Gao Defends His Dissertation

Kang Gao was a doctoral student studying Electrical Engineering at the University of Notre Dame and a member of the Wireless Institute. The accumulation of the past six years prepared Gao for the biggest day of his Notre Dame career, defending his dissertation.

During his defense, Gao defended his research on Computation of Mutual Information with Training and its Applications in Quantized Large-Scale Systems, to his Advisor Dr. Bertrand Hochwald and his committee members Dr. Thomas Fuja, Dr. J. Nicholas Laneman, and Dr. Jonathan Chisum.

“Kang looked at channel training methods in non-linear low-resolution millimeter-wave communication systems. He created a very nice model by which signal processing, machine learning, and communication systems could be analyzed in terms of the optimal amount of training needed to learn the weights or channel in the system,” said Hochwald. “I expect his work will result in two high-impact papers.”

Gao said one of the most important skills he learned during his time at Notre Dame was perseverance. Whether it was trying to solve a complex challenge on a project or editing my thesis, I learned you have to persist and persevere when something is difficult. I know that it’s an attribute I will use throughout my career.

Now that he has completed his Ph.D., Gao is leaving the cold South Bend winters for the sunny skies of San Diego as a Senior Engineer for Qualcomm.