IIT Indore
Prabhat Kumar Upadhyay
Dean, International Relations
Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Indore
pkupadhyay [at] iiti.ac.in
Faculty Profile
Prof. Prabhat Kumar Upadhyay received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from
the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi in 2011. He joined IIT Indore in 2012 as an
Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, where he became Associate
Professor in 2017 and a Professor in 2022. He served as Head/Faculty In-charge of Training
and Placement at IIT Indore from June 2016 to May 2019, and as a Senate Nominee to the
Board of Governors of IIT Indore from February 2023 to February 2025. He is currently the
Dean of International Relations at IIT Indore.
Prof. Upadhyay has held several visiting academic appointments at leading international institutions, reflecting his strong global research collaborations. He served as a Visiting Professor at the School of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, under the BRICS Research Project (March 2020). He was subsequently awarded the prestigious Nokia Foundation Fellowship and served as a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Wireless Communications (CWC), University of Oulu, Finland (May–August 2022). This was followed by a Visiting Professorship at the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering (DEIB), Politecnico di Milano, Italy (April–July 2023). In June 2026, he served as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, under the Shastri Scholar Travel Subsidy Grant (SSTSG) of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute (SICI). In July 2026, he served as a Guest Professor at the Wireless Institute, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, USA, under the Asia Guest Scholar Partnership Program.
At IIT Indore, he leads the Wireless Communication (WiCom) Research Group, which focuses on advanced research and development for next-generation wireless communication systems. His research interests include cooperative and cognitive radio techniques, MIMO signal processing, hybrid satellite–terrestrial systems, energy harvesting, physical-layer security, Internet of Things (IoT) networks, molecular communications, and nano-networks. He has published over 125 research papers in peer-reviewed journals and conferences and has authored one book and seven book chapters.
Prof. Upadhyay serves as an Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. He previously served as an Editor for the IEEE Communications Letters (2019–2024), as a Guest Editor for the Special Issue on “Energy-Harvesting Cognitive Radio Networks” in the IEEE Transactions on Cognitive Communications & Networking (2018), and as an Associate Editor for IEEE Access (2018–2022). He has also contributed to the Technical Program Committees of several IEEE flagship conferences.
He has taken on multiple leadership roles in international conferences, including Workshops Chair of the 18th EAI International Conference on Body Area Networks (BODYNETS), Milan, Italy, 2023; Co-Chair of the Communications Symposium Committee, National Conference on Communications (NCC), 2022; Track Co-Chair of Radio Access & Softwarisation (RAS), European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC), Dubrovnik, Croatia, 2020; and TPC Co-Chair of the IEEE International Conference on Advanced Networks and Telecommunication Systems (ANTS), Indore, India, 2018. He was also Co-Organizer of the Workshop on “Energy Harvesting Communication Networks” at IEEE PIMRC, Bologna, Italy, 2018.
Prof. Upadhyay has received several awards and recognitions, including the IETE-N V Gadadhar Memorial Award (2022), the Exemplary Editor Award from IEEE Communications Letters (2021), and the Sir Visvesvaraya Young Faculty Research Fellowship from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India (2018–2023). He was also conferred the IETE-Prof. S.V.C. Aiya Memorial Award (2018). His research papers have been recognized with the Best Poster Award at COMSNETS, Bengaluru (2023) and the Best Paper Award at CommNet, Morocco (2018). Additionally, he received the Best Technology Development Award from IIT Indore in 2017.
He is a Fellow of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India).
Prof. Upadhyay has held several visiting academic appointments at leading international institutions, reflecting his strong global research collaborations. He served as a Visiting Professor at the School of Electrical and Information Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, under the BRICS Research Project (March 2020). He was subsequently awarded the prestigious Nokia Foundation Fellowship and served as a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Wireless Communications (CWC), University of Oulu, Finland (May–August 2022). This was followed by a Visiting Professorship at the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering (DEIB), Politecnico di Milano, Italy (April–July 2023). In June 2026, he served as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, under the Shastri Scholar Travel Subsidy Grant (SSTSG) of the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute (SICI). In July 2026, he served as a Guest Professor at the Wireless Institute, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Notre Dame, USA, under the Asia Guest Scholar Partnership Program.
At IIT Indore, he leads the Wireless Communication (WiCom) Research Group, which focuses on advanced research and development for next-generation wireless communication systems. His research interests include cooperative and cognitive radio techniques, MIMO signal processing, hybrid satellite–terrestrial systems, energy harvesting, physical-layer security, Internet of Things (IoT) networks, molecular communications, and nano-networks. He has published over 125 research papers in peer-reviewed journals and conferences and has authored one book and seven book chapters.
Prof. Upadhyay serves as an Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. He previously served as an Editor for the IEEE Communications Letters (2019–2024), as a Guest Editor for the Special Issue on “Energy-Harvesting Cognitive Radio Networks” in the IEEE Transactions on Cognitive Communications & Networking (2018), and as an Associate Editor for IEEE Access (2018–2022). He has also contributed to the Technical Program Committees of several IEEE flagship conferences.
He has taken on multiple leadership roles in international conferences, including Workshops Chair of the 18th EAI International Conference on Body Area Networks (BODYNETS), Milan, Italy, 2023; Co-Chair of the Communications Symposium Committee, National Conference on Communications (NCC), 2022; Track Co-Chair of Radio Access & Softwarisation (RAS), European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC), Dubrovnik, Croatia, 2020; and TPC Co-Chair of the IEEE International Conference on Advanced Networks and Telecommunication Systems (ANTS), Indore, India, 2018. He was also Co-Organizer of the Workshop on “Energy Harvesting Communication Networks” at IEEE PIMRC, Bologna, Italy, 2018.
Prof. Upadhyay has received several awards and recognitions, including the IETE-N V Gadadhar Memorial Award (2022), the Exemplary Editor Award from IEEE Communications Letters (2021), and the Sir Visvesvaraya Young Faculty Research Fellowship from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India (2018–2023). He was also conferred the IETE-Prof. S.V.C. Aiya Memorial Award (2018). His research papers have been recognized with the Best Poster Award at COMSNETS, Bengaluru (2023) and the Best Paper Award at CommNet, Morocco (2018). Additionally, he received the Best Technology Development Award from IIT Indore in 2017.
He is a Fellow of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India).