I successfully completed an IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecture Tour (DLT) to Spain in November 2024. The trip was delightful, fuelled by the excitement of sharing my knowledge with senior and junior researchers at four institutions. The discussions with the audience provided highly insightful ideas, and the experience of exchanging information was genuinely unforgettable.

A special talk was at my first stop at CTTC, a research center where I worked and have not visited in the last 16 years. A mix of emotions in the same building, where I met old friends and colleagues and made new ones, resulted in fruitful discussions and plans for future collaborations.

In this DLT, I delivered four talks, scheduled as follows:

• Talk 1 at CTTC, Casteldefels, Barcelona, hosted by Prof. Ana Perez Neira, on 20November 2024.

• Talk two at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UoC), Barcelona, hosted by Dr. Ferran Adelantado, on the morning of 21 November 2024.

• Talk three at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, hosted by Dr. Giovanni Geraci, on the evening of 21 November 2024.

• Talk 4 at Universidad Carlos III (UC3M), Madrid, hosted by Prof. Ana Garcia Armada, on 22November 2024.

All of my talks titled “Are UAVs Needed for Wider Implementation of Terahertz Communications?” focused on Terahertz Communications due to the spectrum availability as such high frequencies. High-frequency Terahertz (THz) links meet the capacity requirements of next-generation communication networks. I motivated the need for THz and then tackled its challenges by considering the different technologies that can help and comparing the various proposals from the literature/industry to deal with such a scenario. A discussion of recent 2024 field trials on the different technologies was presented, ending with the proposal of UAVs needed for THz implementation in commercial systems. Recent standardization activities by IEEE ComSoc have been offered, and the audience (mainly Ph.D. students) encouraged them to make their work to IEEE standards.

At the end of each talk, IEEE ComSoc activities were promoted to the audience, along with how the Technical Committees (TCs) can be a path to standardization activities.

Seeing so many specialized attendees at each talk was remarkable, with special attention to the one at CTTC, which had more than 60 attendees, including staff members and research students. After each conversation, I engaged in insightful discussions with the audience on UAVs, 6G, THz, and all the technical aspects of my presentation and the different mechanisms to engage in the IEEE standardization process for such technologies. I encouraged all attendees to register and become active in the various IEEE ComSoc TCs and pursue standardization through them. I even got some new ideas from the discussions, with a special highlight to the talk al CTTC, where I stayed for 1 hour after the presentation attending questions.

I should mention that this trip to Spain is very special as it reminded me of my Ph.D. studies 20 years ago. I missed the walks in Barcelona. I met many of my old contacts and got in contact with many new ones. To see both Barcelona and Madrid on the same trip was marvelous. I even stopped in Zaragoza (a city halfway between Barcelona and Madrid), where I met former friends. I saw the fantastic work done at the two football stadiums (Camp Nou and Santiago Bernabeu). From the outside, they seem mind-blowing, even though I did not get the chance to access them.

I was invited to lunch on the visit days, and the technical and non-technical discussions at the lunch table were very interesting and insightful.

Reflecting on my DLT, it was far more than an academic endeavor; it was a powerful demonstration of the value of in-person connections and the vast potential of collaboration. I wholeheartedly recommend the DL program to researchers eager to expand their horizons. If you aspire to become an IEEE ComSoc DL, I urge you to apply — this experience will profoundly enhance your research career. Together, with the collective efforts of all DLs, we can unlock the full potential of our shared knowledge and drive our field toward groundbreaking advancements. The program is a great success for ComSoc, and I wish more peers would benefit from it.

Several photos of my talks are available on my LinkedIn, where I shared the DLT experience with my colleagues and friends worldwide and highlighted the DLT benefits.