Fadel Adib is a LebaneseâÂÂAmerican computer scientist, electrical engineer, and entrepreneur. He is an associate professor at the MIT Media Lab and in MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, where he founded and directs the Signal Kinetics research group. His work focuses on wireless sensing, networking, humanâÂÂcomputer interaction, and the "Ocean Internet of Things," including systems that enable seeing and sensing through walls and batteryâÂÂfree underwater imaging. He is also the founder and CEO of Cartesian Systems, a startup focused on largeâÂÂscale wireless mapping and sensing.
Adib grew up in Tripoli, Lebanon, and studied computer and communications engineering at the American University of Beirut (BE, 2011). He earned an SM (2013) and PhD (2016) in computer science at MIT. His master's thesis "See through walls with WiâÂÂFi" and dissertation "Wireless systems that extend our senses" explored using radio signals for contactless sensing.
Adib joined the MIT faculty in 2016 as an assistant professor at the Media Lab, where he founded the Signal Kinetics group; he was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2022. He has served as MIT's Doherty Chair in Ocean Utilization, reflecting his group's focus on ocean sensing and communications.
Adib has worked on wireless sensing systems that use radio frequency signals to perceive humans and environments without wearables. His early work with Dina Katabi introduced **WiâÂÂVi**, which used lowâÂÂpower WiâÂÂFi signals to detect and track people through walls, and **WiTrack**, a 3âÂÂD throughâÂÂwall motionâÂÂtracking system; these results were broadly covered in the technology press.
Later, Adib's team developed **RFâÂÂCapture** (capturing a coarse human figure through walls) and contributed to RFâÂÂbased humanâÂÂpose estimation (**RFâÂÂPose**).
In ocean sensing, his group reported a **batteryâÂÂfree, wireless underwater camera**, published in Nature Communications. His team has also published on underwater acoustic backscatter communication and longâÂÂrange batteryâÂÂfree networking.
Adib founded **Cartesian Systems**, the company builds wireless mapping and sensing platforms and has received U.S. NSF SBIR funding. Earlier, his graduate research contributed to the formation of Emerald Innovations, which develops contactless healthâÂÂmonitoring systems.