Rate My Professor Hongwei Zhang

Hongwei Zhang is the Willard and Leitha Richardson Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the Center for Wireless, Communities and Innovation at Iowa State University. He also holds a courtesy professor appointment in the Department of Computer Science. Zhang earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from The Ohio State University in 2006, M.S. in Computer Engineering from Chongqing University in 2000, and B.S. in Computer Engineering from Chongqing University in 1997. His career includes positions at Iowa State University since 2017, starting as associate professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, advancing to full professor in 2020, and courtesy professor in Computer Science from 2018. Previously, he served as associate professor in Computer Science at Wayne State University from 2012 to 2017, assistant professor from 2007 to 2012, and instructor from 2006 to 2006.

Zhang's research interests encompass computing and networking systems, cyber-physical-human systems, with emphasis on wireless sensing and control networks for applications in precision agriculture, connected and automated vehicles, smart energy grids, industrial IoT, and extended reality. He has secured the NSF CAREER Award in 2011 and Willard and Leitha Richardson Professorship in 2024. Notable honors include Best Paper Awards at IEEE NetSoft in 2021 and 2025, Best Student Paper Award at IEEE ICPS in 2024, and the 2017–2020 Outstanding Survey Paper Award from IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Magazine in 2023. Key publications feature "Design and Implementation of ARA Wireless Living Lab for Rural Broadband and Applications" in Computer Networks (2025), "Dynamical Modeling and Distributed Control of Connected and Automated Vehicles: Challenges and Opportunities" in IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Magazine (2017), "Cyber-Physical Scheduling for Predictable Reliability of Inter-Vehicle Communications" in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology (2020), "Scheduling with Predictable Link Reliability for Wireless Networked Control" in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications (2017), and "Reliable Bursty Convergecast in Wireless Sensor Networks" in Computer Communications (2007). Zhang leads major initiatives like the ARA wireless living lab and contributes to NSF-funded projects in rural broadband and networked systems.