Li awarded A F Harvey Engineering Research Prize

Dr Changzhi Li, a professor at Texas Tech University in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, has developed portable radar sensors that enable the monitoring of individuals without on-body devices, remotely checking motions such as respiration and heartbeat. According to IET, Li’s innovations have provided greater clarity on medical conditions like sleep apnoea and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and can also be seen in touch-free gesture controls found in electronic devices.

Despite the rapid growth of radar-based biomedical sensing, its integration into everyday life remains limited due to challenges with body orientation and movement, which can impact the reliability of obtaining useful high-quality signals. Li hopes to use the £350,000 prize to look at how to extract these interferences to enhance and improve the technology.

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In a statement, Li said: "I am deeply honoured to receive the A F Harvey Engineering Research Prize and I’m thrilled about the work ahead. The Prize will enable my research group to embark on a five-year journey focused on developing compound-eye RF vision technology for next-generation biomedical radar. Our goal is to advance low-power microwave sensing techniques to monitor key information of the human body without the need for wearable devices, ultimately enhancing the well-being of society."