Dr. Letaief received the BS degree with distinction, MS and Ph.D. Degrees in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University, USA.
He is an internationally recognized leader in wireless communications and networks with research interest in AI and machine learning, mobile cloud and edge computing, tactile Internet, and 6G systems. He is a Member of the United States National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of IEEE, Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, and Member of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences. He is also recognized by Thomson Reuters as an ISI Highly Cited Researcher and was listed among the 2020 top 30 of AI 2000 Internet of Things Most Influential Scholars.
He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications. He is also the recipient of many distinguished awards and honors including the 2021 IEEE Technical Committee on Cognitive Networks Recognition Award; 2019 Distinguished Research Excellence Award by HKUST School of Engineering (Highest research award and only one recipient/3 years is honored for his/her contributions); 2019 IEEE Communications Society and Information Theory Society Joint Paper Award; 2018 IEEE Signal Processing Society Young Author Best Paper Award, 2016 IEEE Marconi Prize Paper Award in Wireless Communications, and 2010 Purdue University Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award.
Dr. Letaief is well recognized for his dedicated service to professional societies and in particular IEEE where he has served in many leadership positions. These include IEEE Communications Society President (2018-19), the world's leading organization for communications professionals with headquarter in New York City and members in 162 countries. He is currently serving as an elected member of the IEEE Board of Directors.
Since 1993, he has been with HKUST where he has held many administrative positions, including Head of the Electronic and Computer Engineering department. He also served as Dean of Engineering. Under his leadership, HKUST Engineering has reached new heights and was ranked #14 worldwide at the end of his term in 2015 according to QS World University Rankings.