The use of micro unmanned aerial vehicles (MUAVs), also known as drones, has gained much popularity for various military, public, and civil applications. Thanks to their mobility and flexibility, remote controlled and automated MUAVs allow the accomplishment of different tasks without the need of direct human intervention. Recent advances in electronics and sensing technologies have broadened the scope of MUAV applications. Such applications include traffic monitoring, border surveillance, disaster management, public safety, and environmental services. These lightweight drones can be equipped with communication systems allowing them to interact with other ground and/or flying nodes. Due to their flexible three-dimensional (3D) positioning, they have the potential to have reliable wireless communications with reduced path loss effect. This talk will cover potentials, challenges, and some recent progress of MUAV-assisted wireless communications.

Md. Jahangir Hossain (S’04-M’08) received the B.Sc. degree in electrical and electronics engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh; the M.A.Sc. degree from the University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, BC, Canada. He is currently working as an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering, UBC Okanagan campus, Kelowna, BC, Canada. His research interests include designing spectrally and power-efficient modulation schemes, quality of service issues and resource allocation in wireless networks. Dr. Hossain regularly serves as a member of the Technical Program Committee of the IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC). Currently, he is serving as an Editor for the IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials and he was an Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.