Keynote Talks

Usha P. Verma

Usha P. Verma, an Indian defense scientist, is a graduate in Electronics Engineering from National Institute of Technology, Calicut. After a brief period as Engineer Trainee in Instrumentation Ltd, she joined SAMEER Mumbai as a Scientific officer in 1992. At SAMEER, she worked on many commercial and Military Systems and established herself as Radar and Signal Processing Expert.

She joined Programme Air Defence, DRDO in 2004 and lead the development of first indigenous mm-wave Active Radar Missile Seeker, for mid-air neutralization of incoming Ballistic Missiles. Many critical and denied technologies were developed indigenously under her guidance. Later, she was posted to Advanced Systems Laboratory, as Technology Director of Strategic Electronics Group, to focus on thrust areas that are important for national security in long range Missile Systems. Under her leadership, many advanced avionics and electronic countermeasure systems were introduced in these systems.

She is currently holding the position of Programme Director for one of flagship Space Programmes of DRDO. She has many publications, awards and patents to her credit. Her research is mainly focussed on indigenisation of denied and critical technologies to help India achieve self-reliance in defense technology.

Revolutionalizing RF Systems for Electronic Warfare-Advancements through Digital Technology

In the rapidly evolving landscape of electronic warfare (EW), the need for more agile, efficient, and sophisticated Radio Frequency (RF) systems is critical. This keynote will explore how digital technologies are revolutionizing RF systems for next-generation electronic warfare applications. The talk will highlight the capabilities and advantages of channelized digital receivers in modern EW systems. These receivers allow for real-time, high-fidelity processing of multiple frequency bands simultaneously, enabling enhanced
situational awareness and faster reaction times. The talk will also brief about the transformative role of compressed sensing in improving the efficiency of RF signal acquisition and processing. By leveraging sparse signal representations, compressed sensing enables the capture and reconstruction of complex RF signals with significantly reduced bandwidth and processing power requirements—critical for detecting, classifying, and responding to multiple simultaneous threats in contested environments.

An Optimal 18 m Shaped Offset Gregorian Reflector for the ngVLA Radio Telescope

This talk explores the design of the 18-meter shaped offset Gregorian reflector system developed for the Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA), a cutting-edge radio astronomical instrument poised to redefine our understanding of the universe. Set to operate on the Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico, the ngVLA consists of 244 antennas with 18-meter apertures, engineered to deliver unparalleled sensitivity and precision across a frequency range of 1.2 GHz to 116 GHz.

The presented design maximizes receiving sensitivity—a critical parameter in radio astronomy—while maintaining tight constraints on sidelobe levels, cross-polarization, and scan loss. A shaped offset Gregorian architecture was selected, leveraging a feed-down configuration and an innovative sub-reflector extension to minimize ground noise and optimize performance across the different frequency band. This comprehensive design process employed full factorial optimization to balance trade-offs in sensitivity, aperture efficiency, and noise temperature.

The suite of feeds include cryogenically cooled wide flare-angle axially corrugated conical horns for higher frequencies and quadruple-ridge flared horns for lower frequencies. These feeds, designed for optimal symmetry and spillover efficiency, were seamlessly integrated with the reflector system to achieve an aperture efficiency of 95%, sidelobe levels below -18 dB, and peak receiving sensitivity of 12 m²/K at 12.3 GHz.

This talk will delve into the design principles, computational methods, and experimental validations underpinning this work, and provide insights into how the ngVLA’s optical system nearly achieves theoretical performance design limits.

Dirk I. L. de Villiers

Dirk de Villiers started his research as a PhD student at Stellenbosch University working on wideband conical transmission line combiners in the microwave frequency range. After completion of the PhD he was appointed as a Post Doctoral fellow at Stellenbosch University by the South African Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project. He worked on several types of passive microwave devices and antennas, including the development of an improved type of orthomode transducer, the design and performance analysis of focal plane array feeds for reflector antennas, and the development of very wide band reflector antenna feeds. On completion of the fellowship he was subsequently employed full-time as a lecturer at Stellenbosch University. Here he continued research work on reflector antennas through design of offset Gregorian reflectors for the MeerKAT radio telescope as well as the shaped dishes for the SKA and ngVLA radio telescopes (in collaboration with and on contract for EMSS Antennas (Pty) Ltd in Stellenbosch, South Africa. In 2018 he was promoted to Professor and appointed as the SARChI research chair in Antenna Systems for the SKA at Stellenbosch University.

He has been a visiting researcher at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden for several terms, and is currently the co-principal investigator of the REACH radio telescope with a colleague form Cambridge University in the UK. He has worked on the design of the HIRAX telescope feeds and serves on the design review committee of the DSA-2000 telescope under development by the California Institute of Technology.

He has received several academic awards including the ECSA Medal of Merit for the top final year engineering student at Stellenbosch University in 2004, the ESKOM award for the top final year electrical and electronic engineering student in South Africa in 2005, and the Chancellors’ Medal from Stellenbosch University in 2007. The Chancellors’ medal is awarded annually to the top graduating student in the university across all disciplines. Furthermore, he has received the deans award for exceptional general performance every year between 2011 and 2016, as well as the Vice-Rectors’ award for research and its outputs every year from 2015 to 2017 and in 2019 and 2023. In 2022 he was awarded the Harold A. Wheeler applications paper prize for the best antenna applications paper in the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation for the previous year (2021).

He serves as a reviewer for many academic journals in the antennas and microwave engineering disciplines, and regularly organizes special sessions on antenna modelling and optimization, as well as antennas for radio astronomy, at international conferences. He served on the organizing committee of the 2011, 2016, 2018, and 2024 editions of the South African IEEE AP/MTT/EMC conference as well as the 2022 ICEAA conference in Cape Town and serves on the international advisory board of the IEEE AP-S International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation. He is a senior member of URSI and the IEEE and served as rotating chair and vice-chair of the South African IEEE joint chapter for AP/MTT/EMC between 2016 and 2023. In 2024 he was appointed the inaugural chair of the IEEE AP-S Technical Committee (TC12) for Space: Deep Space Science, Earth Monitoring, Extraterrestrial Monitoring, Radio Astronomy. He is the main organizer of the European School of Antennas (ESoA) course on Antennas for Radio Telescopes, held in Stellenbosch, South Africa, in November 2016, 2019, and 2023 and is a regular lecturer in the ESoA Reflector and Lens Antennas course at Chalmers University in Gothenburg, Sweden (2011, 2014, 2017, and 2022 editions).

He has authored or co-authored more than 150 publications in international peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings, and presented several keynote talks on his work at international conferences.

Ultra-Compact Terahertz Planetary Instruments

In recent years, only a limited number of terahertz planetary science instruments have been baselined for space missions. The primary challenge lies in the fact that terahertz heterodyne spectrometers are typically more power-hungry and require greater mass and volume compared to instruments at other frequencies.

Significant progress has been made in reducing the mass, volume, and power requirements of these instruments. Researchers worldwide have focused on innovative component designs and packaging solutions to address these challenges. The use of commercial silicon foundries for low-power CMOS-based components, along with advances in low-profile antenna technologies, has been particularly beneficial. As a result, it is now possible to deploy compact, low-power, high-spectral-resolution heterodyne instruments for a variety of planetary science applications on space missions.

These innovations have also sparked interest in alternative platforms, such as balloon-borne systems, SmallSats, and CubeSats. While these platforms were traditionally developed by university student teams for educational purposes, international space agencies now increasingly recognize their potential. SmallSats and CubeSats are being considered not only as supplements to larger missions but also for standalone scientific investigations. For example, NASA has successfully used CubeSats on Mars missions to provide communication infrastructure during entry, descent, and landing.

Developing compact, low-power terahertz scientific instruments for planetary applications—especially on SmallSat and CubeSat platforms—presents several challenges, including limited space, strict power constraints, and antenna size limitations. Traditional high-gain reflector antennas, commonly used for both scientific payloads and data communication, are impractical for these smaller platforms. Although deployable antennas could offer a solution, current efforts to develop them for terahertz frequencies have not yet yielded satisfactory performance. As a result, metasurface and lens-based low-profile antennas have emerged as promising alternatives to address these challenges.

At JPL, we have developed a fully functional submillimeter-wave spectrometer for planetary science applications. The modular design of the instrument allows it to be deployed on a variety of missions, including those to the outer planets, asteroids, comets, and on CubeSat/SmallSat platforms.

In this presentation, we will discuss the design and implementation of our 500-600 GHz spectrometer, highlighting innovative solutions in packaging, antenna technology, and low-power backend systems tailored for future planetary science missions.

The research described herein was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA, under contract with National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Antennas and Sources for Millimeter-Wave and Terahertz Communication Systems

There is a global push for communication systems operating at millimeter-wave and terahertz frequencies due to the large available bandwidths at these frequencies, which directly translate into unprecedented channel capacities. The growing demand for higher data rates in modern communication systems has been met in recent years with advanced modulation schemes and signal processing technologies at microwave frequencies. However, without increasing carrier frequencies to access more spectral resources, it may become difficult to meet future demands. As a result, recent advances in terahertz technologies have sparked renewed interest in these frequency bands, particularly for the backhaul of cellular communication networks. Terahertz frequencies enable data rates in the tens to hundreds of gigabits per second, making them ideal for high-speed, short-distance line-of-sight (LoS) and indoor communication systems for critical infrastructure.

One of the key challenges in developing terahertz communication and sensing systems is the lack of suitable devices, sources, and sensors. Compound semiconductor transistors and two-terminal devices, such as Schottky diodes, are the leading candidates for generating source power at these frequencies. Recently, InP HEMT devices with a cutoff frequency exceeding 1 THz have been reported, though their output power remains limited. Currently, GaAs Schottky-diode-based frequency-multiplied sources are the most practical option for these applications.

Another significant challenge in deploying high-frequency communication systems is the shortage of compact, low-profile antennas. Traditional metallic reflector antennas, commonly used in these systems, are bulky and impractical for many applications. However, highly innovative, lightweight, low-profile antennas are now being developed, which will have a transformative impact on the next generation of communication systems.

In this presentation, we will discuss the design and implementation of high-power, solid-state millimeter-wave and terahertz sources, as well as novel antenna technologies, that will significantly advance the capabilities of millimeter-wave and terahertz communication systems.

The research described herein was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA, under contract with National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Technologies for 6G and India Initiatives

Talk will cover the evolution of technology from connecting people around 2010, to connecting things by 2020, and towards connected intelligence by 2030, with a trajectory of technological advancements. Implementation of Indigenous 5G technologies will be highlighted. Both MIMO and Phased array developments for 5G deployment will be discussed.

The technologies to impact the capacity and the insights into India’s 6G initiatives, including intelligent reflecting surfaces and OAM THz links, will be presented in details. The ongoing global initiatives in 6G, and the indigenous 6G subTHz testbed developments will also be introduced. The challenges in the technologies to enable 6G will be discussed.

Two specific technologies like : Intelligent Reflecting surfaces for Non-LoS communication and the Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) and multiplexing for GBPs data transmission will be discussed in detail.

P. Hanumantha Rao

Dr. Hanumantha Rao received his PhD from The Queen’s University, Belfast, UK, M.S. from BITS, Pilani and B.Tech. from SV University, India. He has more than 34 years of experience in Research and Development in RF, microwaves and mm-wave technologies for strategic and civilian sectors. He has been working in SAMEER for the past 32 years after a brief stay at Space Applications Centre SAC (ISRO), Ahmedabad. He was instrumental in building indigenous technologies, R&D facilities and executed various strategic projects to address the denied technologies to India. As a scientist, in the initial part of his career and later as a senior member of the organisation, he has been actively involved in the implementation of various future driven next generation technologies for both strategic and societal applications for DRDO, MeitY and DoT. He has been part of multi-institute collaborative research towards the development of Indigenous end to end 5G solutions. He built, a fully functional MIMO and Massive MIMO systems at sub 6-GHz band, and integrated mm-wave Tiled Phased array antennas for 5G He actively participates in developing Indian standards for 5G and represented India at ITU global meetings. He contributed towards SoC, SoP and

implemented Electromagnetic Band Gaps (EBG) and Metamaterial configurations in collaboration with Georgia Tech, Atlanta, USA. As a member of high-level committees at national level in driving the technology programs for India, he facilitated collaborative research between SAMEER-Academia and industry, both at national and international levels. He actively contributes in capacity building in terms of lectures, workshops and symposia and mentored number of scientific teams at various levels. He has guided more than 50 M.Tech. /MS students along with 11 PhDs. He is a member of Doctoral Committees for various IITs, NITs and reputed Indian universities. He created SAMEER-Academia interaction with various premier IITs and NITs. Most of his work has been published in highly referred journals. Some of his publications are the most referred / popular articles for a long period in IEEE. He has more than 120 publications in IEEE/IEE/John Wiley and referred journals and conferences. His current research areas include 6G solutions, intelligent reflecting surfaces, UAV detection and deactivation, Spectrum studies and RF SoC and Tiled Phased arrays systems.

Weng Chew

W.C. Chew received all his degrees from MIT. His research interests are in wave physics, specializing in fast algorithms for multiple scattering imaging and computational electromagnetics in the last 30 years. His recent research interest is in combining quantum theory with electromagnetics, and differential geometry with computational electromagnetics.

Chew was elected Member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2013, “for contributions to large-scale computational electromagnetics of complex structures.” He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (1993), the Optical Society of America (2003), the Institute of Physics (2004), the Electromagnetics Academy (2007) and the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (2009). Chew received the IEEE Electromagnetics Award in 2017, the Applied Computation Electromagnetics Society Award in Computational Electromagnetics in 2015, and the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Chen-To Tai Distinguished Educator Award in 2008, “[f]or outstanding contributions to education in the fields of electromagnetic theory and computational electromagnetics.” He also received the Sergei A. Schelkunoff Best Paper Award from IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation (with Jun-Sheng Zhao) in 2001, the Campus Wide Excellence in Professional and Graduate Teaching Award from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2001, and the IEEE Leon K. Kirchmayer Graduate Teaching Award in 2000, among other recognitions. He was among the few who won two IEEE Technical Fields Awards: Graduate Teaching, and Electromagnetics. Chew was named an ISI Highly Cited Researcher in 2001 and he is an honorary professor at Tsinghua University, China, honorary professor at National Taiwan University, Taipei, and was a distinguished visiting scholar at The University of Hong Kong.^[62] He was recently awarded the Pioneer Award by SPWLA.

In addition, Chew has been keenly aware of many social issues in this world. Since he grew up in Malaysia, which is a third-world country, he is the co-chair (with A. Poddar and A. Apte) of the Committee on Promoting Equality (COPE) in the same IEEE Society.

Classical and Quantum Computational Electromagnetics - An Overview

Classical computational electromagnetics (CEM) has seen leaps and bounds progress since the 1960’s, shortly after the advent of the digital computer. As a result, this knowledge has transformed how classical electromagnetics engineering has been performed. Virtual proto-typing using CEM is routine in many areas of technological development related to classical electromagnetics. After over 50 years of development, a healthy knowledge base has been grown that many practitioners in the field can rely on. Quantum computational electromagnetics, however, is much younger, and the corresponding knowledge base much thinner. It thus presages a knowledge base growth for quantum electromagnetics, which is an emerging field of growing importance. This knowledge base is instrumental for the growth and success of many quantum technologies including quantum computing, sensing, communications, encryption, imaging, and metrology.

In this talk, we will report on recent progress in the use of CEM in classical and quantum electromagnetics. We will discuss the use of quantum entanglement in modern sensing and imaging applications.

[1] W.C. Chew, “Electromagnetic Field Theory Lecture Notes,” Purdue University, 2021.

[2] A. Aspect, P. Grangier, and G. Roger, “Experimental realization of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Bohm Gedankenexperiment: a new violation of Bell’s inequalities,” Physical review letters, 49(2), 91, (1982).

[3] W.C. Chew, D. -Y. Na, P. Bermel, T. E. Roth, C. J. Ryu and E. Kudeki, “Quantum Maxwell’s Equations Made Simple: Employing Scalar and Vector Potential Formulation,” in IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 14-26, Feb. 2021, doi: 10.1109/MAP.2020.3036098.

[4] D.-Y. Na, J. Zhu, W. C. Chew, and F. L. Teixeira, “Quantum information preserving computational electromagnetics,” Phys. Rev. A 102, 013711 (2020).

[5] D.-Y. Na, J. Zhu, and W. C. Chew, “Diagonalization of the Hamiltonian for finite-sized dispersive media: Canonical quantization with numerical mode decomposition,” Phys. Rev. A 103, 063707 (2021).

[6] T.E. Roth, and W. C. Chew, “Circuit quantum electrodynamics: A new look toward developing full-wave numerical models,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2104.06996 (2021).

The Future of Advanced Packaging for Millimeter Wave Systems

Emerging electronic systems require the dense integration of many chiplets in either 2D or 3D form. The metrics for these systems will be dictated by power, performance, form factor, cost, and reliability. The complexity of these systems is expected to be large given the integration of sensing, wireless, computing, and other functionality on a single packaging platform that also combines electronics and photonics together. Such systems pose immense integration challenges but also provide opportunities for innovation on several fronts that include architecture, design, thermal, materials, embedded intelligence, and many more. This presentation will provide a discussion of the past and present technologies, while providing insight into future opportunities in the context of advanced packaging for mmWave systems.

Madhavan Swaminathan

Madhavan Swaminathan is the Department Head of Electrical Engineering and is the William E. Leonhard Endowed Chair at Penn State University. He also serves as the Director for the Center for Heterogeneous Integration of Micro Electronic Systems (CHIMES), an SRC JUMP 2.0 Center www.chimes.psu.edu.

Prior to joining Penn State University, he was the John Pippin Chair in Microsystems Packaging & Electromagnetics in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Professor in ECE with a joint appointment in the School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE), and Director of the 3D Systems Packaging Research Center (PRC), Georgia Tech (GT). Prior to GT, he was with IBM working on packaging for supercomputers.

He is the author of 650+ refereed technical publications and holds 31 patents. He is the primary author and co-editor of 3 books and 5 book chapters, founder and co-founder of two start-up companies, and founder of the IEEE Conference on Electrical Design of Advanced Packaging and Systems (EDAPS), a premier conference sponsored by the IEEE Electronics Packaging Society (EPS). He is a Fellow of IEEE, Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), Fellow of Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA), and has served as the Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) society. He is the recipient of the 2024 IEEE Rao R. Tummala Electronics Packaging Award (IEEE Technical Field Award) for contributions to semiconductor packaging and system integration technologies that improve the performance, efficiency, and capabilities of electronic systems.

He received his B.E. degree in Electronics & Communication from Regional Engineering College, Trichy (now NITT), and MS/PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University.

UAV Classification using Radars, AI, and Digital Twins

As drones become increasingly prevalent, the need goes beyond mere detection; we must accurately classify drones to discern benign from potential threats. Traditional radar datasets gathered through field measurements are prohibitively costly and limited, presenting a challenge to effective drone classification research. To address this, we are leveraging full-wave electromagnetic computer-aided design (EM CAD) to create radar-drone digital twins. This groundbreaking approach allows us to synthesize diverse, high-fidelity radar datasets that push the frontiers of drone detection and classification.

Our digital twin framework includes multiple radar bands (X/Ku/Ka-band) and various drone types, including commercial quadcopters with payloads such as explosives, enabling us to test a wide array of scenarios. By integrating AI with physics-based radar signatures, we achieve over 90% classification accuracy, even amidst complex environments like avian clutter. This capability not only enhances detection but also provides actionable classification insights for high-stakes scenarios.

The adaptability of digital twins allows us to vary radar and target parameters systematically, generating large and diverse datasets essential for training robust deep neural networks. This innovation enables unprecedented precision and flexibility, setting a new standard for drone classification and positioning radar systems as vital tools in safeguarding increasingly complex airspaces.

Bridging the Academia Industry Divide through IEEE Standards

The gap between academic and industrial research still exists, especially in underdeveloped and developing countries where it is actually enhanced. Academic research is usually centered on the theoretical aspects aiming publication in high impact factor journals whereas industrial research focuses on the practical aspects aiming commercialization of a product or service. The IEEE standardization activities help bridge the academia industry divide by offering tremendous networking opportunities. The talk will provide some interesting examples of successful collaborations which fostered innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of wireless communication through the development of IEEE standards. Some important standards developed by the IEEE Antennas & Propagation Standards Committee such as IEEE Std 145-2013 (antenna terminology), IEEE Std 211-2018 (radio wave propagation terminology) and IEEE Std 149-2021 (recommended practice for antenna measurement) will also be presented.

Efficient Antenna Array Design for Millimeter Wave Applications

Recently, interest in millimeter wave antennas has increased due to the high demand for faster data and reliable service in mobile communication. One of the driving forces is the fifth generation (5G) of the wireless network, which aims to provide such requirements. To handle such a demand, the systems should utilize the millimeter-wave bands. Path and material losses increase as frequency increases, reducing system efficiency. Therefore, there is a need for efficient millimeter-wave guiding structures that overcome such limitations. Gap waveguide technology is found to overcome such limitations at millimeter-wave bands. The advantages of this structure are in its suitability for millimeter wave applications as it is self-packaged with no radiation losses. Such a guiding structure has around 1:2 bandwidth that can also be enhanced under some conditions.

In this talk, several highly efficient antenna arrays will be presented based on the use of the gap waveguide technology. In addition, examples of added functions to the arrays will be presented, such as diplexers separating transmit and receive bands and monopulse arrays with compact comparables based on gap waveguide technology and leaky wave antenna arrays for frequency scanning properties.

Dr. Ahmed A. Kishk

Ahmed A. Kishk received a BSc in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, in 1977 and a BSc. in Applied Mathematics from Ain-Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, 1980. In 1981, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, where he obtained his M. Eng. and Ph.D. degrees in 1983 and 1986. From 1977 to 1981, he was a research assistant and an instructor at the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University. From 1981 to 1985, he was a research assistant at the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Manitoba. From December 1985 to August 1986, he was a research associate fellow in the same department. In 1986, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Mississippi as an assistant professor. He was on sabbatical leave at the Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, during the 1994-1995 and 2009-2010 academic years. He was a Professor at the University of Mississippi (1995-2011). He was the Center for Applied Electromagnetic System Research (CAESR) director from 2010 to 2011. He is a Professor at Concordia University, Montréal, Québec, Canada (since 2011) as Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Advanced Antenna Systems. He was an Associate Editor of Antennas & Propagation Society Newsletters from 1990 to 1993. He was a distinguished lecturer for the Antennas and Propagation Society (2013-2015). He was an Editor of Antennas & Propagation Magazine (1993-2014). He was a Co-editor of the special issue, “Advances in the Application of the Method of Moments to Electromagnetic Scattering Problems,” in the ACES Journal. He was also an editor of the ACES Journal in 1997. He was an Editor-in-Chief of the ACES Journal from 1998 to 2001. He was the chair of the Physics and Engineering Division of the Mississippi Academy of Science (2001-2002). He was a Guest Editor of the special issue on artificial magnetic conductors, soft/hard surfaces, and other complex surfaces in the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, January 2005. He was a co-guest editor for IEEE Antennas and Propagation and Wireless Letter on the special cluster on “5G/6G enabling antenna systems and associated testing technologies.” He was a technical program committee member for several international conferences. He was a member of the AP-S AdCom (2013-2015). He was the 2017 AP-S president.

Prof. Kishk’s research interest is broad in Electromagnetic Applications. He has recently worked on millimeter-wave antennas for 5G/6G applications, Analog beamforming networks, Electromagnetic Bandgap, artificial magnetic conductors, soft and hard surfaces, phased array antennas, reflectors/transmitarray, and wearable antennas. In addition, he is a pioneer in Dielectric resonator antennas, microstrip antennas, small antennas, microwave sensors, RFID antennas for readers and tags, Multi-function antennas, microwave circuits, and Feeds for Parabolic reflectors. He has published over 465 refereed journal articles, 550 international conference papers, and 125 local and regional conference papers. He co-authored four books and 13 chapters and was the editor of eight books. He offered several short courses at international conferences. According to Google Scholar, his work was cited over 34930 with an H-index of 79 in the 9th edition of Research.com ranking of the best scientists in Electronics and Electrical Engineering; it is based on data consolidated from various sources, including OpenAlex and CrossRef. The bibliometric data for estimating the citation-based metrics were gathered on December 21, 2022. Prof. Kishk was ranked first at Concordia University, 23^rd in Canada, and 401 worldwide. ScholarGPS has placed Dr Kishk in the top 0.05% of all scholars worldwide, with # 231 in Electrical Engineering, #4 in Antennas, # 5 in Dielectric, and #78 in Microwave.

Prof. Kishk and his students received several awards. He won the 1995 and 2006 outstanding paper awards for papers published in the Applied Computational Electromagnetic Society Journal. He received the 1997 Outstanding Engineering Educator Award from the Memphis section of the IEEE. He received the Outstanding Engineering Faculty Member of the Year in 1998 and the 2009 Faculty Research Award for Outstanding Research Performance in 2001 and 2005. He received the Award of Distinguished Technical Communication for IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine’s entry, 2001. He also received The Valued Contribution Award for an outstanding Invited Presentation, “EM Modeling of Surfaces with STOP or GO Characteristics – Artificial Magnetic Conductors and Soft and Hard Surfaces,” from the Applied Computational Electromagnetic Society. He received the Microwave Theory and Techniques Society Microwave Prize in 2004. He received the 2013 Chen-To Tai Distinguished Educator Award of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. In recognition, “For contributions and continuous improvements to teaching and research to prepare students for future careers in antennas and microwave circuits, Kishk is a Fellow of IEEE since 1998, Fellow of Electromagnetic Academy, and a Fellow of the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society (ACES). He is a member of the Antennas and Propagation Society, Microwave Theory and Techniques, Sigma Xi Society, and Senior member of the International Union of Radio Science, Commission B, Phi Kappa Phi, Electromagnetic Compatibility, and Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society.

Goutam Chattopadhyay

Goutam Chattopadhyay is a Senior Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology and a Visiting Professor at Caltech in Pasadena, USA. He has previously held the position of BEL Distinguished Visiting Chair Professor at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and served as an Adjunct Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, India. He earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Caltech in 2000. Chattopadhyay is a Fellow of both IEEE (USA) and IETE (India), serves as a Track Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, is an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer, and is the 2025 President of IEEE MTT-S. His research interests include microwave, millimeter-wave, and terahertz receiver systems and radars, as well as the development of space instruments for the search for life beyond Earth.

He has published over 375 papers in international journals and conferences and holds more than twenty patents. He has received over 35 NASA Technical Achievement and New Technology Invention Awards. In 2024, he was honored with the Armstrong Medal from the Radio Company of America (RCA) and received the NASA-JPL People Leadership Award in 2023. He was named IEEE Region-6 Engineer of the Year in 2018 and received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), India, in 2017. Additionally, he has won the Best Journal Paper Award from IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology in both 2020 and 2013, the Best Paper Award for Antenna Design and Applications at the European Antennas and Propagation Conference (EuCAP) in 2017, and the IETE Prof. S. N. Mitra Memorial Award in 2014, as well as the IETE Biman Bihari Sen Memorial Award in 2022.

Goutam Chattopadhyay

Goutam Chattopadhyay is a Senior Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology and a Visiting Professor at Caltech in Pasadena, USA. He has previously held the position of BEL Distinguished Visiting Chair Professor at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and served as an Adjunct Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, India. He earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Caltech in 2000. Chattopadhyay is a Fellow of both IEEE (USA) and IETE (India), serves as a Track Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, is an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer, and is the 2025 President of IEEE MTT-S. His research interests include microwave, millimeter-wave, and terahertz receiver systems and radars, as well as the development of space instruments for the search for life beyond Earth.

He has published over 375 papers in international journals and conferences and holds more than twenty patents. He has received over 35 NASA Technical Achievement and New Technology Invention Awards. In 2024, he was honored with the Armstrong Medal from the Radio Company of America (RCA) and received the NASA-JPL People Leadership Award in 2023. He was named IEEE Region-6 Engineer of the Year in 2018 and received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), India, in 2017. Additionally, he has won the Best Journal Paper Award from IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology in both 2020 and 2013, the Best Paper Award for Antenna Design and Applications at the European Antennas and Propagation Conference (EuCAP) in 2017, and the IETE Prof. S. N. Mitra Memorial Award in 2014, as well as the IETE Biman Bihari Sen Memorial Award in 2022.

Past, Present and Future of RF-CMOS Front-end Circuits & Systems

RF Integration has challenged CMOS technologies for decades. Ever increasing demand for low cost, high performance and complex system-on-chip solutions fueled the development of RF-CMOS Technologies. In this plenary talk (or) keynote presentation, past present and future of RF technologies will be discussed with focus on Front-End circuits and systems.

Dr. Venkata Vanukuru

Dr. Venkata Vanukuru has received MTech and PhD degrees, both from IIT Madras. He has been with IBM/GLOBALFOUNDRIES for the last 16 years where he is currently a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff (DMTS). He has more than 50 US patents, 15 IEEE transaction papers and 35 IEEE conference papers. He is currently a visiting faculty at IISc Bangalore and mentoring faculty/students of multiple IITs. He is the recipient of the prestigious Outstanding Technical Achievement Award (OTAA) at IBM and CEO recognition award at GLOBALFOUNDRIES in 2018 and 2020. He is an IEEE senior member and a Patent Advocate & “Master Inventor” at GLOBALFOUNDRIES. He has given invited talks/tutorials/workshops at premier IEEE MTT conferences like IMS, RWW, APMC, IMaRC and IEEE EDS conferences like EDTM and ICEE. His research interests include design, optimization, and implementation of RF and mm-wave integrated circuits.

Beamforming for Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces

Intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS) are expected to become important parts of upcoming wireless communication systems. There has been a lot of activity in the recent past focussing on hardware realizations of these surfaces, particularly with discrete phase control. In addition, efficient beamforming algorithms are also required for a full realization of the potential provided by such surfaces. In a nutshell, a beamforming algorithm provides the discrete set of phases that need to be realized on an IRS, given the locations of the transmitter and receiver. Many contemporary solutions have been heuristic, and therefore may give sub-optimal solutions. Other solutions are based on evolutionary algorithms, which are usually very time consuming. Thus, there is an urgent need for optimal, and time efficient algorithms. In this talk, I will discuss recent work outlining the development of algorithms that are both provably optimal and have linear time complexity. Further, the adaptation of these algorithms to account for fabrication non idealities will also be discussed. Finally, generalizations for multi-bit realizations of IRS, and multiple receivers will also be discussed.

Uday Khankhoje

Uday Khankhoje (Senior Member, IEEE) received a B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Bombay in 2005, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Caltech in 2010. He was a Caltech Postdoctoral Scholar at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA/Caltech) from 2011-2012, a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA, from 2012-2013, and an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at IIT Delhi from 2013-16, and IIT Madras from 2016-21. Since 2021, he is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at IIT Madras, where he leads the numerical electromagnetics and optics (NEMO) research group which focuses on solving electromagnetics inspired inverse problems. He has received best teacher awards from IIT Delhi and IIT Madras in 2015 and 2022, respectively, and the Young Faculty Recognition Award from IIT Madras in 2021.

Vikass Monebhurrun

Vikass Monebhurrun received the PhD degree in electronics in 1994 and the Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR) in physics in 2010 from Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris VI) and Université Paris- Sud (Paris XI), respectively. He was engaged in research on electromagnetic non-destructive testing for nuclear power and aeronautical applications until 1998, following which he joined the Department of Electromagnetics at Supélec (CentraleSupélec since 2015). His research interests encompass time domain numerical modeling as well as radio frequency measurements. He actively participated in French National Research Programs on dosimetry of wireless communication systems since 1998: 2G (1999-2002) 3G (2003-2005) and 4G (2007-2010). His research contributed to international standardization committees of European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and IEEE.

He is author and co-author of more than hundred peer-reviewed international conference and journal papers, and he holds three international patents on antennas for mobile communications. He is an active contributor within the standardization committees of IEC 62209, IEC 62232, IEEE 1528 and IEC/IEEE 62704. He was a member of the European COST Action BM 1309 on beneficial effects and medical applications of electromagnetic fields (2014-2018). Prof. Monebhurrun served as member of the Editorial Board of the IEEE COMPUMAG and IEEE CEFC conferences, and IEEE Transactions on Magnetics special issues from 1999 to 2020. He is the founder of the IEEE RADIO international conference for which he served as General Chair for all the eight editions since 2012. He serves as President of the Radio Society (Mauritius) since 2013. He currently chairs the IEC/IEEE 62704-3 and IEEE Antennas and Propagation Standards committees. He further serves as member within several committees of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. From 2019 to 2022, he was AdCom member of the IEEE Sensors Council. Since 2024 he is Member-at-Large of the IEEE Standards Association Board of Governors and the IEEE Technical Activities Board Committee on Standards as well as AdCom member of the IEEE International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety (ICES).

He served as Associate-Editor (2016-2021) and Guest-Editor (2018/2019) for the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Transactions and Editor of the IoP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (2013-2019). He is currently Editorial Board member of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Magazine and he maintains a column dedicated to standards related activities. He was recipient of the Union Radio-Scientifique Internationale (URSI) Young Scientist Award in 1996, the IEEE Standards Association International Working Group Chair Award in 2017, the IEEE Ulrich L. Rohde Humanitarian Technical Field Project Award in 2018, the International Electrotechnical Commission 1906 Award in 2018 and the IEEE Standards Association International Award in 2019.

Evolution and Application of Phased Array Antenna and Technologies for Satellite Applications

The deployments of 5G terrestrial networks is rapidly growing in the terrestrial cellular mid-band frequencies. In parallel, there is significant momentum seen in the deployment of Non-Terrestrial (NTN) Networks using communication satellite systems as well as aerial platforms in different orbital planes, with various system trade-offs. Geostationary (GEO) space-based network platforms, Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite systems have been commercially deployed to successfully offer global and regional fixed and mobile connectivity. Convergence between space based and terrestrial networks with flexible, on-demand data transfers between satellite and terrestrial network nodes is rapidly emerging in telecom networks. This presentation will focus on the system drivers, evolution of key payload technologies and phased array antenna developments for beam forming with capacity enhancements using flexible frequency/power allocations and frequency-reuse.

Ramesh K. Gupta

Dr. Ramesh K. Gupta received Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Alberta, Canada; and a B.S. degree (with Honors) in Electronics and Communications Engineering from PEC (a deemed University), Chandigarh, India. He also earned an MBA degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Gupta has published several conference and journal papers and three ‘book chapters’ on microwave devices, passive and active RF circuits, MMIC designs and their insertion into the satellite and wireless systems. He holds four U.S. patents. He has received multiple honors and awards including Alberta Government Telephone’s Centennial Fellowship for graduate research in telecommunications and 1994 COMSAT Laboratories’ Research Award. He was co-recipient of the Best Paper Awards at the 1992 International Digital Satellites Communications Conference, Denmark and 2011 AIAA Satellite Systems Conference, Japan. He received 2012 Joseph Wharton Award from the Wharton DC Club for his career contributions. Dr Gupta serves as an IEEE MTT-S ADCOM member and has been responsible for initiating several successful initiatives as IEEE MTT-S Education Committee Chair (2014-2018) and as Marketing and Communications Committee (MarCom) Chair (2019-2021). He was recipient of IEEE MTT-S 2023 N. Walter Cox award.

Ahmed Kishk

Ahmed A. Kishk received a BSc in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, in 1977 and a BSc. in Applied Mathematics from Ain-Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, 1980. In 1981, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, where he obtained his M. Eng. and Ph.D. degrees in 1983 and 1986. From 1977 to 1981, he was a research assistant and an instructor at the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University. From 1981 to 1985, he was a research assistant at the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Manitoba. From December 1985 to August 1986, he was a research associate fellow in the same department. In 1986, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Mississippi as an assistant professor. He was on sabbatical leave at the Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, during the 1994-1995 and 2009-2010 academic years. He was a Professor at the University of Mississippi (1995-2011). He was the Center for Applied Electromagnetic System Research (CAESR) director from 2010 to 2011. He is a Professor at Concordia University, Montréal, Québec, Canada (since 2011) as Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Advanced Antenna Systems. He was an Associate Editor of Antennas & Propagation Society Newsletters from 1990 to 1993. He was a distinguished lecturer for the Antennas and Propagation Society (2013-2015). He was an Editor of Antennas & Propagation Magazine (1993-2014). He was a Co-editor of the special issue, “Advances in the Application of the Method of Moments to Electromagnetic Scattering Problems,” in the ACES Journal. He was also an editor of the ACES Journal in 1997. He was an Editor-in-Chief of the ACES Journal from 1998 to 2001. He was the chair of the Physics and Engineering Division of the Mississippi Academy of Science (2001-2002). He was a Guest Editor of the special issue on artificial magnetic conductors, soft/hard surfaces, and other complex surfaces in the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, January 2005. He was a co-guest editor for IEEE Antennas and Propagation and Wireless Letter on the special cluster on “5G/6G enabling antenna systems and associated testing technologies.” He was a technical program committee member for several international conferences. He was a member of the AP-S AdCom (2013-2015). He was the 2017 AP-S president.

Prof. Kishk’s research interest is broad in Electromagnetic Applications. He has recently worked on millimeter-wave antennas for 5G/6G applications, Analog beamforming networks, Electromagnetic Bandgap, artificial magnetic conductors, soft and hard surfaces, phased array antennas, reflectors/transmitarray, and wearable antennas. In addition, he is a pioneer in Dielectric resonator antennas, microstrip antennas, small antennas, microwave sensors, RFID antennas for readers and tags, Multi-function antennas, microwave circuits, and Feeds for Parabolic reflectors. He has published over 465 refereed journal articles, 550 international conference papers, and 125 local and regional conference papers. He co-authored four books and 13 chapters and was the editor of eight books. He offered several short courses at international conferences. According to Google Scholar, his work was cited over 34930 with an H-index of 79 in the 9th edition of Research.com ranking of the best scientists in Electronics and Electrical Engineering; it is based on data consolidated from various sources, including OpenAlex and CrossRef. The bibliometric data for estimating the citation-based metrics were gathered on December 21, 2022. Prof. Kishk was ranked first at Concordia University, 23^rd in Canada, and 401 worldwide. ScholarGPS has placed Dr Kishk in the top 0.05% of all scholars worldwide, with # 231 in Electrical Engineering, #4 in Antennas, # 5 in Dielectric, and #78 in Microwave.

Prof. Kishk and his students received several awards. He won the 1995 and 2006 outstanding paper awards for papers published in the Applied Computational Electromagnetic Society Journal. He received the 1997 Outstanding Engineering Educator Award from the Memphis section of the IEEE. He received the Outstanding Engineering Faculty Member of the Year in 1998 and the 2009 Faculty Research Award for Outstanding Research Performance in 2001 and 2005. He received the Award of Distinguished Technical Communication for IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine’s entry, 2001. He also received The Valued Contribution Award for an outstanding Invited Presentation, “EM Modeling of Surfaces with STOP or GO Characteristics – Artificial Magnetic Conductors and Soft and Hard Surfaces,” from the Applied Computational Electromagnetic Society. He received the Microwave Theory and Techniques Society Microwave Prize in 2004. He received the 2013 Chen-To Tai Distinguished Educator Award of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. In recognition, “For contributions and continuous improvements to teaching and research to prepare students for future careers in antennas and microwave circuits, Kishk is a Fellow of IEEE since 1998, Fellow of Electromagnetic Academy, and a Fellow of the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society (ACES). He is a member of the Antennas and Propagation Society, Microwave Theory and Techniques, Sigma Xi Society, and Senior member of the International Union of Radio Science, Commission B, Phi Kappa Phi, Electromagnetic Compatibility, and Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society.

Design and Development of Flat Panel Phased Array Antennas for Wireless and Satellite Communication Applications

There is a great demand for high data throughput innovative beam steering antenna solutions for wireless and satellite communication applications. In the last decade, beam steering antennas have seen tremendous progress, primarily due to the maturity of silicon beamforming chipsets, multilayer printed circuit boards, and 3D printing technologies.

This talk will provide an overview of various beam steering antenna mechanisms and basic antenna array theory, with a focus on design, practical implementation, and future development. One of the key technologies discussed will be the emerging flat panel phased array antennas used in wireless and satellite communications. The presentation will delve into electronic beam steering through beam forming networks and commercially available beam forming integrated circuit (BFIC) chips. Examples of X-/Ku-/Ka-band flat panel phased array antennas featuring dual linear, dual circular, and polarization reconfigurable designs will be showcased. During these discussions, the challenges and roles of silicon BFICs, multilayered printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication, RF component assembly, and beam forming algorithms, and 3D dielectric and metal printing in antenna array designs will be explored. Moreover, the talk will emphasize the importance of data throughput testing of Ka-band flat panel phased array antennas, both in a laboratory environment and over-the-air (OTA) testing across a 1 km link between two buildings at San Diego State University. It will also briefly cover data throughput testing of a dual circular polarized Ka-band flat panel phased array on a payload over a 100,000 ft Aerostar balloon.

Satish Sharma

Dr. Satish Kumar Sharma received his Ph. D. degree in Electronics Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, India in August 1997. He received his undergraduate degree (Bachelor in Technology) in Electronics Engineering from Kamla Nehru Institute of Technology, Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India in June 1991. He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada from March 1999 to May 2001. He joined InfoMagnetics Technologies Corporation, Winnipeg, Canada as a Senior Antenna Engineer/Researcher from May 2001 to August 2006. While at IMT, he was also a Part-Time Research Associate at the University of Manitoba until August 2006.

Dr. Sharma joined San Diego State University (SDSU) as a tenure-track faculty member (Assistant Professor) in August 2006. He established the Antenna and Microwave Laboratory (AML) shortly after joining SDSU and has led the AML as its Director since then. He became tenured Associate Professor in August 2010. He was promoted to full Professor in August 2014 and currently holds this position. He was Interim Chair of his department from August 2022 to October 2023. He has held Distinguished Summer Faculty Fellow positions at the Naval Information Warfare Center, Pacific, (NIWC-Pacific), San Diego (2020, 2021, 2022 & 2024). He has received the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s prestigious faculty early career development (CAREER) award in 2009. He also received the 2015 IEEE AP-S Harold A. Wheeler Prize Paper Award. He served as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Antennas & Propagation journal from August 2010 to June 2017. He also served as an Associate Editor of IEEE Antennas, Wireless & Propagation Letters from March 2017 to March 2023. He is IEEE AP-S Distinguished Lecturer for 2025-2027 and 2025 inaugural Chair of the Technical Committee on Security: Security, Defense, Disaster Management. His research lab has the capability to analyze, design, develop, and verify antennas from VHF to millimeter wave (110 GHz) frequencies. He has advised and mentored more than 100 undergraduate/graduate students and Post-Doctoral Fellows/visiting research scholars.

Dr. Sharma has published over 325 journal and conference papers and holds three US and Canadian patents. He co-edited three volumes of “Handbook of Reflector Antennas and Feed Systems”, published by Artech House in May/June 2013. His other coauthored book, “Multifunctional Antennas and Arrays for Wireless Communication Systems”, was published by IEEE-Press/Wiley in April 2021. He has collaborated with industry professionals on SBIR/STTR Phase I and II projects funded by DARPA, SPAWAR, Missile Defense Agency, and the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) in addition to projects from the NSF and Office of Naval Research (ONR). He has also served as an Engineer/Consultant with several wireless and defense companies. He is also the CEO/founder of 5GAntennaTech, LLC. His research interests include microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies, beam steering antennas, flat panel phased array antennas, reconfigurable and tunable antennas, 3D printed antennas, inkjet printed conformal antennas, massive MIMO antennas, antennas for Cube-Satellites, reflector antennas and their feed systems, and metasurface antennas.

George Shaker

George Shaker (Senior Member, IEEE) is currently the Lab Director of the Wireless Sensors and Devices Laboratory at the Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging, where he founded and directs “THE MIRADA – Technology for Health Empowerment: Monitoring, Intervention, and Response for Aging Demonstration Apartment,” a groundbreaking initiative aimed at improving healthcare for aging populations through advanced sensing technology. He is also the Chief Scientist at Spark Technology Labs, where he has been leading innovation in wireless sensor technologies since its founding in 2011. Concurrently, Dr. Shaker is an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.

Previously, Dr. Shaker was an NSERC scholar at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA. He also held multiple roles with Research In Motion (RIM, now BlackBerry), where he significantly contributed to the development of wireless communication technologies. With close to 20 years of industrial experience in technology and over ten years as a faculty member, Dr. Shaker has led numerous projects related to the application of wireless sensor systems in healthcare, automotive, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). His work has had a direct impact on the design and launch of numerous commercial products available from over 20 multinationals.

Dr. Shaker has co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications and holds more than 35 patents. Over the years, his research has been recognized with over 50 international awards. He is an IEEE AP-S Distinguished Industry Speaker, and an IEEE Sensors Council Distinguished Lecturer (2025-2027).

Ram Narayanan

Ram Narayanan received his B.Tech. degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, in 1976, and his Ph.D. degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1988, both in electrical engineering. From 1976 to 1983, he worked as an R&D engineer at Bharat Electronics Ltd., Ghaziabad, where he developed microwave communications equipment. His Ph.D. research focused on millimeter-wave radar scattering from natural surfaces such as vegetation and snow. In 1988, he joined the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he last served as Blackman and Lederer Professor. Since 2003, he has been a Professor of EE with Pennsylvania State University. He has coauthored over 180 journal articles and over 400 conference publications. He is a Fellow of IEEE, SPIE, and IETE. He received the 2017 IEEE Warren White Award for Excellence in Radar Engineering. His current research interests are cognitive radar, harmonic radar, noise radar, through-barrier detection and imaging, and information processing.

Compact Reflect/Transmit Array Antennas

A reflect array (RA) antenna is a parasitic array of elements arranged periodically and spatially illuminated by a spherical wave generated by a feed located at a focal point away from the array. Conventionally, RA elements are arranged on a grounded planar surface. Thus, the focal point is virtual, chosen by the designer based on the feed characteristics. The RA antenna combines the characteristics of reflectors and array antennas. Thus, it can perform all the reflector and array antenna functions and overcome their disadvantages.

Broadband planar reflectarrays are usually achieved by designing broadband elements with a large focal-to-diameter ratio (F/D). This requires a huge volume and relatively large and heavy feed. A small F/D should be used to reduce the feed size and volume. However, planar RA with a small focal-to-diameter ratio (F/D) suffers from limited bandwidth regardless of the element bandwidth. The primary factor hindering the bandwidth is increasing the planar-RA spatial path delay from the center to the edge, which introduces substantial phase variations that cannot adequately compensate for the RA elements away from the design frequency. A faceted RA was proposed, but the structure became more complicated, particularly for a small F/D. Here, a new simple RA design approach is proposed to enhance the bandwidth. Planar RA is cut to annular rings of sub-reflectarrays (sub-RAs), with the center sub-RA being circular. The sub-RAs are displaced to lower levels below the outer sub-RA and kept at the same position as the feed to reserve feed edge illumination. An overview of RAs and the parameters that control their performance is presented. The proposed structure, referred to as “Stepped RA,” is presented by an example of circularly polarized RA. Cross-bowtie elements are used in the planar- and stepped RA with an aperture diameter 25.25λ. Element rotation is employed for phase compensation. The Stepped RA reduces the relative path delay as the ray moves toward the edge. A parametric study is performed, and a simple, compact Stepped RA is designed. The performance of the Stepped RA is compared to the Planar RA. The two RA configurations are fabricated and measured. The Stepped RA exhibits a matching bandwidth of 33.4 %, a 1-dB gain bandwidth of 23.2 %, a 1-dB axial ratio bandwidth of 33.4 %, and an aperture efficiency of 51 % (at 30 GHz). Based on the results, the stepped RA 1-dB gain bandwidth is improved by 13 % over the conventional planar RA. Other forms of compact RA are presented, such as the folded RA, which requires half of the focal length of the RA, and the wrapped RA constructed from textile material, both discussed in some detail.

In addition, transmitarry (TA) is where spherical waves impinge on a planar array of elements with two sides are discussed. The feed side is a receiving array of elements terminated by other elements on the other side to reradiate as a transmitting array. As in RA, the elements compensate for the phase errors and provide the required phases to reradiate to a specific direction or shape the beam.

Branislav Notaroš

Branislav Notaroš is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Director of Electromagnetics Laboratory, and University Distinguished Teaching Scholar at Colorado State University. Previously, he held assistant/associate-professor positions at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and University of Belgrade. His research contributions are in computational and applied electromagnetics. His publications include about 330 journal and conference papers, and textbooks “Electromagnetics” (2010) and “MATLAB-Based Electromagnetics” (2013) with Pearson Prentice Hall and “Conceptual Electromagnetics” (2017) with CRC Press. Prof. Notaroš serves as President of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S), Immediate Past President of the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society (ACES), Immediate Past Chair of the USNC-URSI Commission B, and Track Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. He served as General Chair of the IEEE APS/URSI 2022 Denver Conference, Chair of the IEEE AP-S Meetings Committee, Chair of the Joint Meetings Committee, and AP-S AdCom member. He was the recipient of the 1999 IEE Marconi Premium, 2005 IEEE MTT-S Microwave Prize, 2022 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Edward E. Altshuler Prize Paper Award, 2019 ACES Technical Achievement Award, 2014 Carnegie Foundation Colorado Professor of the Year Award, 2015 ASEE ECE Distinguished Educator Award, 2015 IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award, and many other research and teaching awards. He is Fellow of IEEE and ACES.

Microwave Sensors: Operation Principles, Design, and Implementation Technologies

A broad range of different physical quantities can be determined by adopting electromagnetic techniques at microwave frequency: among them, an important class of sensors aims at the determination of the electric and magnetic characteristics of materials, for instance with the scope to establish the content of a certain element in liquids. Another class of sensors are devoted to the accurate determination of the linear or the angular displacement of a target.

Depending on the intended application, the requested features of microwave sensors are typically the compact size, the low manufacturing cost, and the easy design and fabrication, as well as the good accuracy of the results.

This talk will provide an overview of some recent achievements in the area of microwave sensors, for applications ranging from the characterization of the electrical properties of materials to the determination of rotation and proximity. The use of planar structures and SIW technology, the fabrication by additive manufacturing, as well as the adoption of hybrid solutions will be presented and discussed.

Maurizio Bozzi

Maurizio Bozzi received the Ph.D. degree in electronics and computer science from the University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, in 2000. He held research positions with various universities worldwide, including the Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, Germany; the Universitat de Valencia, Spain; and the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Canada. In 2002, he joined the Department of Electronics, University of Pavia, where he is currently a full professor of electromagnetic fields. He was also a Guest Professor at Tianjin University, China (2015-2017) and a Visiting Professor at Gdansk University of Technology, Poland (2017-2018). His main research interests concern the computational electromagnetics, the substrate integrated waveguide technology, and the use of novel materials and fabrication technologies for microwave circuits (including paper, textile, and 3D printing). He has authored or co-authored more than 180 journal papers and 360 conference papers. He co-edited the book Periodic Structures (Research Signpost, 2006) and co-authored the book Microstrip Lines and Slotlines (Artech House, 2013).

Prof. Bozzi is the 2024 President of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT-S). He was an elected Member of the Administrative Committee of MTT-S for years 2017–2022, the Budget Committee Chair in 2023, the MTT-S Treasurer in 2020–2022, the Chair of the Meetings and Symposia Committee for years 2018-2019, and the Secretary of MTT-S in 2016. He was also a member of the General Assembly of the European Microwave Association (EuMA) from 2014 to 2016. He was a Track Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, and an Associate Editor of the IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters, the IET Microwaves, Antennas and Propagation, and the IET Electronics Letters. He was the General Chair of the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series-Advanced Materials and Processes (IMWS-AMP 2017), in Pavia, Italy, 2017, of the inaugural edition of the IEEE International Conference on Numerical Electromagnetic Modeling and Optimization (NEMO2014), in Pavia, Italy, 2014, and of the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Workshop Series on Millimeter Wave Integration Technologies, in Sitges, Spain, 2011.

Maurizio Bozzi is a Fellow of the IEEE. He received several awards, including the 2015 Premium Award for Best Paper in IET Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation, the 2014 Premium Award for the Best Paper in Electronics Letters, the Best Student Paper Award at the 2016 IEEE Topical Conference on Wireless Sensors and Sensor Networks (WiSNet2016), the Best Paper Award at the 15th Mediterranean Microwave Symposium (MMS2015), the Best Student Award at the 4th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP 2010), the Best Young Scientist Paper Award of the XXVII General Assembly of URSI in 2002, and the MECSA Prize of the Italian Conference on Electromagnetics (XIII RiNEm) in 2000.

150 Years of Maxwell’s Equations and 75 Years of AP-S and CEM, with Emphasis on Current Trends and Interdisciplinary Applications

As a community, just last year we celebrated 150 years of Maxwell’s equations, and computational electromagnetics (CEM) has a history of about 75 years. This year the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) celebrates its 75th Anniversary, as it was founded in 1949. This plenary talk presents a quick overview of 75 years of research in CEM within the AP-S and AP community at large, where both the CEM and AP-S have similar and interwoven histories of 75 years, a half of the history of Maxwell’s equations. Current trends and future prospects in CEM are discussed, with an emphasis on an area of paramount importance for AP and CEM where historically progress was slow. The talk presents a synergistic combination of error estimation and control, adaptive refinement, and uncertainty quantification for CEM, which are essential for modern effective and reliable simulation-based design in mission-critical applications. The talk also presents advanced engineering applications combining CEM and AP concepts, techniques, and technologies with emerging interdisciplinary topics, to solve general real-world problems with impacts on wireless communication, medical imaging and diagnostics, and remote sensing/radar meteorology. The applications include cyber-physical systems in smart underground mining; design of RF coils/antennas for next-generation high-field, high-frequency magnetic resonance imaging scanners; direct electromagnetic coupling system for orthopaedic fracture-healing diagnostics, many times faster than using X rays; and optical and radar measurements, modeling, and characterization of snowflakes and snow. While these topics and applications are really “all over” science and engineering, the talk will focus on the strong interweaving common thread among all of them – electromagnetics

Nonlinear and Harmonic Radar

Nonlinear radar exploits the difference in frequency between radar waves that illuminate and are reflected from electromagnetically nonlinear targets. Nonlinear radar differs from traditional linear radar by offering high clutter rejection and is particularly suited to the detection of devices containing metals and semiconductors. Examples include tags for tracking insects, tags worn by humans for avoiding collisions with vehicles, or for monitoring vital signs. Such tags contain a radio-frequency (RF) nonlinearity, often a Schottky diode, connected to a suitable antenna. Targets with inherent nonlinearities, such as metal contacts, semiconductors, transmission lines, antennas, ﬁlters, and ferroelectrics, also respond to nonlinear radar. A nonlinear radar can be used to locate devices whose emissions exceed permitted limits, allow security personnel to detect unauthorized radio electronics in restricted areas, or enable ﬁrst-responders to pinpoint personal electronics during emergencies. Harmonic radar is a special type of nonlinear radar that transmits one or multiple frequencies and listens for frequencies at or near their harmonics.

The talk will address the design and application of nonlinear and harmonic radar, their advantages and limitations compared to conventional linear radar, and special considerations associated with the design of nonlinear and harmonic radar components and subsystems.