Abstract: Microwave medical technologies have promising potential for applications spanning health monitoring, detection and diagnosis of disease, and even treatment. These technologies are low-cost, non-/minimally-invasive, non-ionizing, safe and well-tolerated, and can be made wearable or portable. In this talk, the motivation and basic foundations of microwave techniques are discussed, followed by the challenges of designing high quality basic research to support such medical device development. Key factors influencing the design and development of next generation microwave medical devices will be discussed. In particular, the difficulties faced when measuring and reporting the dielectric properties of biological tissues are emphasised, focusing on the importance of achieving accurate and representative measurements. Promising microwave-based medical technologies designed to address high-priority clinical needs will be highlighted. Lastly, proposed future activities in this area will be discussed. About the Speaker: Dr. Emily Porter is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, where she is associated with both the bioECE and Electromagnetics & Acoustics research areas. Dr. Porter was granted her Ph.D. in 2015 from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. She also has an M.Eng. and a B.Eng. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, completed in 2008 and 2010, respectively. More recently, Dr. Porter was an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow and then an EU Marie-Curie Research Fellow with the Translational Medical Device Laboratory at National University of Ireland Galway, from 2015-2019. In 2021, she was awared the IEEE Lot Shafai Mid-Career Distinguished Achievement Award for her contributions to microwave medical technologies, standardizing the methodology for measuring the dielectric properties of biological tissues, and advocating for women in engineering. Her research interests lie in applied electromagnetics, and particularly aimed at developing electromagnetic (EM)-based solutions with applications in diagnostic, therapeutic, supportive or assistive medical technologies.

Abstract: Conformal Integration of antennas with solar panels has wide applications, from small spacecraft, Mars rovers, to self-powered wireless sensors. It is particularly beneficial when the surface real estate is a major challenge, such as a CubeSat. A strategic integration not only reduces the development cost, promotes a robust communication link, but also increases the mission capacity by allowing more science instruments to be mounted on the CubeSat. This lecture covers different conformal antenna designs for solar panel integration, from UHF to Ka band. It includes antennas integrated under solar cells, around solar cells, and optically transparent antennas integrated on top of solar cells. It also covers low gain and high gain design. The high gain design mainly focuses on reflectarray antenna, which may be beneficial to those who wishes to study the subject. As these antennas are integrated with solar panel, a unique and complex subsystem, effects of solar cells on the antenna and vice versa need to be analyzed and quantified. The lecture presents analysis of a typical space-certified solar cell, extracted model, experimental set-up to quantify the interaction between solar cells and the integrated antennas.   About the Speaker: Dr. Reyhan Baktur is an associate professor at the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Utah State University (USU). Her research interests include antennas and microwave engineering with a focus on antenna design for CubeSats; optically transparent antennas; multifunctional integrated antennas, sensors, and microwave circuits. She is affiliated with the Center for Space Engineering at USU, the Space Dynamics Laboratory (the university affiliated research center), and collaborates with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Dr. Baktur is an AdCom member of IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, and is active in US National Committee of the International Union of Radio Science, serving as the vice chair for commission B, and the inaugural chair for the Women in Radio Science. She is passionate and committed to electromagnetic education and student recruiting by introducing CubeSat projects in undergraduate classrooms. She is the recipient of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society’s (APS) the Donald G. Dudley Jr. Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2013 and has been actively serving IEEE APS student paper competition and student design contest. Dr. Baktur’s lectures will focus on CubeSat Development Basics, Link Budget Analysis and Development, Antenna Designs for CubeSats and Small Satellites, Transparent Antennas, and Class Projects for Electromagnetic Courses.

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.