Fadel Adib

Fadel Adib
Alma materAmerican University of Beirut (BE, 2011); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (SM, 2013; PhD, 2016)
Known forWireless sensing (Wi‑Vi, WiTrack), Ocean IoT, battery‑free underwater imaging
Scientific career
FieldsComputer science; Electrical engineering
InstitutionsMassachusetts Institute of Technology
ThesisWireless systems that extend our senses (2017)
Websitewww.mit.edu/~fadel/

Fadel Adib is a Lebanese–American computer scientist, electrical engineer, and entrepreneur. He is an associate professor at the MIT Media Lab and in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, where he founded and directs the Signal Kinetics research group. His work focuses on wireless sensing, networking, human–computer interaction, and the "Ocean Internet of Things," including systems that enable seeing and sensing through walls and battery‑free underwater imaging.[1][2] He is also the founder and CEO of Cartesian Systems, a startup focused on large‑scale wireless mapping and sensing.[3][4]

Early life and education

Adib grew up in Tripoli, Lebanon, and studied computer and communications engineering at the American University of Beirut (BE, 2011).[5] He earned an SM (2013) and PhD (2016) in computer science at MIT. His master's thesis "See through walls with Wi‑Fi" and dissertation "Wireless systems that extend our senses" explored using radio signals for contactless sensing.[6]

Career

Adib joined the MIT faculty in 2016 as an assistant professor at the Media Lab, where he founded the Signal Kinetics group; he was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2022.[7] He has served as MIT's Doherty Chair in Ocean Utilization, reflecting his group's focus on ocean sensing and communications.[8]

Research

Adib has worked on wireless sensing systems that use radio frequency signals to perceive humans and environments without wearables. His early work with Dina Katabi introduced **Wi‑Vi**, which used low‑power Wi‑Fi signals to detect and track people through walls, and **WiTrack**, a 3‑D through‑wall motion‑tracking system; these results were broadly covered in the technology press.[9][10][11][12]

Later, Adib's team developed **RF‑Capture** (capturing a coarse human figure through walls) and contributed to RF‑based human‑pose estimation (**RF‑Pose**).[13]

In ocean sensing, his group reported a **battery‑free, wireless underwater camera**, published in Nature Communications.[14] His team has also published on underwater acoustic backscatter communication and long‑range battery‑free networking.[15]

Entrepreneurship

Adib founded **Cartesian Systems**, the company builds wireless mapping and sensing platforms and has received U.S. NSF SBIR funding.[16] Earlier, his graduate research contributed to the formation of Emerald Innovations, which develops contactless health‑monitoring systems.[7]

Awards and honors

  • Great Arab Minds Award (Engineering & Technology), 2023.[17]
  • ACM SIGMOBILE Rockstar Award, 2022.[18]
  • Sloan Research Fellowship, 2021.[19]
  • Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, 2019.[20]
  • National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 2019.[21]
  • ACM SIGMOBILE Doctoral Dissertation Award, 2018 (for Wireless Systems that Extend Our Senses).[22]
  • MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35, 2014; Forbes 30 Under 30 (Enterprise Technology), 2015.[23]
  • ACM SIGMOBILE Test‑of‑Time Award (for "See Through Walls with Wi‑Fi!"), 2023 (co‑recipient).[24]

Selected publications

  • F. Adib and D. Katabi, "See Through Walls with Wi‑Fi!," ACM SIGCOMM CCR 43(4):75–86 (2013).[9]
  • F. Adib, Z. Kabelac, D. Katabi, and R. C. Miller, "3D Tracking via Body Radio Reflections," USENIX NSDI (2014).[25]
  • F. Adib, C.-Y. Hsu, H. Mao, D. Katabi, and F. Durand, "Capturing the Human Figure Through a Wall," ACM Transactions on Graphics 34(6) (SIGGRAPH Asia 2015).[26]
  • S. S. Afzal, W. Akbar, O. Rodriguez, M. Doumet, U. Ha, R. Ghaffarivardavagh, and F. Adib, "Battery‑free wireless imaging of underwater environments," Nature Communications (2022).[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ Zewe, Adam (January 24, 2023). "Sensing with purpose". MIT News. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  2. ^ "Signal Kinetics – Ocean IoT (selected publications)". MIT Media Lab. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  3. ^ "Cartesian Systems". cartesiansystems.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  4. ^ "Fadel Adib". World Economic Forum. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  5. ^ "AUB alumnus Fadel Adib receives prestigious 2023 Great Arab Minds Award". American University of Beirut. December 12, 2023. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  6. ^ Adib, Fadel (2013). See through walls with Wi‑Fi (S.M. thesis). MIT Libraries (Thesis). hdl:1721.1/82183. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Fadel Adib promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure". MIT EECS. December 23, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  8. ^ "An underwater navigation system powered by sound". MIT News. November 2, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  9. ^ a b Adib, Fadel; Katabi, Dina (August 2013). "See Through Walls with WiFi!" (PDF). ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review. 43 (4): 75–86. doi:10.1145/2534169.2486039. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  10. ^ "MIT researchers can see through walls using 'Wi‑Vi'". Computerworld. June 28, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  11. ^ "Wi‑Vi system uses Wi‑Fi to see through walls". New Atlas. June 28, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  12. ^ Adib, Fadel; Kabelac, Zachary; Katabi, Dina; Miller, Robert C. (2014). 3D Tracking via Body Radio Reflections (PDF). USENIX NSDI. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  13. ^ "MIT uses wireless signals to identify people through walls". Ars Technica. October 28, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  14. ^ a b "Battery‑free wireless imaging of underwater environments" (PDF). Nature Communications. September 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  15. ^ "Ocean IoT – selected publications". MIT Media Lab. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  16. ^ "Company: Cartesian Systems — NSF SBIR Phase II". SBIR.gov. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  17. ^ "Lebanese MIT professor named winner of Great Arab Minds award". Great Arab Minds. December 7, 2023. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  18. ^ "SIGMOBILE RockStar Award – 2022 winner: Fadel Adib". ACM SIGMOBILE. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  19. ^ "Fadel Adib – Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship". Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  20. ^ "2019 Young Investigator Award Recipients". Office of Naval Research. 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  21. ^ "Fadel Adib awarded NSF CAREER". MIT Media Lab. March 28, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  22. ^ "2018 SIGMOBILE Award Winners". ACM SIGMOBILE. October 30, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  23. ^ "Fadel Adib – Forbes 30 Under 30 (Enterprise Technology)". Forbes. 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  24. ^ "Adib and Katabi receive the ACM SIGMOBILE Test‑of‑Time Award". MIT Media Lab. June 2023. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  25. ^ Adib, Fadel; Kabelac, Zachary; Katabi, Dina; Miller, Robert C. (2014). 3D Tracking via Body Radio Reflections (PDF). USENIX NSDI. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  26. ^ Adib, Fadel; Hsu, Chen-Yu; Mao, Hongzi; Katabi, Dina; Durand, Frédo (2015). "Capturing the Human Figure Through a Wall" (PDF). ACM Transactions on Graphics. 34 (6): 1–13. doi:10.1145/2816795.2818072. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
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