Wim Sweldens

Who is Wim Sweldens?

Wim Sweldens is a Belgian American scientist, innovator, and business leader notable for innovations in communications and signal processing technology. His image compression algorithms became part of the JPEG 2000 standard. He developed algorithms for compressing three dimensional images into billions of tiny triangular modules. At telecommunications firm Alcatel-Lucent in New Jersey, he led an effort to enable mobile operators to monitor network traffic with real-time visibility. He led development of new cell tower technology called lightRadio which reduces the size of transmission equipment dramatically into a tiny box about the size of a Rubik's Cube. A large power-hungry cell tower could be replaced by many unobtrusive small palm-sized boxes which consist of a computer chip and antenna technology. Mobile operators can offer any combination of 2G, 3G and 4G technologies. The equipment uses only basic electrical power and can be placed indoors and linked to optical fiber cables; it enables mobile networks to operate with much less electricity, halving CO2 emissions and reducing the carbon footprint, and permitting cell phone service to reach more people over expanded geographic areas. The technology may mean the end of cell towers within ten years, according to several reports. In 2012, Sweldens was president of the wireless division of Alcatel-Lucent. He is a member of the Royal Belgian Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the IEEE.