Prairie View A&M University Brings Hands-On 5G Training to U.S. Students

Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), under the leadership of Prof. Cajetan M. Akujuobi and his team at the Center of Excellence for Communication Systems Technology Research (CECSTR), is preparing its engineering students to meet a rapidly growing demand: expertise in 5G networks.

Through one of the first hands-on private 5G training programs at a U.S. university, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), grant #2306263, PVAMU is giving students the opportunity to move beyond the textbook and into real-world practice with 5G technologies.

The initiative is part of an NSF effort to expand access to advanced STEM education and address a widening telecom skills gap. For PVAMU students and the Houston Community College (HCC) Students, the program offers a clear edge in a market where 5G know-how is increasingly valued across sectors.

“Traditionally, 5G education has been largely theoretical,” said Prof. Cajetan M. Akujuobi, who organized the workshop and leads PVAMU’s broader 5G education initiatives. “We wanted our students to understand what’s actually happening inside a 5G network—and be able to work with it.”

A Rare Opportunity for Students

Access to hands-on 5G training has long been limited by cost and complexity. PVAMU’s workshops aim to change that by offering students the opportunity to:

• Understand how a 5G core network operates
• Simulate and diagnose network behaviors and performance
• Gain practical insights into mobility, security, and traffic management

Students work with an open-source 5G platform (Firecell’s Labkit 40), which transforms a classroom into a functional 5G lab environment. The platform allows students and faculty to experiment with 5G core networks, simulate real-time network behavior, and analyze performance.

They also use Wireshark, an open-source packet analyzer, to capture and analyze 5G traffic in real-time. The tool provides visibility into packet flows, session management, and signaling events—giving students practical skills in network diagnostics.

The workshops teach students to trace both control and user plane traffic, manage session lifecycles, and troubleshoot complex mobility events such as handovers—skills directly relevant to roles in 5G deployment and maintenance.

In addition to core network experimentation, PVAMU hosted a week-long broadband communication conference, capped by a dynamic hands-on 5G workshop. Led by AI/ML engineer and PhD candidate Ndidi Nzeako Anyakora, students deployed the Firecell Labkit, ran real-time tests, captured key metrics like latency and throughput, and extracted system logs for deeper analysis.

The workshop also fed directly into PVAMU’s Broadband Communication course, where a 5G module and lab bring theory to life—helping students graduate ready to apply their skills in the field.

“We moved from decoding the 5G core to simulating real-time network behaviors,” explains Ndidi Nzeako Anyakora, an AI/ML engineer and PhD candidate. “We weren’t just watching but actively working hands-on, which is always highly motivating.”

A Response to Industry Demand

The program is led by PVAMU faculty experts Prof. Cajetan M. Akujuobi, Dr. Suxia Cui, Dr. Justin Foreman and Dr. Daniel Doe, with active participation from students like Anyakora, Pascual, and Ugo, and many others. Funding from the NSF supports the university’s broader effort to ensure students graduate with skills that match market needs.

The urgency is clear: as 5G technologies continue to drive innovation across industries—from logistics to manufacturing to public safety—the demand for skilled 5G engineers is far outpacing the available talent pool.

NSF-backed programs like PVAMU’s are designed to help close this gap. Already, many students completing the workshops are pursuing internships and full-time positions where 5G expertise is in demand.

“We saw that you no longer need to be a giant telecom company to access and experiment with 5G technology,” said Prof. Cajetan M. Akujuobi. “Being able to work hands-on with tools like Labkit 40 and Wireshark has given our students an experience that’s both practical and empowering.”

Beyond the Lab

As PVAMU and HCC graduates enter the workforce, the program’s impact is expected to ripple outward. Trained students bring 5G knowledge not only into large enterprises but also to small and midsize companies across sectors, helping broaden the base of 5G expertise in the U.S. economy.

For PVAMU, the project is also a model for how universities can democratize access to advanced telecom education—one lab, one student cohort at a time.

📦 PVAMU / CECSTR at a Glance

Name: Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU), founded in 1876

Location: Prairie View, Texas, USA

Focus Areas: Broadband Communication systems, advanced wireless, communications security, AI/ML for wireless, STEM education

5G Lab Setup: Firecell’s Open Source Labkit 40, for hands-on 5G experimentation and teaching

Did You Know? PVAMU’s CECSTR Lab is one of the first U.S. labs using Firecell Labkit to teach 5G core concepts—giving students job-ready skills for a market where 5G engineers are in hot demand.