Professor Fuja’s research addresses reliable communication over inherently unreliable and/or constrained communication links. He has recently focused his research on the changing role that channel codes play in the context of wireless networks, i.e., to not only provide physical-layer robustness but also to interact with relaying and network coding architectures to maximize efficiency and performance.

Elements of his current research include the design of capacity-approaching channel codes (e.g., LDPC and fountain codes) well-suited to wireless networks, techniques for cooperative diversity based on channel coding methodologies, the capacity of wireless erasure networks, and the design and analysis of iterative-decoded communication systems operating at very low bit and frame error rates.

In addition, Prof. Fuja’s role as the Faculty Director of iNDustry Labs, Notre Dame’s platform for collaboration with local industry, has given him the opportunity to explore ways that the two biggest economic forces in the South Bend region — a large manufacturing sector and a tier-1 research university — can leverage one another to the benefit of the region.