Introducing our Doctoral Candidates
Today - DC03 - Piyush Navade - UT
What is your research about?
My research is about using Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) to remotely monitor health and safety indoors. In simple terms, the same wireless signals used for transmitting communication information can also be used to sense human presence, activity, and subtle body motion (like breathing), without requiring cameras or wearables.
Why is this research needed?
Many current monitoring options have drawbacks, e.g., cameras can feel invasive and raise privacy concerns, especially in private spaces like bedrooms, hospital rooms, and eldercare facilities. And wearables, like smartwatches, depend on people remembering to wear them and keeping them charged, which is not reliable. Radio frequency-based sensing is more privacy-preserving alternative. It can work passively in the background and does not capture visual identity the way cameras do.
Where does your research take place?
I am based in Enschede, The Netherlands with the Radio Systems Group at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Twente. In the latter years of my PhD track, I will do a secondment at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, working with Prof. George Shaker at the Wireless Sensors and Devices Laboratory at the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging.
Who will benefit from this research?
This work is aimed at settings where safety and privacy matter the most, e.g., eldercare & assisted living facilities, in hospitals and for at-home care for people who need support but want independence. Moreover, in emergency response situations where cameras struggle (darkness, smoke, occlusions, cluttered rooms), this work will be beneficial.
When did your project start and when will it finish?
I started this project on 15.10.2025 and will finish it on 14.10.2029.
