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 I am truly excited to have the honor and privilege to serve as President of IEEE Vehicular Technology Society. IEEE VTS has been my home for the past two decades, and I have seen great things in this Society that are truly unique.
VTS has very special technical interests in mobile radio, land transportation, motor vehicles, propagation, connected and automated vehicles, and related applications from several decades ago that continue to stay on top of the daily needs of people around the world.
Despite being a medium-size society within IEEE, VTS makes great contributions to the development and dissemination of knowledge among not just its members, but also the wider IEEE community and greater international population. I am therefore very proud to be a member of VTS, and now I can lead it toward even more prosperous technical achievements and service to our membership.
I received my PhD at Nagoya University in Japan, where I did research on wireless communications and networking for mobile satellite systems. After graduating in 1996 and continuing there as an Assistant Professor, I took a faculty position at the University of Sydney and moved to Australia.
Currently I hold the position of Professor of Ubiquitous Mobile Networking at Sydney and lead one of the largest and most productive research labs on wireless communications and networking. We focus on mobile cellular networks, in particular 5G and beyond, and their reliability and performance improvement through the use of unlicensed spectrum, drone relaying in the sky, caching techniques, and so on. Our group also works on vehicular-to-vehicular communications architectures and protocols and wireless network security.
I authored the first book on wireless IP and seven other books, co-authored nine books, over 450 technical papers, and five patents all in the field of mobile communications networks. I was elected as a Fellow of IEEE in 2007 (for contributions to next generation networks for traffic control), a Fellow of IEICE in 2010 (for contributions to design and development of mobile wireless communication networks); and a Fellow of Institute of Engineers Australia in 2004. I have been a Technical Editor for several scholarly journals including IEEE Communications, IEEE Trans. on Vehicular Technology, IEEE Access, ETRI Journal, IEEE Surveys and Tutorials, J. of Communication Systems, and JCN.
Within VTS, I have been an elected member of the Board of Governors since 2014, and served as Executive Vice-President (2018-19), Fellow Evaluation Committee Chair (2017–19), and Editor-in-Chief of VTS Mobile World (2016–19). I was also Editor-in-Chief of the magazine IEEE Wireless Communications (2005–9) and Vice President-Conferences and Board of Governors member for IEEE Communications Society (2012–13). I was recognized as one of the most cited researchers in the field of mobile and cellular networks with over 11,000 citations (h-index: 44, i10-index: 170).
I am also happy to say that I was one of the first researchers to disseminate the fundamental concepts of next generation mobile networks and broadband convergence networks as well as the integration of WLAN and cellular networks back in early 2000s; some of this work has been gradually adopted by industry and included in ITU-T standards.
VTS organizes an array of services and activities that are specifically designed to enhance the professional development opportunities for our membership. With the emergence of fifth-generation mobile networks, or 5G—with all their promises on ultra-low latency, reliability, and high data rates—the long-awaiting connected and autonomous vehicular networks dream is finally coming true, and VTS members have made great contributions in both 5G and CAV systems.
At the same time, VTS has put forth top-quality workshops and conferences as well as summer schools, panels, and distinguished lecturer tours to fully disclose these advances all around the world. These efforts could not be possible without the growing network of over 50 VTS Chapters, spread across the world in both developing and developed regions.
VTS has been in a leading position for many technology and standards developments. The Society has been heavily involved in the IEEE 5G Initiative, IEEE IoT Initiative, IEEE Connected and Autonomous Vehicles Initiative, just to mention a few. At the same time VTS continues to support knowledge exchange and forums for combating malicious cyber-attacks against electronic sensors and onboard systems for ground, marine, and aerial vehicles. The IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology and IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine have steadily increasing impact factors and are favorite venues for publishing high-quality research outcomes.
As the new President of VTS in 2020, I plan to ensure that the VTS success stories continue to grow, both in terms of the international technical relevance and the members’ experience. I want to see VTS as the first choice of membership for all young engineers as well as those who have been in the field for some time.
My first focus will be to continue membership development that I pursued in the past two years. I still believe that a bigger Society can make greater contributions to the field. At the same time, I would like to see greater diversity in VTS’ membership portfolio, and look to attract more members from relevant industries in wireless communications and vehicular systems, more female members, and most importantly members from all countries and at all career stages. And I have a special interest in increasing the number of student memberships as these are the future of VTS, IEEE, and the technological world.
I will work towards increasing VTS’ efforts within IEEE in the development of technologies and standards related to self-driving cars, connected and autonomous vehicles, rail and the transportation industry. I believe that VTS has the expertise and resources to become the leader for all these activities.
Happily I embark on this journey accompanied by an extraordinary group of talented researchers and professionals from universities and industry around the world, in the form of the VTS Board of Governors. I am deeply honored to be working with all of these highly motivated volunteers, including:
- James Irvine (Executive Vice President)
- Nick Kirsch (Vice President—Finances)
- JR Cruz (Vice President—Conferences)
- Weihua Zhuang (Vice President—Publications)
- Neeli Prasad (Vice President—Membership Development)
- Jae Hong Lee (Vice President—Mobile Radio)
- Gary Touryan (Vice President—Land Transportation)
- Loїc Boulon (Vice President—Motor Vehicles)
- Oliver Holland (Chapters Committee Chair)
- Doug Coates (Publicity Committee Chair)
- Tom Rubinstein (Treasurer)
I am very excited about the 2020 VTS team and that I will serve all of you in the upcoming year. Vehicular technology has changed markedly over the past five years, and we feel it is our duty to provide all members with services to keep them current with the cutting edge in this technology, enabling you all to grow professionally via networking opportunities, and expand your knowledge base in mobile radio, land transportation, electric vehicles, and others areas related to vehicular technology.
I am always available to you for any questions, suggestions, ideas, or comments on how VTS can better serve the VTS membership. So, please do not hesitate to let me know by contacting me directly at a.jamalipour@ieee.org. Wishing you all a safe and prosperous Happy New Year 2020, and looking forward to serving you all! | 
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