Ana Inês Inácio Designs the Future of Wireless

When Ana Inês Inácio goes to work at the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) in The Hague, she thinks about signals most people never notice: radio waves moving between satellites, sensors, and future wireless networks.The integrated circuits the research scientist designs lay the foundation for next-generation RF sensor systems critical to advancing radar technologies.Ana Inês Inácio EMPLOYER Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, TNOTITLE Scientist IEEE MEMBER GRADE Senior memberALMA MATER University of Aveiro, in PortugalThose invisible RF signals are only part of what earned the IEEE senior member her global recognition.Inácio recently received the IEEE–Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Young Professional Award for “leadership in IEEE Young Professionals, fostering innovation and inclusivity, and pioneering advancements in RF sensor systems, bridging technical excellence with impactful community engagement.”The recognition from IEEE’s honor society reflects a career built along two parallel paths: advancing RF circuit design while helping engineers worldwide build professional communities.“I’ve always liked building things,” Inácio says. “Sometimes that means circuits; sometimes it means helping people connect and grow together.”That blend of technical innovation and global leadership gives her work impact far beyond the laboratory.EE lessons at the kitchen tableInácio grew up in Vales do Rio, a rural village near Covilhã in central Portugal.The region was known for farming and textiles, she says. Many residents worked in the textile industry, including her grandfather, who repaired machinery such as industrial looms. He became her first engineering teacher without ever holding the formal title.Through correspondence courses delivered by mail, he taught himself electrical systems. At home, he explained electricity to his granddaughter while he repaired the household’s appliances and wiring.“He would show me why something broke