C. Nicolas “Nico” Barati

Research Area

C. Nicolas Barati’s research spans topics in wireless communications, focusing on the intersection of MAC and PHY layers, 5th generation (and beyond) cellular networks, wireless security, and adaptive schemes for multi-technology coexistence in shared frequency bands. His work also includes experimental validation in real-world scenarios. He is currently involved in a collaborative project between ODU and the US Navy to build a large-scale testbed for demonstrating 5G-Radar coexistence methods and algorithms.

Bio:

Nicolas Barati holds an Engineering Diploma in Computer, Telecommunications, and Networks Engineering from the University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece. Following his mandatory military service in the Hellenic Armed Forces, he pursued his PhD at New York University (NYU), which he earned in 2018. In 2019, Barati joined Rice University as a postdoctoral research associate, where he played a key role in the expansion of RENEW (the world’s first fully programmable, open-source testbed for next-generation wireless technologies). His research at Rice also included groundbreaking work in wireless security, in collaboration with the Army Research Lab. This collaboration culminated in a publication demonstrating how an AI-enabled adversarial eavesdropper could identify and differentiate between transmitters in a fully encrypted network. For this contribution, he and his colleagues were awarded the Best Paper Award at IEEE ICC 2023 in Rome, Italy. In 2022, Barati became involved in a cellular-airborne radar coexistence project funded by the US Air Force, initially as a research engineer and later, from 2023 to August 2024, as the project manager. In September 2024, he joined Old Dominion University (ODU), continuing his academic and research career.

Education:

PhD (2018) in Electrical and Computer Engineering, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY. 

Engineering Diploma (2010) in Computer, Telecommunications and Networks Engineering, University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece.