of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) has received a prestigious elevation to IEEE fellow for her outstanding contributions to the theory and practice of signal intelligence and emerging wireless technologies.
IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization for the advancement of technology.
With more than 400,000 members in 160 countries, the association covers a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics.
The IEEE grade of fellow is an honorary distinction conferred by the IEEE board of directors for select IEEE members whose extraordinary accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest are deemed fitting of this prestigious grade elevation.
“I am glad to bring this recognition to the IEEE Newfoundland and Labrador section and to Memorial University.”
Fellow is the highest grade of membership and is recognized by the technical community as a prestigious honour and an important career achievement.
“I am deeply honoured to have my technical achievements recognized through the IEEE fellow distinction and grateful to the IEEE fellows for bestowing this honour on me,” said Dr. Dobre.
“I am thankful to my research collaborators, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students, with whom I have worked over many years. I am also appreciative to my family for being a constant source of support and encouragement. Last, but not least, I am glad to bring this recognition to the IEEE Newfoundland and Labrador section and to Memorial University.”
Curriculum vitae
Dr. Dobre joined Memorial University in 2005. She is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Research Chair in Subsea Communications in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science.
In 2013 she was a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to joining Memorial, she was a Fulbright scholar and a U.K. Royal Society scholar.
Since joining Memorial, Dr. Dobre has been instrumental in establishing new wireless and optical communications laboratories in the faculty. She has secured more than $7 million in research funding and made significant research contributions in the field of communications, specifically enabling technologies for 5G wireless networks, internet-of-things and optical and underwater communications.
Her research findings have been disseminated through more than 250 referred international journal and conference papers and two patents, with more than 6,300 citations to-date.
‘Less than 0.1 per cent’
Dr. Dobre is past editor-in-chief of the IEEE Communications Letters and the inaugural editor-in-chief of the IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society. She was an editor for IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, guest editor for IEEE Communications Magazine and a number of other journals.
She is the recipient of Memorial’s President’s Award for Outstanding Research, the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Research and the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Supervision. Dr. Dobre was the first chair of the IEEE ComSoc Women in Communications Engineering standing committee and a member of the administrative committee of the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society. She is a member-at-large of the Board of Governors of the Communications Society and also serves with various IEEE technical and awards committees.
Dr. Greg Naterer, dean, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, was pleased to learn the news.
“I’m delighted to see this well-deserved honour for Dr. Dobre,” said Dr. Naterer. “This award is given to less than 0.1 per cent of IEEE members annually worldwide, which shows the very high standing of Dr. Dobre’s contributions to signal processing and emerging wireless technologies.”
Dr. Dobre’s fellowship becomes effective on Jan. 1, 2020.
