Dr. Junyi Li

Vice President of Engineering Qualcomm Inc.

Dr. Junyi Li
"I was privileged to participate in the 3G to 4G (mobile broadband) transition of cellular communications shortly after I got my Ph.D. degree from Purdue. The high quality of graduate training at ECE built me a solid foundation to develop my career in the industry. I felt extremely fortunate to learn important lessons from excellent professors, in particular, Professors Ness Shroff and Edwin Chong, who taught me to always think from first principles and to focus on engineering insights."
 
Dr. Junyi Li received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China in 1989 and 1991, respectively.  He received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Purdue University in 1998.  He also earned an MBA in 2005 in finance and entrepreneurial management from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Palmer Scholar.

Dr. Li has been serving as the vice president of engineering at Qualcomm, Inc. since 2006.  Prior to this, he was founding member and senior director of technology for Flarion Technologies (which was acquired by Qualcomm).  At Flarion, Dr. Li was the key inventor of Flash-OFDM, a broadband mobile wireless technology.  He managed a research team to design the PHY, MAC and link layers; managed Flarion intellectual properties; and made strategic decisions to protect core technological competency.  He also conceived Qualcomm’s China strategy, developed an initial alliance and partnership program, and prepared for founding of an office in China.

Before Qualcomm, Dr. Li was at Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies as a member of the technical staff.  While at Bell Laboratories, Dr. Li was ranked in the top one percent among all researchers in an annual performance review two years in a row.  Dr. Li gained international recognition as a leading expert in telecommunications and took leadership roles in professional activities including organizing and chairing professional conferences and serving on advisory boards.  Dr. Li also teamed with Lucent New Venture Group to build business models and seek venture funds to found Flarion Technologies.

Dr. Li holds over 150 U.S. patents and has more than 400 pending patent applications.  He is a co-author of OFDMA Mobile Broadband Communications, published by Cambridge University Press; has published more than 30 peer-reviewed technical articles; and is an IEEE Fellow.