To there and back again

Robert ‘Bogdan’ Staszewski is an IEEE Fellow and associate professor in the EEMCS faculty since 2009. While his accomplishments in both industry and academia are reaching new heights, his beginnings resemble much of ours in Delft.

Associate Professor Robert Staszewski: “I thought, ‘This is as high as I can go in my life’.” (Photo: Hans Stakelbeek)

After leaving his home country to study abroad, Associate Professor Robert Staszewski now finds himself back in Europe. Originally from Poland, he spent much of his early life in Texas. “After finishing high school, I waited in Germany for a year and a half to get an immigrant visa to the US, and then stayed there for about 25 years, mostly in Dallas, where I got my Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD degrees while working at the same time at several companies.” Staszewski worked for Alcatel in Dallas Metroplex for five years, then at Texas Instruments, for 14 years, starting in 1995, where he worked on hard drives. “In 1999, I moved to the radiofrequency group,” he adds. “You use these products a lot, and all cell phones use them.”

Was your transition from university studies to a corporate career difficult?
“I did my Master’s degree while working for a company, so there was no big transition. I didn’t get a big raise - it was just another day. If you’re working in the US, with a big company, 100 percent of your tuition will be paid for. So for me, quitting the company and going to school wasn’t such a good idea, because then I’d have had to pay from my own pocket and apply for a scholarship. The company encourages this former: educating their employees makes them stronger. We basically did a favor to the company by paying for their education. That’s how I got my Master’s. I was pretty happy, and thought, ‘This is as high as I can go in my life’.”

But you went higher, involved in the early days of what is now ubiquitous mobile telephony.
“I started thinking about these cell phone things: how to connect people, how to improve the quality of people’s lives. I started thinking about making these very inexpensive electronics. I started working with my former advisor on translating my idea of very cheap cell phones into a PhD thesis, and was ready to finish studying in about a year or two. Of course, I had to work hard, while also writing internal papers, filing patents and working with customers, but hey, I was being paid for that. Thousands of other engineers do the same thing, being paid for their work, but they don’t get their PhDs at the same time.”

What has driven your career?
“When I was studying, I learned that a theory for why people aren’t connected is because the technology is too expensive. People have this intense desire to communicate with one another. My father’s family lived in Poland, so whenever I wanted to send them something or communicate with them, it was very difficult. So, we sort of grew foreign, strangers from one another. So, we have this desire to communicate. The most important thing was to basically build cheaper electronics. I came up with a way of making these electronics about ten times less expensive in industry.”

And this linked to your interest in multimedia communications?
“Yes, multimedia communications, which use data, was the second part of my quest to make cell phones more available. After people became satisfied with the voice quality – they can pick up the phone and talk to anybody in the world, because most people have access to cell phones – the second step would be to exchange thoughts. You cannot really call up you friend every time you come up with a different idea. That would really annoy people. So the next idea would be that you open Facebook and put your idea there. When my friends have some spare time in their busy lives, maybe they can read it there and comment. This is the idea behind data communication. It was built upon the idea of the cellular network, the data exchange.”

What has it meant to you to become an IEEE Fellow?
“Well, there are two sides to this. If you’re a fellow, then people start to ask you for recommendations - for this, for that. So, the cynical answer is that you’re now bothered more than before. But the interesting part is that it gives you a very good recognition. It’s the largest research organization among electrical engineers. The net membership is about 400,000 worldwide, so being chosen to be in this small group – let’s call it 0.1% every year – it’s a big recognition. It also feels good.”

Now that you’re an associate professor here and have put your industrial career behind you. What does the future hold for your academic career?
“The future of my industrial links in academia looks pretty good. Now that I’m no longer with Texas Instruments, their competitors, with whom I was basically supposed to fight – now I can work with them. While at Alcatel, we looked at Lucent and said, ‘We’re going to take their customers.’ This kind of adversarial relationship has now become a very advantageous relationship for me and has given me lots of contacts with industry. So now I’m able to exploit these contacts into research opportunities, for example.”

What’s the difference between research in academia and working in R&D in industry?
“Well, I don’t think the differences are really great. Of course, the objectives are different, because in industry you have to make money. That’s the number one objective. In academia, it’s a different place. The process of research and getting a patent is not that different. But the motivation is different: in industry, you want to make money and become rich, while in academia you want to discover the truth.”

Are there any differences between the Dutch and US approach to work and research?
“Wow, you can probably write a book on it! As far as the work is concerned, I think the fundamental work is just the same. You dive into the details and work them out - of course, after having a good idea. I don’t see much difference, perhaps because the human brain works just the same. I think there’s much more variation between the good/bad universities in the US than between US/Europe. As for funding: in Europe, you get more government funding, which is more long term once it is granted; hence, it’s more stable but there’s more reporting. In the US, there’s more private financing for the purpose of starting a company, which isn’t much here.”