Associate Professor, Fowler School of Engineering
Email:mehrnia@chapman.edu
EDUCATION/TRAINING
2010 – 2013
M.B.A. (Business Analytics & Technology Management), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
2001 – 2006
Ph.D. Electrical Engineering (signal processing, wireless circuits & systems), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
1996 – 1998
M.S. Electrical Engineering (wireless digital communications, satellite comm.), Sharif University of Technology
INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE:
Dr. Mehrnia has more than 15 years of experience in high-tech industry and holds more than 20 granted or pending patents. He worked at SpaceX from 2015 to 2023 where he led the design of signal processing and wireless communication techniques for chips enabling 6000+ Starlink satellites and 2M+ user terminals (globally deployed) to realize the first commercial Giga-bit/s satellite constellation and communication system. From 2004 to 2009, he was a founding engineer and the Director of wireless communications at WiLinx Corp. (a VC-funded high-tech startup) designing one of the first commercial wireless USB chips based on Multi-Band OFDM Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology (aka IEEE 802.15.3a).
He also represented the company in the UWB global standardization (WiMedia Alliance) and was the lead consultant for the Bluetooth board of directors’ feasibility study of UWB data rate and range. Throughout this work, he contributed to the development of the Physical Layer and Architecture of the first Giga-bit/s commercial wireless standard as a technical contributor and later as the interim chairman of the worldwide UWB regulation. From 1998 to 2001, he worked as a design lead in a high-tech startup on the wireless communication system and implementation of a low power 12-satellite tracking GPS receiver for mobile applications.
RESEARCH/TEACHING INTERESTS
High-speed, Low-power Digital Signal Processing for Artificial Intelligence, Wireless Integrated Circuits and Systems, Space and Satellite Communications.
IEEE Website: Alireza Mehrnia - IEEE Xplore Author Profile