Cell Phone Guru Celebrated at NJIT

The man who helped make wireless cell phones a must-have device for millions around the world recently received kudos and thanks from colleagues at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). The occasion was the anniversary of the founding in 1986 of the Center for Wireless Communication and Signal Processing. The Center was the brainchild of visionary electrical engineer Yeheskel Bar-Ness, PhD, distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering at NJIT. Bar-Ness, of Marlboro Township, has been known for decades as a leading expert in the field.

The Center is best known among electrical engineers for its research that paved the way for wireless cell phones, laptops and other wireless equipment to become household words. Under the leadership of Bar-Ness, a longtime expert in wireless communications and signal processing, the Center developed a set of algorithms. The algorithms soon became industry standards facilitating code division multiple access, a widely used digital wireless technology.

Bar-Ness is a fellow and lifetime member of IEEE. In 2005 he was honored by IEEE for his outstanding, sustained and visionary contributions to the institute's publications and for founding the journal IEEE Communications Letters. Bar-Ness is the author of more than more than 250 papers that have appeared in peer-reviewed scholarly journals. He holds a U.S. patent on smart antennas. In 1973, the government of Israel awarded him the Kaplan Prize, which honors that nation's 10 best technical contributors. Last year, Bar-Ness was named inventor of the year by both the Research and Development Council of New Jersey and the New Jersey Inventor's Hall of Fame.