FAU CA-AI Team Wins First Place at 2026 IEEE Radar Conference

Researchers from the Center for Connected Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence (CA-AI) in the FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science earned first place in the Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS) Radar Challenge during the 2026 IEEE Radar Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Solan Degefa, a CA-AI doctoral student, represented the team onsite during the competition and award presentation.

The IEEE Radar Conference is the flagship international conference for radar systems, sensing technologies, and signal processing research.

The award-winning FAU team included Solan Degefa and Parker Wilmoth, alongside faculty researchers Dimitris Pados, Ph.D., George Sklivanitis, Ph.D., and research scientist Eyad Shtaiwi, Ph.D.

The team’s work demonstrated the implementation of novel theory and advanced algorithms on a phased-array radar platform for interference-avoiding and rapid synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging. The research supports next-generation sensing systems designed to operate reliably in congested and contested electromagnetic environments.

“This recognition reflects the strength of the advanced sensing, wireless systems, and autonomous technologies being developed within CA-AI,” said Stella Batalama, Ph.D., dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science. “Earning first place in the AESS Radar Challenge demonstrates the technical depth of our students and faculty and the growing national visibility of FAU’s research enterprise in AI-enabled sensing and autonomous systems.”

Pados, director of CA-AI and principal investigator on the project, said the challenge highlights the increasing importance of adaptive radar systems capable of operating effectively in spectrum-constrained environments.

“The team successfully translated advanced radar theory into real-time implementation on a phased-array platform,” said Pados. “This work demonstrates how intelligent sensing systems can rapidly adapt to interference while maintaining high-quality SAR imaging performance.”

The achievement further highlights FAU’s growing leadership in AI-enabled sensing, wireless systems, and autonomous technologies.