Honoring an electrifying signal processing professor
Fulton Schools Professor Antonia Papandreou-Suppappola (left) is the 2024 recipient of the Joseph C. Palais Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award due to her excellence in research, teaching and service. Photographer: AJ Montes/ASU
Antonia Papandreou-Suppappola, a professor of electrical engineering in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, has received the Joseph C. Palais Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award for 2024.
Established in 2016 by electrical engineering Emeritus Professor Joseph Palais, the Palais Award recognizes electrical engineering faculty for excellence in research, teaching and service.
With a long history in the Fulton Schools, Papandreou-Suppappola was acquainted with Palais during his time on the faculty and feels honored to be recognized through his legacy.
“I am deeply appreciative to receive the Palais Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award, especially because I have known and admired Joe for more than 25 years,” she says. “His service and dedication to our graduate students has been an inspiration.”
Chaitali Chakrabarti, a professor of electrical engineering, nominated Papandreou-Suppappola for the award.
“Professor Papandreou-Suppappola’s commitment and dedication to the electrical engineering program is admirable and has brought great visibility to ASU,” Chakrabarty says. “Her continuous excellence in research, teaching and service make her highly deserving of the honor and opportunity for the Palais Award.”
Signaling greatness
Papandreou-Suppappola’s passion for applying mathematics to real-world problems has established her as a leader in time-varying signal processing.
Her work has many applications in diverse areas — advanced signal processing methods are needed to detect, estimate, track or classify information from various types of measurements. She has collaborated with neurosurgeons to analyze deep brain stimulation signals in patients with Parkinson’s disease, detected structural damage in aircraft, tracked moving objects for surveillance under varying conditions, designed waveforms for wireless communications and analyzed peptide microarray data.
She also works on developing methods to enable dynamic and agile wireless technologies as a co-principal investigator on a project with the U.S. Department of Defense and the Army Research Laboratory at the ASU Center of Excellence in Future Generation Wireless Technology, or COE-FutureG.
“I enjoy working on projects that require the collaboration of researchers from different fields to be successful,” Papandreou-Suppappola says. “Our interdisciplinary research team is pioneering foundational innovations in the future of wireless technology to ensure integrated sensing and processing in any environment.”
Her research work has been funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Science Foundation, NASA and many other notable institutes.
Among her many accolades, she was elected as a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE, in 2013, received the 2020 IEEE Region 6 Affinity Group Member Award for Women in Engineering, the 2020 IEEE Phoenix Section Outstanding Contribution to Promoting Women in Engineering award and the NSF CAREER Award in 2002.
At ASU, she has received the Fulton Schools of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award in 2005, the Fulton Exemplar Faculty Award in 2014 and the Top 5% Fulton Schools Teaching Excellence Award five times.
Boosting opportunities
Papandreou-Suppappola came to ASU in 1999 due to its encouraging and academic environment.
“As a woman in electrical engineering seeking a faculty position 25 years ago, I had a few choices of academic positions.” she notes, “However, I was not willing to work in an environment that did not value me for my research work. At ASU, I sensed that I belonged.”
Papandreou-Suppappola says her work advocating for women in engineering is a major point of pride for her career. She notes that women often get a different experience in engineering, so she has taken strides to cultivate a supportive community.
“It is vital for women starting in engineering to get encouragement, see other women succeeding and talk about their experiences,” she says. “My students have told me that seeing my fellowships and honors shows them that they can do it, too.”
Her proudest moment as an educator was when she was told by a former student that her support inspired her to not only stay in electrical engineering but continue to pursue engineering in graduate school.
Abigail Eastman, an electrical engineering doctoral student in Papandreou-Suppappola’s lab, says that Papandreou-Suppappola maintains an attentive and encouraging learning environment.
“In the classroom and during research meetings, she always ensures you fully understand the material,” Eastman says. “Her emphasis on real-life scenarios has helped me recognize how everything we learn can be applied in the field.”
Papandreou-Suppappola is part of the Inclusive Excellence Faculty Advisory Council, or IFAC, which advises the Fulton Schools dean on policy considerations related to inclusive excellence.
Charging the future
Papandreou-Suppappola’s dedication to research, teaching and service exemplifies the values celebrated by the Palais Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award. Her impactful work in signal processing, commitment to fostering an inclusive environment for women in engineering and steadfast support for her students demonstrate the profound influence she has had on the ASU community and beyond.
As she continues to drive innovation and inspire the next generation of engineers, Papandreou-Suppappola sets a high standard for academic and professional achievement, leaving an enduring legacy in electrical engineering.
“Although this does not distinguish me from many other professors, I am greatly committed to the success of our electrical engineering students, both undergraduates and graduates,” she says. “I let the students know that I respect each of them and that they matter.”
