Octavia A. Dobre is a Canada Research Chair (Tier -1) and Full Professor at Memorial University, Canada. Previously, she was with the New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA, and the Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania. Dr. Dobre is a Fellow of the IEEE, the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and the Engineering Institute of Canada. She is also an elected member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts and of Academia Europaea. In addition, she is recognized as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher.
Her research interests include technologies for wireless networks, as well as underwater and optical communications. She has published over 600 journal and conference papers in these areas and received numerous Best Paper Awards, including the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) Heinrich Hertz Award.
Dr. Dobre’s research has been supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Department of Industry, Energy and Technology NL, the Research and Development Corporation, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Defence Research and Development Canada, the Department of National Defence, the Communications Research Centre Canada, and several industry partners.
She served as Vice President of Publications for IEEE ComSoc, was the inaugural Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of the IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society, and EiC of IEEE Communications Letters. She has also been Senior Editor, Editor, or Guest Editor for numerous prestigious journals. Dr. Dobre is the recipient of the IEEE ComSoc Joseph LoCicero Award for Exemplary Service to Publications.
Her service record includes membership on the IEEE ComSoc Board of Governors (Member-at-Large), and leadership roles as General Chair, Tutorial Chair, Technical Committee Chair, or Technical Symposium Chair at various flagship conferences. She was the inaugural Chair of the Women in Communications Engineering standing committee, Director of the Sister and Related Societies portfolio, and Chair of the SPCE Technical Committee within IEEE ComSoc. She has also served on the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society and is currently Co-Chair of its TC-13.
Dr. Dobre was Chair of the NSERC Discovery Grant evaluation committee for electrical and computer engineering. She is a licensed Professional Engineer with Professional Engineers and Geoscientists Newfoundland and Labrador (PEGNL), Canada.