Qiang Liu, Ph.D.Qiang Liu, Ph.D.
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Qiang Liu, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

School of Computing

University of Nebraska–Lincoln

qiang.liu@unl.edu
402-472-5006
262 Avery Hall, Lincoln, NE

I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Computing, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Before joining UNL, I was a Member of Technical Staff at Nokia Bell Labs. I obtained my Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, supervised by Dr. Tao Han.

My research goal is to design, develop, and deploy converged networking and computing systems that efficiently support a broad range of emerging applications, including extended reality, autonomous driving, industrial automation, and precision agriculture. My research philosophy emphasizes the integration of theoretical optimization with system experimentation in real-world large-scale networking and computing environments. I have received the NSF CAREER Award (2026), Best Paper Award at IEEE ICC (2019 and 2022), Best Paper Award at IEEE TAOS (2019), NVIDIA Academic Grant Award(2025), Edgerton Innovation Award (2025), and Research Excellence Award (2024). I am the principal investigator of Husker-Net, the first multi-campus private 5G network at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, supported by NSF Campus Cyberinfrastructure (CC*) program.

I am actively looking for self-motivated Ph.D. students to join my research group. If you are interested in working with me, please send me an email with your CV and research interests.

Research Interests

Wireless Networks

Network Autonomy, O-RAN, AI-RAN, Private Networks, Large-Scale Network Testbeds, Time Sensitive Networks.

Embodied Intelligence

Autonomous Systems, Edge AI, Digital Twin, Networked Robotics, Autonomous Driving.

Cyber-Physical Systems

Smart Agriculture, Industrial IoT, Vehicle-to-Everything, Advanced Manufacturing.

News

[2026/04] Received the NSF CAREER Award: CAREER: Trustworthy AI-Native Network Autonomy in Open Radio Access Networks. Thanks for the generous support from NSF.
[2026/04] Received 1-year $10K REU Supplement Fund based on our CADaaS project, through Computing Research Association (CRA).
[2026/04] Our paper (RadTwin) on Generalizable Wireless Digital Twin for Dynamic Environments has been accepted by IEEE ICCCN 2026! Congratulations to Yuru and Ming!
[2026/04] Our poster on Energy Efficient Edge Site Operation for Rural V2X has been accepted by IEEE ICCCN 2026! Congratulations to Xiaomeng and Ming!
[2026/02] Yuru is awarded the prestigious Dean’s Fellowship ($5500 for 2026-2027 academic year) by UNL. Congratulations to Yuru Zhang!
[2026/01] Our paper (AutoPlan) on digital twin assisted cellular network planning has been accepted by IEEE ICC 2026! Congratulations to Xiaomeng and Yuru!
[2026/01] Yuru will join Nokia Bell Labs as a Research Intern this Summer at Murray Hill, NJ. Congratulations to Yuru Zhang!
[2025/12] Received two-year $100K UNL Fred J. Kelly Fund (PI) for research on integrating AI in computer science education with Co-PI Lisong Xu!
[2025/12] Our paper (inRAN) on Interpretable Radio Access Networks has been accepted by IEEE INFOCOM 2026! Congratulations to Ming and Yuru!
[2025/12] Our paper (oneTwin) on Online Digital Network Twins has been accepted by IEEE INFOCOM 2026! Congratulations to Yuru and Ming!
[2025/11] Dr. Liu serves as Editor in IEEE Wireless Communication Magazine!
[2025/07] Our CADaaS project has been highlighted by the NSF CISE Newsletter, July 2025!
[2025/07] Received a $59K PAWR Supplement Fund under our AutoSlicing project! This will support us to work with the ARA platform for network slicing in the field.
[2025/07] Our CADaaS project has been highlighted in Nebraska Today and Channel 8 .
[2025/XX] Happy to join an NSF panel and complete the two-day panel discussion.
[2025/XX] Happy to join an NSF panel and complete the two-day panel discussion.
[2025/05] Welcome Xiaomeng Li to the INT Lab as a PhD student!
[2025/05] Happy to join the Open AI Impact Program at UNL, to explore AI techniques for future engineering teaching.
[2025/XX] Happy to join an NSF panel and complete the two-day panel discussion.
[2025/04] Yuru is awarded the Milton E. Mohr Fellowship (Year 2025-2026) by the College of Engineering, UNL. Congratulations to Yuru Zhang!
[2025/03] Dr. Liu received 2025 Edgerton Innovation Award, College of Engineering!
[2025/03] Received an NVIDIA Academic Grant (2x RTX PRO 6000 GPUs) to support our Digital Network Twin research. Thanks, NVIDIA!
[2025/03] Our poster on Multi-Layer Digital Transportation Twin is accepted by IEEE MOST 2025. Congratulations to Jiahe Cao!
[2025/03] Xiaomeng is awarded the prestigious Othmer Fellowship ($4000 per year, and up to three years) by the College of Engineering, UNL. Congratulations to Xiaomeng Li!
[2025/02] Ming Zhao will join Nokia Bell Labs as a Research Intern this Summer (again) at Murray Hill, NJ. Congratulations to Ming Zhao!
[2025/02] Call for Posters and Demos, IEEE MOST 2025, will be held in Newark, DE, this May!
[2025/02] Received three-year $289K NSF CSR project on Connected Autonomous Driving (Lead-PI), (NSF 2426481)!
[2025/02] Our paper on (inSlicing) Interpretable Learning-Assisted Network Slicing has been accepted by IEEE INFOCOM NG-OPERA 2025! Congratulations to Ming and Yuru!
[2025/02] Received two-year $173K Nebraska DoT project about cost-efficient rural wireless connectivity (Co-PI), with PI Chun-Hsing Ho, and the other Co-PI Kyungki Kim!
[2025/02] Received two-year $186K Nebraska DoT project about field C-V2X interoperability in NE highway (Co-PI), with PI Chun-Hsing Ho, and the other Co-PI Li Zhao!