Abstract:

The presentation will describe how the concept of electromagnetically soft and hard surfaces and later metamaterial horns (metahorns) came about. The talk will also discuss practical antenna solutions enabled by these EM techniques, as well as future opportunities and challenges in antenna and RF designs.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Erik Lier received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. He started working as a university scientific assistant and later as a research scientist at the Electronics Laboratory (ELAB/SINTEF) at the university, carrying out national and international research on microwave antennas and feed components for the European Space Agency (ESA), INTELSAT, INMARSAT and other satellite organizations and radar companies. He spent a year at UCLA as a visiting scholar studying phased array antenna technology. He co-invented the concept of “Soft and Hard electromagnetic surfaces” which is related to the field of electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structures and complex surfaces. Since 1990 he has been with Lockheed Martin Space, where he has been involved in developing new spacecraft antenna and payload technology. He was instrumental in building up shaped reflector capability in the company which resulted in winning the Asiasat-2 satellite program. He has been involved in the development and modernization of the GPS satellite payload for over more than 20 years. His main research interest and contribution has been in the field of phased array antennas, including design, analysis, system engineering, calibration and test. He was the phased array architect for two phased arrays launched into space. He headed up the internal metamaterials research collaboration effort within the company, which has included university collaboration and has led to several groundbreaking and practical metamaterial-enhanced antennas for space and ground applications. He is granted 37 US patents, has authored and co-authored over 140 journal and conference papers, including two papers in the journal Nature, co-authored one book and authored a book chapter. He received the 2014 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Harold A. Wheeler Applications Prize Paper Award. He is a Lockheed Martin Senior Technical Fellow, a Life Fellow of IEEE and a Fellow of IET.