Weihua Zhuang, PEng

Weihua Zhuang received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from Dalian Maritime University, China, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of New Brunswick, Canada, all in electrical engineering. She is a University Professor and a University Research Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada. Her current research focuses on network architecture, algorithms and protocols, and service provisioning in future telecommunication systems. She is the recipient of Women's Distinguished Career Award in 2021 from IEEE Vehicular Technology Society, R.A. Fessenden Award in 2021 from IEEE Canada, Award of Merit in 2021 from the Federation of Chinese Canadian Professionals (Ontario), and Technical Recognition Award in Ad Hoc and Sensor Networks in 2017 from IEEE Communications Society. In 2021, she was recognized by the University of Waterloo for her exceptional scholarly achievement and international pre-eminence through the designation “University Professor".

Dr. Zhuang is a Fellow of the IEEE, Royal Society of Canada (RSC), Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), and Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC). She is an elected member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society (VTS). She was a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Wireless Communication Network (2010-2024), the VTS President (2023-2024), Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology (2007-2013), an editor of IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications (2005-2009), General Co-Chair of IEEE/CIC International Conference on Communications in China (ICCC) 2021, Technical Program Committee (TPC) Chair/Co-Chair of IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference 2017 Fall and 2016 Fall, and TPC Symposia Chair of the IEEE Globecom 2011.

• Wireless Networking

• Wireless Communications

Current research activities focus on networking algorithms and protocols for next generation communication networks.

Related studies include:

- potential network architectures for 6th-generation (6G) networks

- network virtualization, e.g., network topology, transport protocol and congestion control for virtual networks

- network slicing for wireless communications

- link layer networking protocols

- application of machine learning in communication networks.

Vehicular Communication Networks: We have developed networking protocols and algorithms for quality-of-service support. For example, we have proposed VeMAC, a novel multichannel TDMA MAC protocol proposed specifically for a VANET scenario. The VeMAC supports efficient one-hop and multi-hop broadcast services on the control channel by using implicit acknowledgments and eliminating the hidden terminal problem. The protocol reduces transmission collisions due to node mobility on the control channel by assigning disjoint sets of time slots to vehicles moving in opposite directions and to road side units. Analysis and simulation results in highway and city scenarios are presented to evaluate the performance of VeMAC and compare it with ADHOC MAC, an existing TDMA MAC protocol for VANETs. It is shown that, due to its ability to decrease the rate of transmission collisions, the VeMAC protocol can provide significantly higher throughput on the control channel than ADHOC MAC. Please watch simulated vehicle traffic flows on YouTube [http://youtu.be/GjYWe7eLJ3s and http://youtu.be/48daRU6ZpjI]

• 1993, Doctorate Electrical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, New Brunswick

• University Research Chair, University of Waterloo, since 2024

• University Professor, University of Waterloo, since 2021

• Fellow, International Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance (AIIA), 2025

• Fellow, Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA), 2022

• Fellow, Academy of Science, the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), 2017

• Fellow, the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC), 2012

• Fellow, the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), 2011

• Tier I Canada Research Chair in Wireless Communication Networks, 2010-2024

• Fellow, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), for contributions to mobile communications and networks, 2008

• Highly Cited Researcher, Clarivate, 2025

• WICE Outstanding Achievement Award, the Women in Communications Engineering Committee (WICE), IEEE Communications Society, 2025

• Electronics and Electrical Engineering Leader Award, Research.com, 2023

• Outstanding Chapter, Vehicular Technology Chapter, IEEE Kitchener-Waterloo Section, 2022.

• Women's Distinguished Career Award, IEEE Vehicular Technology Society, 2021

• R.A. Fessenden Award, IEEE Canada, 2021

• Award of Merit, Federation of Chinese Canadian Professionals (Ontario), 2021

• Technical Contribution Award, Technical Committee on Cognitive Networks (TCCN), IEEE Communications Society, 2021

• Technical Recognition Award, Ad Hoc & Sensor Networks Technical Committee, IEEE Communications Society, 2017

• One of the ten "N2Women: Stars in Computer Networking and Communications", Networking Networking Women (N2Women), 2017

• Best Editor Award, the ETRI Journal, Korea, 2016

• Outstanding Service Award, IEEE Vehicular Technology Society (VTS), for examplary service to the IEEE VTS Board of Governors, 2013

• Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE Communications Society, 2008-2011

• The Discovery Accelerator Supplements (DAS) Award, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada, 2008

• The Premier's Research Excellence Award (PREA) for demonstrated excellence of scientific and academic contributions, the Ontario Government, 2001

• The OJVT Best Paper Award, IEEE Vehicular Technology Society, June 2025, for paper entitled "AI-Assisted Network-Slicing Based Next-Generation Wireless Networks", IEEE Open Journal Veh. Techn., Vol. 1, pp. 45-66, January 2020.

• Best Paper Award, IEEE Global Communications Conference (Globecom), Cape Town, South Africa, December 2024

• Best Paper Award, IEEE/CIC International Conference on Communications in China (ICCC), Foshan, China, August 2022

• Best Paper Award, the 17th ACM International Conference on Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Wireless and Mobile Systems (MSWiM), Montreal, Canada, Sept. 2014

• Best Paper Award, IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), Sydney, Australia, June 2014

• Best Paper Award, IEEE Global Communications Conference (Globecom), Atlanta, USA, December 2013

• Best Paper Award, IEEE Global Communications Conference (Globecom), Anaheim, USA, December 2012

• Best Paper Award, IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), Ottawa, Canada, June 2012

• Best Conference Paper Award, IEEE Multimedia Communications Technical Committee, 2011

• Best Student Paper Award, IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC), Ottawa, Canada, September 2010

• Best Paper Award, IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC), Sydney, Australia, April 2010

• Best Paper Award, Int. Conf. Heterogeneous Networking for Quality, Reliability, Security and Robustness (QShine), Hong Kong, July 2008

• Best Paper Award, Int. Conf. Heterogeneous Networking for Quality, Reliability, Security and Robustness (QShine), Vancouver, August 2007

• Best Paper Award, IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), Glasgow, Scotland, June 2007

• Best Student Paper Award, IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC), Hong Kong, March 2007

• President's Excellence in Research, University of Waterloo, 2022

• The Outstanding Performance Award, University of Waterloo, for outstanding achievements in teaching, scholarship, and service, 2018

• The Outstanding Performance Award, University of Waterloo, for outstanding achievements in teaching, scholarship, and service, 2011

• Marsland Fellowship, Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo, for demonstrated exceptional achievements in research, teaching, and dedication to the Department and the University, 2008

• The Outstanding Performance Award, University of Waterloo, for outstanding achievements in teaching, scholarship, and service, 2008

• The Distinguished Performance Award, Faculty of Engineering, University of Waterloo, for outstanding contributions in teaching, scholarship, and service, 2006

• The Outstanding Performance Award, University of Waterloo, for outstanding achievements in teaching, scholarship, and service, 2005

• ECE 318 - Communication Systems
  • Taught in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026
• ECE 414 - Communication Systems 2
  • Taught in 2021
• ECE 604 - Stochastic Processes
  • Taught in 2022, 2023, 2025
• ECE 614 - Communications Over Fading Dispersive Channels
  • Taught in 2021

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• Profs listed among world's most influential researchers
• Professor recognized by Chinese Canadian foundation