Luiza Leszkowska from the Faculty of ETI on the TOP 15 list of 5G experts | Gdańsk University of Technology

The aim of the list is to distinguish, appreciate and, above all, promote women who specialize in various areas of the 5G network (technical, business, legal and public administration). It is also an attempt to draw attention to the problem of the lack of women in this field and in the entire telecommunications industry. Luiza Leszkowska is the youngest in this group and at the same time one of the two representatives of universities. Next to her, the list includes, among others, heads of the largest, leading companies in the telecommunications industry or experts from the Ministry of Digitization and the Telecommunications Department in the Chancellery of the Council of Ministers. The ladies could get to know each other and exchange experiences during the online meeting, organized on 8 December, during the conference ‘Perspektwy Women in Tech Summit’.

Luiza Leszkowska completed her master's degree in telecommunications and electronics just two years ago. For her master's thesis - the design of a miniature antenna used in satellite technology, she received many awards and distinctions, including the one in the competition for the best master's thesis in the field of microwave, antenna and radar technology of the Polish section of IEEE.

– I became interested in the subject of 5G already during my studies, because I deal with wireless communication - mainly antennas. Research work for me must end with a specific product that needs to be designed and built from scratch.

The researcher notices large disproportions between the share of women and men dealing not only with 5G technology, but more broadly with telecommunications. She was among the minority already during her studies, and now she is the only woman in a research team carrying out international projects, including those from the Horizon 2020 program. The doctoral student is currently preparing to apply in the competition of the National Center for Research and Development, in which one of the conditions for obtaining financing for the project is for it to be led by a woman.

– The aim of the project is to develop a new concept of an energy-saving reconfigurable antenna and to create prototypes of antennas together with related algorithms and methods that can be effectively used to improve performance in many applications, among others in health care - explains Luiza Leszkowska – It will to some extent continue my present research, and at the same time it will be an opportunity to prove myself as a project manager. In addition, I hope that a female student will join our team next year, who will want to pursue her master's thesis on this topic.

The antennas created in the project will be used, among others in wireless communication devices for 5G networks - 5G technologies, and later 6G and other technologies are new possibilities and solutions that will improve the operation of many systems, improving the comfort of life. – More and more intelligent devices and inventions, however, need wireless communication with greater capacity, allowing for faster data transfer, and this is what 5G gives us - concludes the researcher.