Dhruval Potla
// RF SAFETY & COMPLIANCE SPECIALIST
I keep wireless networks compliant, workers safe, and rollouts on schedule. From DAS to small-cell to CRAN — every node, every report, every regulator.
RF Safety & Compliance Specialist
I am an RF Safety & Compliance Specialist based in Dallas, TX. My day-to-day is split between predictive EME modeling, on-field measurement campaigns, FCC OET-65 / ICNIRP exposure analysis, and the automation that keeps a national-scale CRAN program shipping on schedule. I have delivered 350+ EME compliance reports for Verizon and directed AT&T's National CRAN Certification Letter program covering 1,000+ nodes. I work where the math meets the rooftop — turning regulatory text into clear, defensible site documentation, and turning manual workflows into Python tooling that scales.
Active Service Channels
Specialized RF safety and compliance modules for telecom infrastructure.
Predictive & On-Field EME Studies
Site-specific RF exposure modeling for macro towers, rooftops, DAS venues, and small-cell / CRAN nodes — IXUS-driven simulations backed by on-site spectrum measurements when needed.
FCC OET-65 & ICNIRP Compliance
End-to-end compliance documentation: General Public and Occupational MPE evaluation, signage strategy, and certification letters carriers can hand to municipalities and AHJs.
CRAN Certification & Small-Cell Programs
Directed AT&T's National CRAN Certification Letter program — 1,000+ nodes — and Verizon's small-cell EME compliance pipeline. Built to scale.
Rooftop Safety Plans & Mitigation
Signage strategies, exclusion zone diagrams, and access protocols for shared rooftops with multiple carrier arrays — the deliverable that keeps tenant techs out of harm's way.
Automation & QC Tooling for Compliance Workflows
Python automation for FUZE / IXUS / Roofmaster pipelines — report generation, KML overlays, QC validation. The same tooling that delivered Verizon's highest report volume to date.
Field Measurement & Drive-Test Support
On-site EME validation, spectrum captures, drive-test post-processing, and 5G NR FCC compliance testing — including the methodologies behind 400+ Hex-7 evaluations for DISH 5GNR.
Field Operations
Verizon National EME Compliance Pipeline
350+ predictive and on-field EME compliance reports delivered across DAS, small-cell, and CRAN — the highest single-engineer volume on the program. Owner of the QC workflow and automation tooling.
AT&T National CRAN Certification Letter Program
Directed certification and documentation for 1,000+ CRAN nodes nationwide. Built the template system, QC gates, and automation that kept deliverables consistent across regional teams.
DISH 5G NR FCC Compliance — 400+ Hex-7 Sites
Led methodology development and execution for FCC compliance testing of 400+ Hex-7 nodes for DISH Wireless 5G NR infrastructure. Cluster testing, ATP, 5-2-2, and XCAP-driven post-processing.
Real-Time KML Tester Tracker
Built a live tracker that pushed field-tester GPS positions onto Google Earth via custom KML layers — turned a black box into a dashboard, materially improving project management visibility. (GitHub)
SDR-Based Chip-less RFID Reader
WINGS Lab research at University at Buffalo — improved tag reading accuracy by 40% via a software-defined-radio reader, plus a custom Out-of-Tree GNU Radio block adding dynamic center-frequency adjustment. CST Studio simulation and VNA S-parameter validation.
Low-Noise Amplifier (LNA) Design — QUCS
End-to-end LNA design and simulation with QUCS — gain and stability (S21) targets surpassing the original spec. (GitHub)
MIMO + Digital Modulation BER/SER Analysis
MATLAB analysis of digital modulation schemes — BER/SER curves with optimum receiver detection, plus Jake's Fading Simulator driving a MIMO implementation. (GitHub)
CC2650 + LoRa / Sigfox LPWAN Bring-Up
C-level bring-up of a TI CC2650 with LoRa and Sigfox LPWAN front-ends — SPI / I2C / UART firmware glue, end-to-end air interface testing.
Fingerprint Gender Classification — CNN
Improved gender classification accuracy by 45% on blurry fingerprint imagery using a CNN built in TensorFlow / Keras. Signal-processing-led preprocessing, plain-Python pipeline. (GitHub)
Professional Trajectory
Experience
Technical Project Coordinator — RF Safety & Compliance [ACTIVE]
- Spearheaded end-to-end project management for Verizon's DAS, EME, and Small-Cell / CRAN RF Safety programs — delivered 350+ predictive and on-field EME compliance reports, the highest project volume to date.
- Primary client liaison for Verizon and AT&T CRAN EME / RFE engagements — owned technical accuracy, schedule adherence, and cross-team communication across multiple concurrent high-volume programs.
- Directed AT&T's National CRAN Certification Letter initiative — managed certification and documentation for 1,000+ CRAN nodes nationwide.
RF Engineer — FCC Compliance Test Team [ARCHIVED]
- Led a team in planning, executing, and developing methodologies for FCC Compliance testing of 400+ Hex-7's for DISH Wireless 5G NR infrastructure.
- Applied advanced RF optimization — cluster testing, ATP, 5-2-2, and XCAP — to improve network performance, call quality, and efficiency.
- Developed a live tracker that surfaced tester locations in real time on Google Earth via custom KML layers — materially improved field visibility and PM efficiency.
Research Lead — Chip-less RFID Development [ARCHIVED]
- Improved tag-reading accuracy by 40% by developing an SDR-based chip-less RFID reader.
- Authored an Out-of-Tree (OoT) block in GNU Radio adding dynamic center-frequency adjustment — Linux + Python.
- Reduced physical-prototyping cost by optimizing tag designs through CST Studio simulations.
Education
M.S. Electrical Engineering
SUNY University at Buffalo
Jan 2022 — May 2023Focus: Wireless Communications & RF Systems. Research with WINGS Lab on chip-less RFID and SDR.
B.Tech Electronics & Communication Engineering
SRM University, Chennai, India
2016 — 2020Foundation in analog / digital electronics, signal processing, and embedded systems.
Certifications
Cisco Certified Network Administrator (CCNA) 200-301
Networking fundamentals, IP services, security, automation, and programmability — the protocol-level grounding behind every RF backhaul link.
VERIFYFAA Part 107 — Remote Pilot Certificate
Authorized to operate small unmanned aircraft for commercial work — site surveys, antenna inspections, and rooftop reconnaissance.
VERIFYSkills
RF & COMPLIANCE
DESIGN & SIMULATION
HARDWARE
LANGUAGES
DOMAIN
Latest Posts
OET-65 in 60 Seconds: How the FCC MPE Limits Actually Work
A field-engineer's plain-English summary of the General Public and Occupational MPE limits, why they're frequency-dependent, and how time-averaging changes the answer.
Read →EIRP vs ERP: What That 2.15 dB Actually Means
EIRP and ERP are the same number with two different reference antennas. Here's why the 2.15 dB conversion exists and when each one is the right metric to cite.
Read →FCC vs ISED Canada: Cross-Border RF Safety in Practice
The General Public limits look similar — but the time-averaging windows, occupational definitions, and exclusion-zone conventions differ. A quick map for cross-border programs.
Read →Initiate Transmission
Encrypted channel · Direct uplink to operator