Malek Itani, Atsutse Kludze, and Yiwen Song will be awarded at the Marconi Awards Gala in San Francisco this November

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, UNITED STATES, August 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Marconi Society is proud to announce the recipients of the 2026 Paul Baran Young Scholar Award, honoring three exceptional early-career researchers whose work is advancing the future of information and communications technology (ICT). The awardees will be recognized at the 2026 Marconi Awards Gala & Institute Forums, taking place November 4–6 at the Fairmont San Francisco.

Introducing the 2026 Paul Baran Young Scholars:

Malek Itani, University of Washington

Malek Itani is a PhD candidate in Electrical Engineering at the University of Washington, nominated by Professor Shyam Gollakota in the UW's Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. Working at the intersection of wireless systems, embedded audio, and AI, his research builds real-time "hearables" — like earbuds, hearing aids, and smart glasses — that use artificial intelligence to give people control over what they hear. In 2025, he co-founded Hearvana AI, raising a $6 million round to bring this technology out of the lab and into everyday devices. His work has been covered by MIT Technology Review, IEEE Spectrum, Le Monde, The Verge, and Popular Science.

Atsutse Kludze, Princeton University

Atsutse Kludze earned his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Princeton University in 2026, where he was nominated by Professor Kaushik Sengupta. His research develops physics-guided architectures for wireless communication and sensing above 100 GHz. He is a named inventor on granted and pending patents, one of which was selected as a Princeton Patent Highlight. He was named an Outstanding Reviewer for the IEEE Journal of Microwaves, and has held the Yan Huo Graduate Fellowship and the Pramod Subramanyan Early Career Graduate Award from Princeton, a GEM Employer Fellowship sponsored by IBM, and a Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship.

Yiwen Song, Carnegie Mellon University

Yiwen Song is currently a Postdoctoral Associate at the WiTech Lab in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, nominated by Professor Larry Pileggi. His work focuses on designing and evaluating new wireless systems, with applications spanning wireless communication, sensing, power transfer, and novel wireless hardware. Currently, he is working toward the deep integration of wireless and robotic systems, advancing research in radio-frequency actuation of soft robots and the robotic integration of wireless devices.

"The 2026 Young Scholars exemplify the curiosity and drive that move our field forward," said John Janowiak, President and CEO of the Marconi Society. "Each of them is tackling problems that matter — from the way we hear, to the way we sense and communicate wirelessly, to the systems that will define the next generation of connectivity. We are proud to celebrate their contributions and look forward to watching their impact grow."

The 2026 Paul Baran Young Scholars will present their research at the cross-sector Institute Forums on Friday, November 6, 2026, before being recognized that evening at the Marconi Awards Gala at the Fairmont San Francisco, California. They will be honored alongside 2026 Marconi Prize recipient Robert Calderbank and 2026 Marconi Society Lifetime Achievement Award recipient John Hennessy. The evening also celebrates the 2026 Marconi Institute Award recipients — Dr. David Bray, Dr. Pierrette Renée Dagg, and Dr. Hamid Jafarkhani — who will be recognized the preceding evening at the Institute Forums on Thursday, November 5, 2026.

The Marconi Society gratefully acknowledges the generous support of its sponsors whose commitment makes these stipends possible: Akamai, AWS, Cohere Technologies, Duke Quantum Center, Google, Jungsang Kim & Soyeon Nam, Identity Digital, Samueli Foundation, Atlassian, ECE Foundation, IEEE, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, NCTA, Radius Global Infrastructure, Verisign, ARIN, Comitato Nazionale Marconi 150, Coalition on Digital Impact, EdgeQ, Fondazione Guglielmo Marconi, IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu, MoreAI, San Francisco Center of Economic Development, SIDN, and the Wireless History Foundation.

For information on participation and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Flora Tromelin at ftromelin@marconisociety.org or +1-480-828-6064.

About the Paul Baran Young Scholar Award
The Paul Baran Young Scholar Award recognizes individuals 27 years of age or younger who have demonstrated outstanding scientific achievements, leadership, and entrepreneurial spirit in advancing the connected world. Nominations for the 2027 Paul Baran Young Scholar Award will open in January 2027. Learn more at www.marconisociety.org.

Yeimidy Lagunas
Marconi Society
+1 224-399-7333
ylagunas@marconisociety.org
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