List of Major Equipment:

- Agilent 8361C PNA 10MHz - 67 GHz with Electronic Cal Kit
- Reconfigurable Antennas Measurement Platform (in-house made)
- 86100B Infiniium DCA Wide-Bandwidth Oscilloscope (up to 18 GHz)
- Compact Antenna Test Range (700MHz - 94 GHz)
- HP 8510C Vector Network Analyzer (45MHz - 50GHz)
- Diamond Engineering DAMS 7000 antenna positioner (DC - 40GHz)
- Signatone S-1160 Probe Station with SMZ-168 Microscope & Camera
- Cascade Microtech RF and DC micropositioners and RF probes
- 1 Workstation multi-processor PC and 6 PCs with E/M Software:
- IE3D (Zeland) v.14.1
- CST Microwave Studio
- Agilent ADS
- Clean Room Equipment: Tousimis CO2 Critical Point Dryer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Current Research Projects (For project outcomes please see publications and press releases. For more info and press releases please contact me in person or by email):

  1. MIMO Antennas for Mobile Devices
    This project studies an innovative for MIMO antennas for mobile and cellular phone devices with strong market potential.

  2. Phase-Change Materials for Reconfigurable RF Front-Ends
    Phase-Change materials can alter their dielectric permittivity and their electric conductivity. This unique capability enables reconfigurable, tunable and programmable ntennas and RF front-ends with unexplored capabilities. The goal of this research is to explore these capabilities and to find what types of antennas and other components can take advantage of these unique properties of phase-change materials, and how.

  3. Autonomous and Reconfigurable Antenna Arrays
    Autonomous and reconfigurable antenna arrays have the capabilities to tune their response for different environments and under different circumstances, such as involuntary flexing, abrupt temperature changes, etc. Moreover, they can achieve this at different frequencies, or with different polarizations, or both. Furthermore, this can be achieved without any human intervention. In this work, apart from studying flexible arrays, a flexible, reconfigurable and autonomous array that self-corrects its radiation pattern when flexed, is developed. This work will help us understand better the behavior of antenna arrays in different environments.

  4. Visible and Invisible QR Code Antennas
    QR code antennas and other barcode antennas are being combined with RFID capabilities to program their 'authenticity' message for counterfeiting. This device can add more functionalities to traditional RFID devices, or even replace RFIDs with dual-purpose QR-IDs that convey both a visual and an RF code or message.


    5. Past Research Projects:

  5. SPHERES (RF Energy Harvesting)
    Monolithic Integration of Multifunctional, Self-Powered Energy-Harvesting RF Systems with Efficient Solar-Cells (SPHERES):
    We need energy. Our cities and buildings are full of RF transmitters spanning a wide frequency range from few MHz to GHz. Can we extract energy from these sources, and if yes, how much? Can we combine these RF harvesters with solar cells and other ambient sources of energy such as heat and vibrations, to supplement the energy capture and storage? Will that energy be adequate to charge a wireless device? Maybe enough to send an SOS text message along with the user's geo-location? Can we print an integrated system comprising of an RF harvester and a Solar cell altogether using laser or liquid inkjet technology? RF Harvesting and Solar Cells will be studied in this work.

  6. Reconfigurable Antennas and Antenna Arrays
    Design, fabrication and measurements of novel reconfigurable antenna structures with RF MEMS switches, pin diodes and varactors. The introduction of MEMS switches (micro-relays) extends previous work, for example, in reconfigurable fractal and electronically steerable antennas, by permitting physical connection/disconnection of sections of the antenna conductive structure relative to each other and relative to other electromagnetic tuning structures. This agility offers enabling benefits for modern radar and telecommunication systems by permitting deliberate alterations in antenna performance to accommodate changes in mission, environment; tolerance to defects and faults; and enabling new algorithmic approaches that extend complementary techniques such as software radio and direct digital synthesis.

  7. Flexible Antennas using Direct Write and Inkjet Technology on Lightweight and Engineered Substrates
    Direct Write is an additive, low-cost and very fast fabrication technology, ideal for research and prototype evaluation. It has been applied succesfully in RFID and low frequency antenna applications. Its feature size of ~50um allows innovative and complex designs to be fabricated accurately. Flexibility and conformability add to the agility of the prototypes and can minimize the volume occupied by foldable electronic devices. Lightweight and engineered dielectrics are used to minimize weight and enhance electromagnetic performance. In this project we apply existing technology in direct write printing to flexible antennas from 3-40GHz. [Funded by NSF]

  8. Neural Network Algorithms for Adaptive Antenna Systems Neural Networks along with Genetic Algorithms and Support Vector Machines can give fast and accurate solutions in array fault detection and correction. Neural Networks can be used in conjunction with reconfigurable array antennas to control parameters such as polarization, bandwidth, and beam steering, and adaptively adjust them according to changes in the environment. The system has zero human interaction and ideally can be generalized to support unexplored environmental conditions.

  9. Design and Development of an On-Wafer Reconfigurable Antenna Measurement System
    High frequency reconfigurable antennas are extremely hard to be measured in conventional anechoic chambers. Probe stations can be used to measure the needed radiation patterns due to the stability they offer, preventing probe tips from vibrations and damages. A unique system is being developed that will allow reconfigurable pattern measurements at HWU.