The Department of Engineering at Pompeu Fabra University has awarded the 2026 Women Researcher Award a Ana García Armada, full professor at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) and one of the world's leading researchers in the field of wireless communications. The award recognizes the scientific excellence of women researchers working in Spain in areas related to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), as well as their contributions to knowledge transfer, science communication, and the training of future generations of engineers.

Promoted by the UPF Department of Engineering, the award forms part of the department’s broader commitment to equality and inclusion. Among these initiatives is the Dorcas Muthoni doctoral scholarship programme, aimed at supporting women from Aftica.

The winner receives a €3,000 prize and will deliver the inaugural lecture of the UPF School of Engineering for the 2026–2027 academic year.

A leading career in wireless communications

García Armada leads the Communications Research Group at UC3M and has been a visiting researcher at internationally renowned institutions such as Stanford University, Bell Labs, and the University of Southampton. Her research has focused on wireless communications and, in particular, on overcoming the technical limitations of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), a technology now widely adopted in Wi-Fi, 4G, and 5G networks and considered fundamental to the development of future 6G systems.

In this area, she is currently working on new energy-efficient multicarrier waveforms and innovative architectures such as liquid antennas, while also participating in several projects funded through the Horizon Europe programme.

Research for the networks of the future

García Armada's current research explores new multicarrier waveforms designed to improve energy efficiency and address the challenges posed by future 6G networks. Her work includes integrated communication and sensing systems, visible light communications, and groundbreaking communication architectures based on liquid antenna arrays.

She is also involved in several high-profile European research projects funded by Horizon Europe.

Her research activity is closely aligned with the strategic research areas of UPF Engineering, particularly in the fields of networks and communications.

Committed to education and the promotion of women in engineering

Beyond her scientific achievements, the selection committee highlighted García Armada’s outstanding contribution to the training of future engineers and researchers. She has supervised fifteen doctoral theses and developed massive open online courses (MOOCs) on mobile communications and 5G networks through the edX platform. She is also the driving force behind the initiative "Una ingeniera en cada cole", which brings female role models in technology and engineering to educational centres and has received numerous national and international awards.

Her career has been distinguished by her elevation to IEEE Fellow, one of the highest honours in the fields of electronic engineering and telecommunications.

Strong participation in the second edition

A total of 24 leading researchers in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) submitted their applications for the award. The candidates represent more than 10 universities, independent research centres, CSIC institutes, and companies from across the sector.

This broad range of participants clearly reflects the diversity and excellence of the research being carried out by women in Spain.

Through this recognition, UPF Engineering celebrates a scientific career of international impact and reaffirms its commitment to promoting female talent in research and technological innovation.