TXST News
Smarter home Wi-Fi research at Texas State — and where a master’s student fits in
Dr. Marcelo M. Carvalho of the Ingram School of Engineering is building an AI-driven scheduler that lets home Wi-Fi routers divide airtime more intelligently and use less power. The work is funded by the Comcast Innovation Fund.
We are covering this not because an energy-efficient router is major news, but because the research team includes a master's student — a concrete answer to a question the office hears constantly: "can I actually do research there at master's level?"
The problem being solved
The router in your home serves devices with contradictory needs at the same time. A games console needs instant response. A television needs a steady stream. A battery sensor needs to sleep as much as possible. Commercial routers currently divide airtime fairly crudely.
Dr. Carvalho's group works on Target Wake Time — the mechanism deciding which device wakes when to receive data — and applies machine learning to set that schedule rather than fixing it in advance.
“Modern Wi-Fi access points need to make fast and smart decisions regarding who, when, how, and for how long access to the wireless channels should happen.”
DR. MARCELO M. CARVALHOThe university notes the approach also applies to manufacturing, warehousing, automotive systems, healthcare and 6G networks.
Who is on the team — and why that detail matters
| Role | Person |
|---|---|
| Principal investigator, director of the SHINe lab | Dr. Marcelo M. Carvalho |
| Postdoctoral scholar | Ahmed Maksud |
| Doctoral student | Sandeep Sudula |
| Master's student | Rishita Kundu |
A team of four, spanning doctoral and master's level, on an industry-funded project. This is what research at master's level in a US public university actually looks like: not everyone gets a place, but the places exist, with a named lab and named people.
Two things to know before counting on an assistantship
- F-1 students may work on campus for at most 20 hours a week during term. A research assistantship sits inside that limit.
- Some positions carry a tuition reduction, others pay only an hourly wage. Financially these are very different — ask which before accepting.
See engineering and computer science programmes, graduate requirements, or the university's wider research picture.
Source: TXST researcher explores a smarter future for home Wi-Fi, news.txst.edu, 17 September 2026. The 20-hour on-campus work limit for F-1 students is US federal regulation, not a university rule.
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