It’s no secret that data is everywhere today – endless streams of information are constantly being collected through our smartphones and mobile devices, by sensors placed on bridges and in buildings and even through our smart thermostats and refrigerators.

Zhu Han, professor of electrical and computer engineering at the UH Cullen College of Engineering, along with colleagues Mingyi Hong of Iowa State University and Dan Wang of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, have published the first comprehensive book on the use of signal processing for big data applications.

Deep below the sea, thousands of sensors collect crucial oceanic data used in environmental monitoring, offshore exploration, disaster prevention and military surveillance. However, there exists a problem underwater which was conquered on land decades ago: There’s no fast way to communicate and deliver information from the ocean depths – no internet, no powerful and clear signals, only delayed communication.

Zhu Han, UH professor of electrical and computer engineering, recently earned two unrelated grants from the National Science Foundation.

He first received $250,000, a portion of a half-million dollar grant shared with Denver University, to research Proactive Recovery of Electric Power Assets for Resiliency Enhancement, or PREPARE. The foundation later awarded him $140,000 to enhance software-defined network planning and administration of wireless cellular infrastructure.

Signals from smart phones are routed through base transceiver stations when they communicate, regardless of their proximity to their destinations. Signals from phones belonging to friends calling or texting in the same room must find distant base stations before they connect, just as signals from friends’ phones located in opposite corners of the city must find base stations.

Zhu Han's trophy case is getting crowded.

An article authored by a University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering faculty member has won the Best Paper Award for an upcoming international conference hosted by the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

UH Cullen College of Engineering faculty and staff were honored for outstanding performance in teaching, research and service at the college’s Spring 2012 Faculty-Staff meeting on May 2. President Renu Khator addressed the group with a special message of her vision for the college, and Dean Joseph Tedesco discussed the college’s progress in a number of areas.

Zhu Han has an idea that could remake a multi-billion dollar industry.

Wireless communication, with its spotty signal strength and slow download speeds, can be incredibly frustrating.