Dr. Madhumita Chakravarti of CMSDS DRDO

This keynote address by Dr. Madhumita Chakrabarti will focu on the role of women researchers and academicians in micowave, antenna and electromagnetics.

Biography:

Madhumita Chakravarti completed her B Tech and M Tech degree from Instt. Radio Physics 
and Electronics, Calcutta University. She worked in the field of programmable and re
configurable Airborne RF Sensors for various Air defence and Area Defence  Missile programs 
of DRDO.  She has developed multi-function RF Chips for indigenous development of sensors. 
The system designed by her has been inducted to Indian Air Force and Indian Army.  She 
served as the Director of Centre for Millimeterwave Semiconductor Devices and Systems 
(CMSDS), a DRDO lab in Kolkata, where high-power mmW semiconductor source could be 
fabricated recently for the first time in India. 
She is recipient of Path Breaking Technology Award of DRDO in 2010 and in 2017. She 
received felicitation from State of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for developing MSMEs in 
2015. She has received INAE Woman Engineer of the Year Award 2021 and WAMS women 
professional excellence award 2022. 
Apart from this, she has served as secretary for IEEE Hyderabad Section in 2015-16. She is 
founder Chair of IEEE MTT/AP/EMC Chapter, ad-com member of MTT-s in 2009, founder 
member of WIE affinity group and founder Chair of AESS Chapter in IEEE Hyderabad 
Section. 

Email:

Address:Former Director, CMSDS, DRDO, Kolkata, India

Prof. Kavitha Arunachalam of IIT Madras

In atmospheric remote sensing, EM radiation emitted by the earth over 20 to 200 GHz is used for extracting data on humidity, rainfall and temperature. Detection and processing of these EM emissions is done with the help of air-borne radiometers. Radiometers are equipped with Frequency Selective Surfaces (FSS) for diplexing the incoming EM radiation and filtering the desired frequency spectrum. The challenges on FSS design for remote sensing radiometers are the large number of frequency windows, wide frequency separation ratio between the windows, and varying operating bandwidth. Furthermore, due to the passive measurement of atmospheric parameters, FSS designs that are insensitive to angle of incidence and polarization of the incoming EM radiation with low transmission loss are desired. In this talk, I will present our work on design and realization of wide band FSS spanning 20 to 200 GHz developed for quasi-optical network in air-borne radiometers.

Biography:

Kavitha Arunachalam received her B.E. degree in Electronics and Communication (1994-98) from College of Engineering Guindy, Chennai and Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering (2002-07) from Michigan State University, USA. Her doctoral research was on active microwave tomography and its application in medicine. Upon completing PhD, she gained further research experience as a postdoctoral fellow at Duke University Medical Centre (2007-10) before she began her academic career at IIT Madras in 2010. Her research focus is on antennas, metamaterials, EM material characterization, bio-electromagnetism topics on hyperthermia physics and medical microwave radiometry, and EM sensors for nondestructive testing. She has successfully completed several research projects sponsored by DST, SERB, ISRO, DRDO, BRNS, IGCAR, CPRI and DAE, and has active research collaborations with industries. She has indigenously developed microwave phased array applicators and algorithms for electronically steered targeted power deposition in tissues for treatment of locally advanced cancers. She mentored AVRITTI, a startup company incubated at IITM research park developing ground penetrating RADAR for inspecting civic utilities. She has more than 150 publications in reputed international journals and holds several patents in the field of microwave engineering. She is a co-recipient of the prestigious DRDO Academy Excellence Award in 2015 as an Associate of the Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, IIT Madras. She received the Annual Award from the Society for Cancer Research and Communication, Mumbai in 2024 for her contributions in the field of microwave hyperthermia device development for treatment of cancer. She is an active reviewer for IEEE journals and serves as technical expert committee member on SERB programs. She enjoys teaching and innovating with her students in the laboratory.

Email:

Address:, Department of Engineering Design , IIT Madras , Chennai, India, 600036

Dr. Gaurangi Gupta of JPL NASA

The talk discusses the innovative antennas being developed for various telecom, radar and radio telescope applications. All metal circularly polarized patch excited cup antenna arrays being developed for direct to Earth communication from the potential Europa Lander and for Lunar missions These antennas project the capability to survive high power levels, cryogenic temperature and high radiation on the Europa and Lunar surface. All metal meta-surface antennas have been designed for Ku band ice sounding radar and W-band radiometer. These antennas form an integral part of the development for future space missions. High gain Ka-band reflector antennas with feed clusters are being developed for the INCUS Earth Science Mission Radar. Based on the overlap and gain requirements, unique feed and waveguide routing has been developed using additive manufacturing, which will also be discussed as part of the talk.

Biography:

Dr. Gaurangi Gupta is currently an RF Microwave Engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (California Institute of Technology, USA. She is currently working on the antenna development for radio telescope, radar systems and satellite communication applications. She completed her Masters and PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India in 2014 and 2020 respectively. During her PhD, she worked on the design and development of low profile antennas with meta surface reflectors. She worked as a research associate at IIT Kanpur during 2020-2021 where she worked on phased array antennas for satellite on the move application under an industry collaborated project. Under the Indo US Fellowship during 2018 2019 she worked as a visiting scholar at the Remote Sensing Center, University of Alabama, where she contributed to the ongoing radar development. She has published multiple papers in journals and conferences. She is a recipient of the URSI Young Scientist Award, multiple best paper awards and travel grants in IEEE conferences.

Email:

Address:NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory , California Institute of Technology, California, United States

Shruti Sinha of SAC ISRO

Frequency Generators are crucial elements in both the transmitter and the receiver of a radar system, and their properties determine the overall performance of the radar system. The speaker shall begin with a discussion on the basic building blocks of a radar meant for space applications, with a focus on frequency generation. The technology choices in the design of frequency generation circuits shall then be discussed. She shall then elucidate the concepts involved through a discussion on the realization of a Space based Frequency Generation Sub-system, as a case study.

Biography:

Shruti Sinha is the Head of Microwave Sensors Frequency Sources Division at Space Applications Centre of ISRO, at Ahmedabad.

She obtained her B.E degree in Electronics and Communication, in 2004, from Mody College of Engineering and Technology and completed her M.Tech. in Microwave Engineering from Nirma University in 2018. She joined Space Applications Centre, ISRO as a scientist, in 2005 and since then she has extensively worked in the design and development of RF circuits and subsystems for various microwave remote sensing payloads of ISRO.

For her contributions to India’s space programme, she was awarded the ISRO Team Excellence Award in 2009, IETE “Smt. Ranjana Pal Memorial Award” in 2013 and ISRO Young Scientist award in 2014. She has authored several technical papers and has a patent to her credit. Shruti has an excerpt written on her in Minnie Vaids book titled “Those magnificent women and their flying machines”.

Email:

Address:Space Applications Centre , Indian Space Research Organization , Ahmedabad, India

Dr. Prutha P. Kulkarni of VIIT Pune

The talk will focus on the intricate challenges of minimizing unwanted emissions in modern communication systems. The session will delve into the complexities of mitigating electromagnetic interference, exploring the latest strategies and technologies used to enhance signal integrity and reduce spurious emissions. We'll examine the impact of regulatory standards, the role of advanced materials and design techniques, and the innovative approaches being developed to address these critical issues. Designed for experienced engineers and researchers, this talk will provide deep insights into the cutting-edge solutions that are essential for optimizing performance and compliance in high-frequency communication environments. 

Biography:

As an accomplished Assistant Professor at Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology in Pune, I 
specialize in Antenna Miniaturization and have over ten years of research experience in the field of 
Antennas and Metamaterials for Wireless Applications. My current research work is mainly focused on 
Metamaterial inspired antenna designs, miniaturized antennas for GPS, CubeSat, IoT and SATCOM 
applications. I have four patents, and have authored more than ten papers in journals and 
international/national conferences. Additionally, am an active reviewer in prestigious journals and 
conferences. Being a proud member of IEEE AP-S and MTT-S society, I currently serve as the Vice-Chair 
of the IEEE APS/MTT/EMC Joint Chapter, Pune Section. My dedication to research and exceptional 
learning experimenting teaching abilities make me a valuable asset to any academic/industrial 
organization. 

Email:

Address:Department of Electronics & Telecommunication , Vishwakarma Institute of Infromation Technology , Pune, India

Joita Mukherjee of RCI DRDO

In the last decade, the state of the art airborne high speed radomes across the world have been  ceramic radomes. It is an amalgamation of different technologies such material science, electromagnetic design, ceramic machining and chemicals as paints and glues. Seeker, an essential subsystem in terminal guidance of missiles to achieve high accuracy is mounted at the nosecone and is protected by a streamlined radome.  These radomes are designed to withstand very hostile conditions and yet be transparent to the electronics placed behind them. Radomes protect seekers from environment during flight because of high wind speeds, dust, rain, clouds etc. and offer minimum obstruction to electromagnetic propagation. Such contradictory requirements of being both EM transparent while having enough mechanical strength pose a challenge not only in the EM design but also in its fabrication and machining process. The design of the radome takes into account the speed, temperature, frequency bandwidth etc. of the application area which inturn determines the material and finishing of the radome. Qualification of the radome to make it flight worthy also adds to the challenges to this multi-discipline radome design and development domain.

Biography:

Completed B.Tech and M.Tech from Institute of Radio Physics & Electronics, Calcutta University in 1994 and 1997 respectively. Joined Research Centre Imarat, DRDO in 1998. Worked in many areas including design & development of on-board antenna systems from Ku-band to W-band. Developed several programs for simulation and data processing of microwave components such as couplers, comparators, antenna feed system etc. Carried out prediction studies of Radar Cross Section through Simulation and determined the hot spots. Was instrumental in the Design and development of High Temperature Ceramic Radome (~ 1400deg. C) for the first time in India. Set up an Indigenous Radome development Centre unifying all the radome technologies under a single roof. Received Laboratory Scientist of the year Award for 2021 and a Certified Project Manager IPMA Level C.

Email:

Address:Sc 'G', RCI DRDO, Hyderabad, India, 500069