Student Member Spotlight: Joseph Nguyen

Written by: Kevin Corbley

Cao Hong Phuc Nguyen, who often goes by the name Joseph, is originally from Vietnam and currently based in Sydney, Australia, where he is pursuing a PhD at the Global Big Data Technologies Centre, in the School of Electrical, Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Joseph’s research lies at the intersection of radar remote sensing, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), microwave sensing, and signal processing for radar systems.

Joseph completed his bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering through an advanced engineering program at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT), Vietnam, developed in collaboration with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), USA, and then completed a Master’s degree in Telecommunications Engineering. He joined IEEE GRSS in 2024 as a graduate student. During free time, he enjoys jogging, running, and playing musical instruments, as well as singing in a local Catholic church choir.

Please describe the focus of your current (PhD) research and what you hope to accomplish?

My PhD research focuses on developing low-complexity, high-resolution non-coherent synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging systems. Conventional coherent SAR offers powerful imaging capability but typically requires strict synchronization, phase stability, known transmitted signals, and carefully controlled hardware. My research asks: how much of this complexity can be relaxed while still achieving high-quality radar imaging?

To address this, I investigate a new concept: radio frequency camera non-coherent SAR architecture that can operate with periodic, random, or unknown RF illumination. My work explores different aperture trajectories, including circular and spiral scanning, as well as distributed receivers, sparse sampling, and advanced reconstruction methods.

Ultimately, I hope to make radar imaging simpler, more flexible, and easier to deploy, with potential applications in remote sensing, environmental and infrastructure monitoring, autonomous sensing, and other scenarios where conventional coherent radar systems may be too complex or costly.

Why did you decide to join GRSS?

I joined GRSS because it is one of the professional communities most closely aligned with my research interests in SAR, microwave remote sensing, and radar signal processing. As a PhD candidate, I did not want my research experience to be limited to working on algorithms and experiments within my own laboratory. I wanted to understand how the broader remote-sensing community approaches similar challenges, learn from researchers working on different sensing platforms and applications, and become part of an international professional network.

GRSS provides that bridge between fundamental research, technological development, and real-world ground/Earth observation applications. I have also found that GRSS offers students opportunities that go well beyond publishing papers, including technical schools, professional-development programs, networking, mentoring, and community activities.

How do you expect your GRSS experiences to assist you in current academic pursuits?

GRSS has already broadened the way I think about my research. My PhD is strongly radar-focused, but participation in GRSS activities exposes me to the wider remote-sensing ecosystem.

A particularly valuable experience was receiving full scholarship support to attend the Second New Zealand Radar Remote Sensing School (NZRRSS 2026) at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. More recently, I was also selected as a recipient of the 2026 IEEE GRSS IDEA Professional Development Microgrant, which is helping me further develop professionally and become more actively involved in the GRSS community. These experiences complement my technical PhD work by continually reminding me that radar algorithms and systems ultimately exist to address much broader sensing and societal challenges.

What are specific GRSS activities that you plan to take advantage of?

I would like to continue participating in GRSS technical conferences, training schools, webinars, technical committees, student and young-professional activities, and professional-development initiatives. I am particularly interested in activities related to SAR, radar instrumentation, microwave remote sensing, image analysis, and emerging sensing technologies. I would also like to engage more actively with GRSS technical committees where my research experience in radar imaging and signal processing can contribute. Over time, I hope my relationship with GRSS evolves from primarily being a participant and beneficiary of its opportunities to becoming an active contributor through volunteering, peer review, technical activities, mentoring, and service to the community.

Long term, how do you anticipate GRSS will benefit your professional career?

My long-term ambition is to build a career that combines advanced radar research, engineering innovation, education, and international collaboration. GRSS can play an important role in that journey because it connects researchers, engineers, universities, government organizations, and industry working across the remote-sensing field. I see the Society not simply as a place to publish research, but as a long-term professional community where I can continue learning, collaborating, and eventually contributing back to younger researchers.

Has your experience in GRSS so far differed from what you expected?

Yes, very positively! Before becoming actively involved, I mainly associated GRSS as a professional society with paper submissions. My experience with GRSS has shown me that the Society is much broader than that. The New Zealand Radar Remote Sensing School, the IDEA Professional Development Microgrant, educational resources, webinars, and community initiatives have shown me that GRSS invests significantly in developing students and early-career researchers. What has impressed me most is the accessibility of the community. That experience has changed my view of IEEE membership from something primarily associated with publications into something much more valuable: a professional community in which you can learn, contribute, and grow throughout your career.

Is there someone in your academic past or present who has helped guide your career in the right direction?

I have been fortunate to receive guidance from many teachers, supervisors, and research collaborators throughout my academic journey. My PhD supervisors at UTS, Professor Xiaojing Huang and Professor J. Andrew Zhang, have played a major role in helping me develop from someone with an engineering mindset into a more independent researcher. They have encouraged me not only to solve technical problems, but also to question assumptions, understand the fundamental physics behind radar systems, validate ideas experimentally, and communicate research clearly. Their guidance has also encouraged me to participate internationally through conferences, research schools, publications, and professional societies.

One lesson I have learned from my mentors is that a research career is not built only from successful results. It also requires patience when experiments fail, openness when reviewers or colleagues challenge your assumptions, and persistence in improving an idea until you can defend it scientifically.

At what upcoming GRSS events can people expect to meet you? (Presenting a paper?)

I am very interested in participating in future IEEE GRSS and IGARSS activities. At present, my research is progressing toward several further journal and conference outputs. Furthermore, a recent paper from my PhD research has been accepted for publication in IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters (GRSL), and I hope to present the next stages of this research at future GRSS events.

What words of encouragement would you offer others who are considering joining GRSS?

I would encourage students to join GRSS early rather than waiting until they feel established in their research careers. As PhD candidate, we sometimes think that we need to have many publications or extensive experience before becoming involved in an international professional community. My experience has been the opposite. GRSS is valuable precisely while you are still learning.

Take advantage of the opportunities available: attend webinars, apply for scholarships and travel support, participate in training schools, talk to researchers at conferences, join student activities, and apply even when an opportunity seems highly competitive. My advice is simple: do not only join the Society—participate in it. The more actively you engage, the more opportunities you will discover to learn, contribute, and build meaningful professional connections.

Do you know an IEEE GRSS Student Member who deserves to be recognized? We invite you to submit a nomination by sending a brief message to ir_pub@grss-ieee.org with the subject: “Student Member Spotlight.”

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