This tribute honors the life and legacy of Kaveh Pahlavan, who passed away on 2 November 2024.

For many years Kavah Pahlavan has been a solid, vibrant contributor to ComSoc in many ways, with multiple contributions. Kaveh started his life in Tehran, Iran, excelling simultaneously in mathematics and athletics.  Kaveh married Farzaneh in Iran at a time when his college life was at a peak of excitement.  He was on the national college volleyball championship team and his team represented Iran playing at the College Student Olympics in Moscow before moving himself and his new bride to the United States.

His first stop was the University of Oklahoma.  As much as he enjoyed the comforts of the South, not a year later, he headed to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) to take on the challenge of earning a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering focusing on Telecommunications.  Two children later, he entered the 1980’s as Professor Pahlavan.  This was the beginning of building his legacy as a researcher with contributions to society both small and large.

He created the first comprehensive lab studying Wi-Fi (CWINS), where he tirelessly led research that solved the riddle of how to hold a Wi-Fi connection indoors.  His groundbreaking work also allowed for more accurate GPS locations that are used daily in thousands of ways, like getting directions from remote locations or tracking a loved one’s device to ensure their safety.

A visionary in the field, he published pioneering textbooks, hundreds of seminal visionary papers and patents, and the first international journal on Wi-Fi.  Kaveh was instrumental in developing Wi-Fi standards that ensured commercially developed products would not encounter compatibility issues.  He was granted the IEEE Fellowship, Fulbright-Nokia Fellowship, WPI’s Outstanding Research and Creative Scholarship award, and advised the U.S. National Research Council on wireless technologies, just to name a few remarkable achievements.  His ability to bridge the gap between research and industry application fostered an exciting era of innovation that was highlighted by his work as the chief technical advisor of Skyhook wireless, the company which sold Wi-Fi localization to Steve Jobs for adoption in the first iPhone in 2007.

Said best himself, Kaveh described his key to success as follows, “I think having an introvert personality, being keen on solving challenging problems, persistence, and a very high level of energy were my assets for creativity and productivity in research and scholarship as well as in all other aspects of life.  I enjoy competition, I select a certain “thing” that I feel I am good at, then I work hard day and night for perfection in that “thing.”  This can be a challenging research problem, tedious writing of a book, the patient study of a philosophical concept or history of an era, or an athletic experience or a game like chess.  This way, I have gained knowledge in diverse subjects in my profession and in life.”

Through organizing key conferences and collaborating in his lab, he brought great minds together to elevate not only the research but also the people surrounding it.  He was one of the founders (together with Hamid Aghvami and Shuzo Kato) of one of the top IEEE conferences on wireless communications, PIMRC - IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications, which started in London, UK, in 1991.

Kaveh’s intellect, leadership, and kindness will be deeply missed by family, friends, colleagues, students, and the broader technological community.  His legacy will endure through the technologies he helped create, the companies he helped found, and the countless individuals he inspired.  He is survived by his beloved wife, Farzaneh, his son Nima, and his daughter Nasim Kablan and her husband Shek.