Professor Joe McGeehan has been awarded the CBE for pioneering innovation in mobile communications.
Professor McGeehan is the managing director of Toshiba Research Europe’s Bristol UK-based Telecommunications Research Laboratory. He is also a director of the internationally recognised Centre for Communications Research at the University of Bristol.
At Toshiba, Professor McGeehan is responsible for managing research into 3G, 4G and 5G terminals, including algorithms, Digital Signal Processing, protocols and software.
Professor McGeehan has published more than 200 papers in the field of mobile communication systems, RF engineering, microwave theory and techniques, radio-wave propagation, signal processing and plasma physics.
His research into Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) during the early 1990’s formed the basis of today’s 3G cellular standard. He also led the development of speech scrambling technology which is used today by all the UK’s police forces for secure mobile radio transmissions. This technology won the Prince of Wales Award for Innovation (1992).
“I am very honoured to receive this award in recognition of the strategic importance of the link between industry and Higher Education in the field of mobile communications,” said Professor McGeehan. “At a time of rapid change and development in the mobile communications field I have been extremely fortunate to have made a contribution in a number of key research areas. In this respect, I have been supported by many talented individuals without whose help such advances would have not have been possible.”
Professor McGeehan is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical Engineers (FIEE) and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng).