Dr. Roger Sanchez Vital
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellow · IDLab (University of Antwerp - imec)
I am a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellow at
IDLab (University of Antwerp - imec) under the supervision of Prof. Jeroen Famaey,
where I lead the LUNA project on low-power non-terrestrial networks for Ambient IoT.
I received my PhD and B.Sc. in Network Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
in 2025 and 2020, respectively, and an M.Sc. in Telecommunications Engineering from La Salle - Universitat Ramon Llull (2021).
Previously, I was a member of the Wireless Networks Group
within UPC's Network Engineering Department.
My research focuses on energy-efficient wireless networks and the
IEEE 802.11 standard, with a growing emphasis on bringing connectivity to
devices that can no longer rely on batteries. Through my MSCA project
LUNA, I work on Ambient IoT — battery-free
devices powered by energy harvesting — and its convergence with Non-Terrestrial
Networks (satellites, HAPS, and UAVs) to achieve ubiquitous, energy-autonomous coverage.
This builds on my broader interests in IoT-related technologies, Wake-up Radio (WuR) systems,
LoRaWAN, LR-FHSS, energy-aware scheduling and localization, and power-saving mechanisms for
next-generation wireless protocols.
energy-efficient wireless networks
Ambient IoT
Non-Terrestrial Networks
energy harvesting
IEEE 802.11
IoT
LoRaWAN
LPWAN
LR-FHSS
Wake-up Radios (WuR)
energy-aware scheduling
Wi-Fi 8
Education
- PhD, Network Engineering - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 2025
- M.Sc., Telecommunications Engineering - La Salle URL, 2021
- B.Sc., Network Engineering - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 2020
Affiliations
- IDLab - University of Antwerp & imec
- Wireless Networks Group - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (former)
- Wireless Networks (WiNe) - Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (former)
🌙 MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship
LUNA
Low-power Ubiquitous NTN for Ambient IoT
Bringing battery-free Ambient IoT devices and Non-Terrestrial Networks together
to deliver truly ubiquitous, energy-autonomous connectivity — from the ground to space.
Programme
Horizon Europe · MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships (HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF)
Duration
Jun 2026 – May 2028 (24 months)
EU Contribution
€200,400
Host Institution
University of Antwerp (IDLab), Belgium
Partners
University of Oulu (Finland) · Satelio IoT Services (Spain)
Fields
RF technology · Telecommunications · IoT · Satellite technology
Overview
LUNA integrates Ambient IoT (A-IoT) — battery-free devices that
harvest energy from their environment — with Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) such as
satellites, High-Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS), and UAVs. The goal is to enable maintenance-free,
globally reachable IoT sensing in places where terrestrial infrastructure is sparse or absent.
Research Challenges
🔗
Unified connectivity framework
There is no standardized framework to connect A-IoT devices to both terrestrial and
non-terrestrial infrastructures. LUNA works toward a coherent architecture spanning both.
⏱️
Energy-aware scheduling
Battery-free devices have unpredictable duty cycles that must be coordinated with fast-moving
platforms — calling for scheduling that respects intermittent energy availability.
📍
Energy-efficient localization
Accurate, low-cost localization is needed to schedule communication windows with passing
satellites and aerial platforms without draining the harvested energy budget.
Ambient IoT
Non-Terrestrial Networks
Ubiquitous coverage
Energy-aware scheduling
Energy-efficient localization
Energy harvesting
Funded by the European Union under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (Grant Agreement No. 101282240).
Views and opinions expressed are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect those of the
European Union or the granting authority.
Research Projects
Active and past funded research initiatives.
Current · MSCA
LUNA — Low-power Ubiquitous NTN for Ambient IoT
My Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship at IDLab (University of Antwerp - imec),
integrating battery-free Ambient IoT with Non-Terrestrial Networks (satellites, HAPS, UAVs) for
ubiquitous, energy-autonomous connectivity.
Project details ↗
Opening the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi in the EU
Assessing the technical and socio-economic benefits of opening the 6 GHz band
for Wi-Fi in the European Union, combining experimental evaluation with regulatory analysis.
Project page ↗
SPRINGTIME
SuPoRtING Towards Ip-based interconnection of Multiple Environments.
Flexible, power-efficient IP-based protocol architecture connecting physical IoT ecosystems
with cloud-based digital twins across Wi-Fi, 5G, and LoRaWAN networks.
Project page ↗
WINTERTIME
WuR INTERneT-of-things wIreles MEsh.
Explores Wake-up Radio (WuR) systems for energy-efficient IoT mesh networks,
combining high-capacity primary radios with ultra-low-power secondary radios.
Project page ↗
WiLD
Wireless Leakage Detection System in vehicle manufacturing lines.
Passive, battery-free, <€0.15 UHF RFID moisture sensors to automate water-tightness
testing during automotive assembly, removing manual bottlenecks.
Project page ↗
Datasets
Open research datasets published on Zenodo.
R. Sanchez-Vital, L. Casals, B. Jara-Ortínez, J. Bodvanski, R. Vidal, E. Garcia-Villegas, C. Gomez
Zenodo · 2025
R. Sanchez-Vital, L. Casals, B. Heer-Salva, R. Vidal, C. Gomez, E. Garcia-Villegas
Zenodo · 2024 — Associated with: Sensors, vol. 24, no. 17, pp. 5770-5787
Teaching
Courses taught.
2022-2025
Network Fundamentals and Architectures
Awards & Grants
Fellowships and recognition received.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowship — 2026
Competitive individual fellowship awarded by the
European Commission
under Horizon Europe (MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF), funding the
LUNA project at IDLab (University of Antwerp - imec).
Grant Agreement No. 101282240 · €200,400.
PhD Grant — Ajuts Joan Oró (FI 2023)
Competitive PhD fellowship awarded by the Generalitat de Catalunya
under the Ajuts Joan Oró — FI 2023 programme, supporting doctoral research
at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.