ECE Doctoral Student Honored with a 2025 Rutgers Innovation Award
Khizar Anjum, a doctoral student and graduate research assistant in the School of Engineering Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) was among 10 researchers recognized by the Rutgers University Office for Research at its October 2025 Rutgers Innovation Awards (RIA)Ceremony.
This is the second year of the university-wide awards, which honor the achievements of researchers who have developed novel ideas, processes, or technologies likely to benefit society and create economic value.
Anjum, who expects to receive his PhD in May 2026, received RIA’s Graduate Student Innovation Award for his groundbreaking anisotropic diffusion-based analog neural network architecture, which makes truly continuous, battery-free health monitoring possible for the first time.
He developed his breakthrough innovation in ECE Professor Dario Pompili’s Cyber Physical Systems lab. He explains, “It uses anisotropic diffusion to perform neural network computations at ultra-low power levels, enabling wearable health monitors powered entirely by harvested energy.”
The result, Anjum adds, “solves the fundamental limitation of current health wearables – battery dependency – which prevents continues monitoring of life-threatening conditions like epilepsy and cardiovascular diseases.”
Future benefits are clear, according to Anjum, since the new technology could enable continuous, battery-less health monitoring for approximately 96 million epilepsy patients worldwide and millions more who suffer from cardiovascular diseases. “By eliminating battery constraints, we make sophisticated health monitoring accessible in resource-limited settings while enabling truly persistent monitoring that could prevent life-threatening events through early detection,” Anjum states. “Beyond healthcare, this also advances ultra-low AI for intelligent edge computing wherever power is scarce.”
A patent has been filed for this technology, which he plans to advance towards commercialization once the CPS lab commercializes a related neural network. “The path forward involves moving from theoretical validation to prototype development and eventual market deployment,” he predicts.
The award is especially meaningful, to Anjum as it provides is both personal and professional recognition – both of his long-held belief that analog physics could revolutionize neural network computation, as well as by the Rutgers community for work that bridges fundamental research with real-world impact.
“Most important, the award reflects the perfect research environment and mentorship I’ve received at Rutgers, particularly from Dr. Pompili and the ECE department, which made this innovation possible.”
