PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Tommaso Melodia

Tommaso Melodia is a wireless networking researcher whose work on open radio access networks and AI-native wireless systems brought him an ACM Fellowship in 2026. After a PhD in electrical and computer engineering at Georgia Tech in 2007, he taught at SUNY Buffalo and joined Northeastern University in 2014. At Northeastern he worked with NSF and DARPA on the Colosseum wireless emulator in 2019, became a co-PI of the NSF AI-EDGE institute in 2021, and coauthored the OpenRAN Gym toolbox in 2022. He led Northeastern's effort to join the AI-RAN Alliance as a founding member in 2024, and the National Academy of Inventors named him a Fellow in 2024. He is the William Lincoln Smith Professor at Northeastern and directs the Institute for Intelligent Networked Systems, which opened a London hub in January 2026.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 2001–2007

    Degrees from Rome and Georgia Tech

    He earns a Laurea in 2001 and a doctorate in 2005 in telecommunications engineering at the University of Rome La Sapienza. In 2007, he completes a PhD in electrical and computer engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

  2. 2007–2018

    Professor at Buffalo and Northeastern

    From 2007 to 2014, he is an Assistant and then Associate Professor at SUNY Buffalo. He joins Northeastern University in 2014 as an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is named a College of Engineering Faculty Fellow in 2017, and receives the Søren Buus Outstanding Research Award in 2018. He is also director of research for the PAWR Project Office, a $100 million public-private partnership for four city-scale wireless research platforms.

  3. 2019

    The Colosseum wireless emulator

    In 2019, he works with NSF and DARPA on Colosseum, a testbed at Northeastern that emulates up to 256 wireless devices across 65,000 channels in real time. It lets researchers develop artificial intelligence algorithms that allow more devices to share the wireless space.

  4. 2021

    Co-PI of the AI-EDGE institute

    In 2021, NSF funds the AI Institute for Future Edge Networks and Distributed Intelligence (AI-EDGE), a $20 million, five-year effort led by Ohio State University. He and Stratis Ioannidis are co-PIs for Northeastern, which receives $1.8 million and leads a use case on end-to-end AI control of programmable 6G+ cellular networks.

  5. 2022–2023

    OpenRAN Gym and the OTIC

    In 2022, he coauthors OpenRAN Gym with Leonardo Bonati, Michele Polese, Salvatore D'Oro and Stefano Basagni, an open, O-RAN-compliant toolbox for data collection, design and testing of data-driven control for Open RAN systems; two of its xApps control a network of 7 base stations and 42 users on the Colosseum testbed. In July 2023, the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things, which he directs, opens an Open Testing and Integration Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, where Open RAN systems and AI and machine-learning control algorithms are tested.

  6. February 2024

    Co-founding the AI-RAN Alliance

    In February 2024, the AI-RAN Alliance launches at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and Northeastern becomes the only US university or research institute among its founding members. He leads the university's effort to join and serves as co-founder and Executive Board member of the alliance, which sets out to build AI-based mobile networking systems.

  7. 2024–2026

    ACM and NAI recognition

    ACM elevates him to Distinguished Member in January 2024 for contributions to architectures and algorithms for software-defined wireless networked systems. The National Academy of Inventors selects him as a Fellow in 2024. In January 2026, ACM names him a Fellow for contributions to open radio access network architectures and AI-native wireless networks.

  8. As of October 2026

    Director of Intelligent Networked Systems

    In January 2026, he announces the London hub of Northeastern's Institute for Intelligent Networked Systems, formerly the Institute for the Wireless Internet of Things, which becomes its third site after Boston and Burlington. He is the William Lincoln Smith Professor at Northeastern and director of the institute, which works on wireless communications with a focus on AI and machine learning.

Career

  1. Since 2014Northeastern UniversityAssociate Professor, Director
  2. From 2024AI-RAN AllianceCo-founder, Executive Board Member
  3. 2007–2014University at Buffalo, State University of New YorkAssistant and Associate Professor
  4. PAWR Project OfficeDirector of Research

Education

  1. 2007Georgia Institute of TechnologyPhD in electrical and computer engineering
  2. 2005Sapienza University of RomeDoctorate in telecommunications engineering
  3. 2001Sapienza University of RomeLaurea

From the biography.

  1. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes Northeastern University. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Northeastern University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Northeastern University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Northeastern University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Tommaso Melodia - Northeastern University College of Engineering coe.northeastern.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Tommaso Melodia - Northeastern Research research.northeastern.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Creating the World's Most Powerful Emulator of Wireless Systems - Northeastern University College of Engineering coe.northeastern.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Northeastern Part of New NSF Artificial Intelligence Research Institute - Northeastern University College of Engineering coe.northeastern.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. OpenRAN Gym: AI/ML Development, Data Collection, and Testing for O-RAN on PAWR Platforms arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Northeastern University launches O-RAN OTIC for Next-Generation Cellular Networks in the Open6G Hub - Institute for Intelligent Networked Systems insi.northeastern.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Northeastern University launches O-RAN testing center rcrwireless.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Northeastern Joins Forces for AI Revolution in Mobile Networking news.northeastern.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. AmpliTech Group Appoints Professor Tommaso Melodia To Its Board of Advisors to Support Strategic Growth Across ORAN Architectures and AI-native Wireless Networks amplitechgroup.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  10. Ganguly and Melodia Elevated to ACM Distinguished Members coe.northeastern.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  11. Sun and Melodia Named National Academy of Inventors Fellows coe.northeastern.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  12. Fu and Melodia Selected as ACM Fellows coe.northeastern.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  13. Innovation Across the Sea: London's New INS Hub coe.northeastern.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.