Prof Thomas Otieno Olwal, Associate Professor at the Tshwane University of Technology’s Department of Electrical Engineering and the Graduate School of F’SATI (French South African Technical Institute).
Described as an incisive scholar, Prof Olwal holds two doctoral degrees - a PhD in Computer Science from the Université Paris-Est, Champs-sur-Marne, France and a D Tech in Electrical Engineering (Telecommunication Specialisation) from TUT.
Prior to joining TUT in 2014, Prof Olwal worked at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) as a Senior Researcher in the broadband wireless networks competency area for seven years.
He is a registered Professional Engineer (PrEng) with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). He is also a senior member of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Senior membership grade at the IEEE requires vast experience and it reflects professional accomplishment and maturity. Only 9% of 428 000 members worldwide have achieved this level.
Prof Olwal has more than a decade of experience in research projects, leadership, teaching and learning. He has demonstrated notable achievements in a number of workplace key results areas and has supervised/mentored more than 20 postgraduate students and/or young researchers since 2009.
During his career, he has received in excess of 1 million USD funding for research, development and innovation (RDI). He has published more than 130 technical and scientific research outputs in peer reviewed accredited journals, book chapters and conference papers, covering the broad fields of wireless mesh, free-space optical communications, 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) mobile cellular network standards, wireless sensor networks and the Internet of Things.
Prof Olwal’s research direction is inspired by a seamless, inclusive and universal internet of everything (IoE) in the 5G networks and beyond, as enablers for sustainable development in developing economies by 2030 and beyond after that.
In his plethora of research and development contributions towards achieving this vision, Prof Olwal applies numerous scientific and engineering complex problem solving models, tools and techniques. These include distributed algorithms, computational agent-based modelling, cognitive radio networks, software defined networks, decentralized decision making, emergence and self-organization, autonomous systems, cooperation, optimization, behavioural ecology, and bio-mimicry to solve real-world challenges in Sustainable Health, Water, Energy, Spectrum, Agriculture and Climate Change (SHWESAC).
C-rated researchers are established researchers with a sustained recent record of productivity in the field. They are recognised by their peers as having produced a body of quality work, the core of which has coherence and attests to ongoing engagement with the field; demonstrated the ability to conceptualise problems and apply research methods to investigating them.