Article by Wayne Gillam, photos by Ryan Hoover / UW ECE News
Shanti Garman is a doctoral degree candidate at UW ECE, studying and working in the Sensor Systems Lab at the UW. She is also an instructor in the UW ECE Professional Master’s Program as well as a mentor to aspiring engineers and first-generation college students.
Shanti Garman, a fifth-year doctoral student in UW ECE, grew up in Berkeley, California. As a young girl, she recalls being interested in science and having a talent for math. She scored high grades, and a state assessment test in middle school placed her math skills in the top one percent of students. But despite her talent being recognized in these ways, she faced obstacles to exploring her interest in math and science — challenges related to her gender, race, and economic background.
Garman is biracial, and she was raised in a low-income household. Her parents did not complete college or even own a computer. In addition, Garman had very few female math or science teachers to look up to as role models in middle school and high school — and even fewer who were people of color. So, even though her interests and abilities clearly pointed at an early age toward pursuing studies, and perhaps even a career, in science, math, and engineering, she found herself questioning whether this would be a good path for her.
“It’s hard to find a sense of belonging when you don’t see anyone who looks like you or thinks like you in that space,” Garman said. “I think this is part of why it’s such a sticky problem for engineering departments and workplaces to increase the number of women and other people from underrepresented groups.”
“Shanti is an exceptional individual. Her research work is superb, and she is a gifted educator, mentor, and creative problem solver. I consider myself to be very fortunate that she is part of my lab and UW ECE.” — UW ECE and Allen School Professor Joshua Smith
Despite these challenges, Garman chose to move forward and pursue her interests. Thanks to her natural abilities, as well as encouragement and support from several teachers and mentors along the way, she flourished. After graduating from high school in 1994, she attended Stanford University, where, in 1999, she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering. She also earned a number of awards and honors while at Stanford, including becoming an Intel Scholar, a GEM Fellow, and receiving a Society of Women Engineers scholarship. And it was at Stanford where Garman developed a strong interest in space and wireless communications. But even in the university system, she noticed a pronounced lack of access, opportunities, and visibility for people from underrepresented groups.
“In my department at Stanford, at the time, there was a very small percentage of women. My cohort included perhaps eight women out of eighty students,” Garman said. “I never had a single female professor in electrical engineering and only one African-American professor.”
At left, Professional Master’s Program students Stephen Young and Melissa Garr in Garman’s Antennas course (Spring ’23). (Right) Garman introducing to her class one of the common antenna types, a monopole or “whip” antenna.
Regardless, Garman chose to keep going, and she achieved great success. From Stanford, she went on to work as a systems engineer at Space Systems/Loral (now Maxar Space Systems), playing a key role in the launch of the company’s WildBlue-1 satellite, which orbited the Earth for 15 years. In 2004, she made a move to Illinois to attend Northwestern University, where, in 2006, she received her master’s in business administration from the Kellogg School of Management with an emphasis in nonprofit management and technology marketing. This education and experience led to a job as a product manager for Microsoft in their mobile services division, and two years later, to a position at Rainier Scholars, where for several years she designed and implemented academic and career development programs for underrepresented students of color in the Seattle area. The exposure to academia at Rainier Scholars encouraged her to think about her own career path and longstanding desire to be part of research that was connected to space exploration. So, in 2019, she decided to pursue a doctoral degree and joined UW ECE as a graduate student.
Today, Garman is a doctoral degree candidate at UW ECE, studying and working in the Sensor Systems Lab at the UW. She is also an instructor and a mentor to aspiring engineers and first-generation college students. In addition, she has played a leading role in the Department’s efforts to support inclusion, equitable access, and a greater sense of belonging for students from underrepresented groups and underserved communities. She has received a fellowship from the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists, or ARCS, Foundation in recognition of her outstanding academic accomplishments.
“Shanti is an exceptional individual,” said Joshua Smith, who is Garman’s adviser, director of the Sensor Systems Lab, and is a professor in UW ECE and the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. “Her research work is superb, and she is a gifted educator, mentor, and creative problem solver. I consider myself to be very fortunate that she is part of my lab and UW ECE.”
Research in wireless power and communications
Garman and UW ECE undergraduate student Vibha Sathish Kumar setting up a Raspberry Pi (a small, low-cost computer). This device was used in a Johnson noise research project in the Sensor Systems Lab, which is directed by Garman’s adviser, Joshua Smith, a professor in UW ECE and the Allen School. Johnson noise is random electrical noise caused by thermal movement of electrons. Garman and Smith are investigating ways to harness Johnson noise for wireless communication.
Garman’s research at UW ECE focuses on using established electromagnetics and antenna theory to investigate new systems and methods for wireless power transmission and low-power wireless communications. In the Sensor Systems Lab, her projects include working on wireless power transfer for lunar and planetary missions, modulated noise communication, and radio frequency energy harvesting from ambient energy sources.
Her wireless power transfer research for lunar and planetary missions is sponsored by NASA, and Garman has collaborated with WiBotic on this work. WiBotic is a company that builds wireless power transfer systems for autonomous robots, such as lunar rovers. It was founded in 2015 by Smith and UW ECE alumnus Ben Waters (Ph.D. ‘15). Garman’s role in the NASA project has included investigating what happens to a lunar rover’s wireless power system when it becomes coated with iron-rich dust on the moon. In June 2023, her research findings were published in Nature Scientific Reports.
Her work in modulated noise communication began when she assisted UW ECE alumna Zerina Kapetanovic (Ph.D. ‘22) with a research project in the Sensor Systems Lab. Kapetanovic was developing a new form of wireless communication, one that took advantage of electronic noise generated by the thermal agitation of charge carriers in circuits — modulating this “Johnson noise” to greatly reduce overall energy consumption. Garman took Kapetanovic’s work a step further by applying modulated Johnson noise to a wireless identification and sensing platform, called WISP, which is a type of radio-frequency identification, or RFID, tag, also developed in the Sensor Systems Lab. Garman demonstrated that the WISP was able to use modulated Johnson noise to communicate, which enabled a new, low-power scheme for many different types of RFID tags to transmit data and information wirelessly.
A project Garman said she very much enjoyed was researching high-power radio frequency harvesting. In this work, she and her research team built an electronic system designed to absorb radio waves emanating from cell phone towers, converting this free-floating, ambient energy into power that could be used by battery-free devices.
“Something that has been really meaningful to me about this project is that it gave me the chance to mentor four aspiring female engineers, from high school to the undergraduate level,” Garman said. “It’s been a really nice training ground, both for me as a mentor and for the students as aspiring engineers.”
Teaching, mentorship and looking ahead
Garman and UW ECE undergraduate student Ruslana Korolov read through Python code used to operate and analyze a modulated Johnson noise wireless communication system.
Instruction and mentorship seem to be innate skills for Garman, and for the past two years, she has been teaching a course titled “Antennas for Modern Wireless Devices” in the Professional Master’s Program, which is known as PMP. This course covers the analysis and design of antennas used in modern communication devices, such as cell phones, computers, and Bluetooth accessories. Students learn how to simulate and design a microstrip antenna using Ansys, which is industry standard software. They also gain hands-on experience developing familiarity with different types of antennas and how to measure and characterize them.
Although the PMP consists of both working professionals and full-time students, most of the students who are taking Garman’s course this quarter are pursuing their master’s degree while being employed full-time. Garman said that she enjoys hearing about where her students work and learning more about their backgrounds as well as what they would like to get out of the course. She also said she was pleased to learn that many of her students would have an opportunity to immediately apply the knowledge they had gained.
“One thing that I find interesting about teaching in the Professional Master’s Program is the variety of jobs and roles in companies that are represented by the students,” Garman said. “It’s also motivating to realize that they are engaging in the course because they want to be able to actively apply what they learn here in their jobs.”
“I think some of the best advice I have for younger generations and students who are pursuing electrical engineering, who are from underrepresented backgrounds, would be to know that they are not alone, and that there are incredible support networks available. They should just know that these resources are there, and they can access them.” — UW ECE doctoral candidate Shanti Garman
In addition to her research and role as an instructor in the PMP, Garman is quite involved in the Department. Her other activities include being part of the Department’s faculty search committee; the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee; the master’s degree application review committee; and leading DEI-related student interviews. She also was co-founder and co-chair for WomXn at the Forefront of ECE Research (WAFER), which is a day-long event held in the Department once every two years. WAFER showcases research by women and nonbinary people in electrical and computer engineering and related fields and discusses their experiences in academia and the workplace.
Garman moderating the Career Panel session of the 2025 WomXn at the Forefront of Engineering Research (WAFER) event. Panelists included, left to right, Shirley Yeung (Sr. Engineering Manager, Stryker); Julia Busono (Platform Development Lead, Microsoft); Kiana Ehsani (Co-founder, Vercept); Bryna Hazelton (eScience Director of Research Programs; Senior Research Scientist); and Cassie Meeker (Sr. Applied Scientist, Amazon Robotics).
“I think our Department does a really nice job of supporting progress in diversity, equity, and inclusion. And I think the WAFER event is one example of that,” Garman said. “I also believe that allyship is important. From personal experience, having my white, male supervisor be an advocate and supporter of my own development and advancement in my first role out of college was really important. The same is true for me as a current doctoral degree candidate. My adviser, Josh, has been a great ally as well. In general, I think the concept is powerful.”
Looking ahead, Garman anticipates concluding her doctoral dissertation by the end of spring quarter 2025. She has a bright future ahead, and she is considering several possible career directions, including doing postdoctoral research work, pursuing a faculty position, or returning to the private sector. She would like to continue to participate in advancing technology that is destined for space, the moon, or a planetary environment, and she hopes that technology she develops could also find useful applications here on Earth. No matter which path she chooses, she said that she would like to continue to play an active role in increasing the number of women and people from other underrepresented groups in engineering.
When asked what advice she might give to aspiring engineers who are facing, or could experience obstacles related to race, gender, and economic class, she gave a thoughtful reply.
“I think some of the best advice I have for younger generations and students who are pursuing electrical engineering, who are from underrepresented backgrounds, would be to know that they are not alone, and that there are incredible support networks available,” Garman said. “They should just know that these resources are there, and they can access them. I would also say to know that there are allies, and I would encourage students to look for and find positive support from those individuals and groups.”