Faculty Directory

BRIEF BIO:

I am an Assistant Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. My research focuses on a broad spectrum of next-generation (5G+/6G and beyond) wireless. Building on strong theoretical foundations, I design, prototype, and demonstrate in-the-field next-generation wireless systems and architectures with applications in networking, security, and sensing. My research is multi-disciplinary, cutting across electromagnetics, protocols, signal processing, robotics, and end-to-end systems. 

I am recruiting motivated and hardworking graduate students interested in working in the areas of next-generation wireless systems, including sensing, security, and networking, to join my group. If you are interested, feel free to contact me. 

RESEARCH INTERESTS: 

• Physical and Cross-Layer Wireless Security
• Millimeter-wave and Terahertz Networking and Sensing
• Intelligent Surfaces and Devices for Next-Generation Wireless
• Wireless Mobile Systems and Robotics Networks

EDUCATION:

• Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, 2024
• M.S., Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, 2020

• B.S., Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 2015

AWARDS:

• Best Demo Award at ACM HotMobile
• Best Demo Award at ACM WiSec
• Texas Instruments (TI) Distinguished Fellowship
• Rice Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Fellowship

Selected Publications:

• Fahid Hassan, Zhambyl Shaikhanov, Jeffrey Lei, Hichem Guerboukha, Hou-Tong Chen, Chun-Chieh Chang, Sadhvikas Addamane, Michael P. Lilly, Daniel M. Mittleman, and Edward W. Knightly, "Downlink Multi-user sub-THz Communication with a Programmable Metasurface," in Proceedings of the  IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications (INFOCOM), 2025
• Natsuki Morand, Ahmed Boubrima, Walid Bechkit, and Zhambyl Shaikhanov, "HeatPulse: Thermal Attacks on Air Pollution Sensors," the 3rd Workshop on Security and Privacy in Connected Embedded Systems, 2024, - Best Paper Candidate - 
• Zhambyl Shaikhanov, Mahmoud Al-Madi, Hou-Tong Chen, Chun-Chieh Chang, Sadhvikas Addamane, Daniel M. Mittleman, and Edward W. Knightly, "Audio misinformation encoding via an on-phone sub-terahertz metasurface," Optica, August 2024.  
• Zhambyl Shaikhanov, Sherif Badran, Hichem Guerboukha, Josep M. Jornet, Daniel M. Mittleman, and Edward W. Knightly, "MetaFly: Wireless Backhaul Interception via Aerial Wavefront Manipulation," in Proceedings of the 45th IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (S&P/Oakland), May 2024. 
• Zhambyl Shaikhanov, Sherif Badran, Josep M. Jornet, Daniel M. Mittleman, and Edward W. Knightly,  "Adversarial Aerial Metasurfaces," in Proceedings of the 23rd Annual International Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications (ACM HotMobile), February 2023. - Best Demo Award - 
• Zhambyl Shaikhanov, Fahid Hassan, Hichem Guerboukha, Daniel M. Mittleman, and Edward W. Knightly, "Metasurface-in-the-Middle Attack: from Theory to Experiment," in Proceedings of the 15th ACM Conference on Security and Privacy in Wireless and Mobile Networks (ACM WiSec), May 2022.  - Best Demo Award - 
• Zhambyl Shaikhanov, Ahmed Boubrima, and Edward W. Knightly, "FALCON: a Networked Drone System for Sensing, Localizing, and Approaching RF Targets," IEEE Internet of Things Journal, June 2022. 
• *Riccardo Petrolo, *Zhambyl Shaikhanov, Yingyan Lin, and Edward W. Knightly, "ASTRO: a System for Off-Grid Networked Drone Sensing Missions," ACM Transactions on Internet of Things, November 2021,