Featured Speakers
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Douglas C. Sicker
University of Colorado, Denver
Rethinking Wireless
Abstract & BioAbstract:
What makes the future of the electromagnetic spectrum operational environment so interesting is that wireless systems are becoming increasingly more software controlled/defined, reconfigurable, agile, wideband capable, and adaptive. At the same time, our society is becoming increasingly more dependent on a broader set of these spectrum systems (e.g., cellular, GPS, radar, broadcast, imaging, satellite, and more), resulting in a higher density of devices and more demand on the scarce resource of radio spectrum. This technology is also being embedded into all parts of our critical public, private, and defense infrastructure, often as part of highly automated systems, where interference is difficult to detect and respond to. Together, these trends take the future of wireless systems into a new realm of complexity but also present opportunities to change how we think about (and deploy) these systems. In this talk, I will first set the context for understanding the breadth and depth of future spectrum systems with a focus on the technical and policy evolution, then I will describe a broad set of open research challenges, particularly focused on what this means for antenna and RF front-end design. A core theme in this talk is the future need to think about wireless systems as closed loop systems of systems.
Bio:
Dr. Douglas C. Sicker currently serves as the Vice Chancellor of Technology, Strategy, and Innovation (CTO) and Professor of CS and ECE at the University of Colorado, Denver. Doug also serves as the Associate Director of SMART Hub (Hub for Spectrum Management with Adaptive and Reconfigurable Technology), a Department of Defense Spectrum Innovation Center established in 2023. He is also the Executive Director of the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (BITAG). Previously, Doug was the Lord Endowed Chair in Engineering and Computer Science, a Department Head in Engineering, the Interim Director of CyLab Security and Privacy Institute, and Professor in the College of Engineering and School of Computer Science. Prior to this, Doug was the DBC Endowed Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder with a joint appointment in, and Director of, the Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program. Doug served as the Chief Technology Officer and Senior Advisor for Spectrum at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Doug also served as the Chief Technology Officer of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and prior to this he served as a senior advisor on the FCC National Broadband Plan. Earlier he was Director of Global Architecture at Level 3 Communications, Inc. In the late 1990s, Doug served as Chief of the Network Technology Division at the FCC. He served as an advisor to the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the General Accounting Office, the FCC, and the Department of State; the Chair of the FCC Network Reliability and Interoperability Council steering committee; an advisor on the Technical Advisory Council of the FCC, and chair of a recent National Academy study on the Boulder Department of Commerce Laboratories. He has chaired numerous conferences as well as served on many program committees and several National Academy studies. Doug has published extensively in the fields of wireless systems, cybersecurity and network policy. Doug holds BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pittsburgh.
IEEE AP-S Invited Speaker
Dr. Branislav M. Notaros
Colorado State University
Electromagnetics and Antenna Computational, Design, and Measurement Techniques and Technologies and Interdisciplinary Applications
Abstract & BioRF, antennas, wireless, microwave, radar, microelectronics, and lightwave technologies are exploding! The importance of electromagnetic and antenna theory, computation, design, and measurement to these technologies can hardly be overstated. This talk presents several novel methodologies and computational technologies for RF and antenna analysis and design including uncertainty quantification, error control, and adaptive refinement, which are essential for modern effective and reliable simulation-based design in mission-critical RF and antenna applications. Our novel approaches constituted by accelerated, rigorous, adaptive, goal-oriented error estimation and control, sensitivity and uncertainty quantification, and model refinement for RF and antennas and engineering in general show unparalleled accuracy, efficiency, robustness, and versatility of analyses and simulations. The talk also presents advanced engineering applications combining electromagnetics and antenna theoretical, computational, design, and measurement concepts, techniques, and technologies with emerging interdisciplinary topics, to solve general real-world problems with impacts on medical imaging and diagnostics and remote sensing/radar meteorology. The applications include design of RF coils/antennas for next-generation high-field, high-frequency magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, including RF measurements and MRI measurements in human-sized MRI scanners; direct electromagnetic coupling system for orthopaedic fracture-healing diagnostics with telemedicine framework, with specially designed noninvasive external radio antenna sensors measuring bone/hardware deflections under loading and providing reliable and affordable predictions and diagnostics of bone healing many times faster than using radiographic methods (X rays); and optical and radar measurements, modeling, and characterization of snowflakes and snows.
Bio:
Branislav M. Notaros 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. Notaros 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.
EurAAP Invited Speaker
University of Rennes
Processing methods for antenna measurements processing to get the best of test facilities and focus on the challenging task of millimeter wave characterizations
Abstract & BioAbstract:
Radiation characterization is a key step in the development of proof of concept antennas arising in research projects. Over the past decades, numerous improvements have been made to equipment, measurement techniques and the associated processing tools, to meet the need for speed, precision and increase of the set-up frequency range. The IETR participates in this dynamic by developing specific tools for 20 years to optimize its antenna test facilities, and by improving its equipment thanks to heavy investments.
Focusing on the millimeter wave range, optimization of facility capabilities covers several aspects such as systematic error estimation, collection, efficient processing of measurement data and development of algorithms enabling measurements without phase.
In this presentation, such processing tools based on compressive sensing approaches are presented and illustrated with measurement examples covering the entire millimeter wave range.
Bio:
Laurent LE COQ received the electronic engineering and radiocommunications degree and the french DEA degree (M.Sc.) in electronics in 1995 and the Ph. D. in 1999 from the National Institute of Applied Science (INSA), Rennes, France. In 1999, he joined IETR (Institut d’Electronique et des Technologies du numéRique), University of Rennes, to manage antenna centi- and milli-meter wave range test facilities. Since 2018, he is the head of M2ARS (Manufacturing Measurement and Analysis of Radiating Systems), the IETR facility unit bringing together 7 facilities dedicated to Electro Magnetic studies up to 500GHz, which includes three antenna test and imaging facilities and a prototyping service. His activities in antenna measurements and development of related procedures involved him in more than 30 research contracts of national or european interest. He is author and co-author of more than 50 papers published in peer-reviewed international journals and 50 papers in proceedings of international conferences. He serves as a regular reviewer for several journals and conferences and has regularly chaired international conference sessions. He participated in the Conference Organizing Committee of the International Conference Eucap 2021, as convened session co-chair.
Lunch and Learn Speaker
Dr. Brian Kent
Private Engineering Consultant, Radar and Electro-Optic Technologies, Centerville, Ohio
Was it the Radar? Respectfully Revisiting the 1967 US Navy USS Forrestal Carrier Disaster
Abstract:
In 1967, while on patrol in the Gulf of Tokin, the United States Navy Carrier USS Forrestal (CVA-59) was preparing for wartime missions over North Vietnam. At 10:45AM local time, the ship was preparing to launch more than 20 A-4 Skyhawk and F-4 Fighter jets, all fully fueled and armed with a mixture of iron bombs, missiles, and Zuni rocket launchers. At 10:51AM, an un-commanded F-4 Zuni Missile launched on the deck, impacted a neighboring A-4 and starting a fire and series of deadly secondary explosions. The Forrestal was ultimately saved through the heroics of the sailors serving aboard her who fearlessly battled the fire against tremendous risks to themselves.
Although the US Navy conducted an extremely thorough accident investigation, hundreds of follow-up technical articles in the aerospace literature, including current Electromagnetic Interference and Compatibility design books, continue to blame the initiation event on EMI from on the on-board AN/SPS-43VHF search radar and/or the AN/SPS 30 Height Finding Radar. This presentation is aimed at discussing all the events and contributing factors leading up to the actual accident and fire, and a close examination of the US Navy consensus of root cause. In addition, the presentation ends with a discussion of significant USN safety improvements implemented throughout the fleet as a result of the accident investigation.
I humbly dedicate this presentation with great reverence to the family and friends of the 134 courageous Sailors killed and 167 severely wounded on July 29, 1967. The bravery and heroism of the surviving sailors who risk their lives to save the ship from burning and capsizing cannot possibly be overstated.
Bio:
Dr. Brian M. Kent is an independent Aerospace consultant living in Centerville, Ohio, In addition to a long engineering career; he has had lifelong personal interests in US Naval Aviation Carrier history, and has read hundreds of books about carrier operations from the 1st Carrier Langley through modern carrier design.
Dr. Kent continues to serve as Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering with Michigan State University’s Department of Electrical Engineering. He is a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering and an international IEEE Distinguished Lecturer for the Antenna and Propagation Society. He is also a Fellow of the Antenna Measurement Techniques Association and of the Air Force Research Laboratory. He also was a recipient of the 2009 Meritorious Presidential Rank Award. He is also a current member of the DAF Scientific Advisory Board.
Previously, Dr. Brian M. Kent, was a member of the scientific and professional cadre of senior executives as the Chief Technology Officer, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He served as AFRL’s principle scientific/technical advisor and primary authority for the technical content of the Science and Technology Portfolio. As an internationally recognized scientific expert, he provided authoritarian counsel and advice to AFRL management and the professional staff as well as to other government organizations. He also collaborated on numerous interdisciplinary research problems that encompass multiple AFRL directorates, customers from other DOD components, as well as the manned space program managed by NASA. He was also a member of the technical staff supporting the NASA Space Shuttle Columbia Accident Investigation.
His technical specialties include EM Scattering & material property measurements, Radar, Antenna, and Radar Cross Section Measurements, Radar Performance Evaluation, and RF/EO Sensing technologies.
Dr. Kent also worked for Applied Research Associates as Senior Scientist and S&T Lead for Electro-magnetics (EM), Radio Frequency (RF), and Sensing Systems.