Emerson, the European Space Agency (ESA) and an international committee of scientific and technical experts, has announced the winners of the Phased Array Signal Processing Student Challenge in a special award ceremony at the 2025 European Signal Processing Conference (EUSIPCO) held 8-12th September 2025 in Palermo.
The competition brings together graduate researchers, advisors, and technical committee members from ESA, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and leading universities in Europe and China to solve one of the most pressing challenges in satellite navigation: detecting, locating, and mitigating stealthy jamming attacks on global navigation satellite systems (GNSS).
In addition to sponsoring prizes, Emerson provided access to NI multichannel vector signal transceiver (VST) systems, as well as technical mentorships to student teams. Using real-world data from ESA’s Jammertest 2024 seminar and Emerson’s NI phased array hardware, student teams developed advanced algorithms to strengthen GNSS resilience for critical applications.
The 2025 competition challenged students to create solutions to an increasingly common threat: a stealthy jammer that gradually increases its interference over time, making it especially difficult to detect and mitigate. Simulating this complex scenario with actual data helped to ensure that participants’ ideas directly addressed today’s industry needs.
“This programme underscores our commitment to empowering future engineers and advancing GNSS resilience in the aerospace, defence, and wireless sectors,” said Reggie Rector, Vice President and General Manager for Emerson’s test and measurement business.
The judging committee selected two teams whose work stood out for their exceptional ability to detect stealthy jammers and implement effective mitigation techniques. First place was awarded to Alexandre Brochard and his team from Université de Toulouse, France, while the runner-up honours went to the team led by Matias Mikkonen from Aalto University, Finland.
Both teams impressed the committee with their technical rigor, creativity, and skill in translating advanced signal processing theory into practical solutions for real-world GNSS interference. In recognition of their achievements, the winning teams received publication opportunities and support for further research and professional development.
“Bringing together students, industry and international agencies in a challenge like this is a powerful way to accelerate innovation,” says Danilo Orlando from the University of Pisa and chairperson of the EUSIPCO 2025 Student Challenge Technical Committee. “By working with authentic datasets and professional-grade tools, these students are not only advancing the science of satellite navigation but also gaining the hands-on experience and collaborative mindset that are essential for tomorrow’s technology leaders.”
