AP/MTT Distinguished Instructor Workshop
The Distinguished Instructors Workshop (DIW) is a collaborative initiative jointly supported by the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) and the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT-S). The program aims to inspire undergraduate and tertiary students by bridging the gap between academic studies and the development of next-generation wireless communication technologies. World-renowned educators and engineers will offer insights into the history of microwave and antenna technologies, the evolution of modern wireless systems, and the cutting-edge wireless applications shaping the future. Instructors will also share their personal growth journeys, offering a unique perspective on their careers.
The Distinguished Instructors will take participants on an engaging journey through the history of wireless technology, from traditional applications like radio, TV, and early mobile phones, to today’s advanced portable devices and wearable/implantable wireless sensors. Participants will explore the remarkable contributions of microwave and antenna technologies to human progress, gaining access to world-class educational resources and cutting-edge insights. Through direct interaction with the Instructors, students will experience the transformative power of technologies such as 5G/6G wireless communications, virtual reality, telepresence, and automotive radar in unmanned vehicles.
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Speakers
Dr. Xun Gong
Microwave Engineering: An Exciting Journey from Fields and Circuits to Components and Systems
Biography:
Prof. Xun Gong received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from FuDan University, Shanghai, P.R. China, in 1997 and 2000, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 2005. He is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) and Director of the Antenna, RF, and Microwave Integrated Systems (ARMI) Laboratory.
Dr. Gong has served on the Editorial Boards of TMTT, TAP, MWCL, and AWPL. He was the associate editor of TMTT in 2018 - 2019 and of MWCL from 2013 to 2018. He is the General Chair for the 2016 and 2025 iWAT, the 2024 IMFW, and the 2012 WAMICON.
He is an elected AdCom member of IEEE MTT-S (2021-2026) and serves as chair of the Education Committee (2023-2024) and Electronic Information Committee (2025 - 2026). He was the MTT-TC-5 Chair (2021 - 2022) and Vice-Chair (2019-2020).
Address:United States
Dr. Costas Sarris
The Transformative Impact of Machine Learning Enabled Computational Electromagnetics on the Future of Wireless
Biography:
Prof. Costas Sarris is a Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto. His research area is computational electromagnetics, with an emphasis on time domain modeling. He also works on physics-based wireless propagation models (with full-wave, asymptotic, and hybrid techniques), uncertainty quantification, and scientific machine learning.
Dr. Sarris is an IEEE Fellow and a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society for 2024-2026. He was a recipient of the 2021 Premium Award for Best Paper in IET Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation, and the IEEE MTT-S Outstanding Young Engineer Award in 2013. He was the TPC Chair of the 2015 IEEE AP-S International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and the CNC/USNC Joint Meeting, the 2019 and 2023 MTT-S Numerical Electromagnetics, Multiphysics and Optimization (NEMO) Conference, the TPC Vice-Chair of the 2012 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium, and the Chair of the MTT-S Technical Committee on Field Theory and Numerical Electromagnetics (2018–2020). In 2019 - 2024, he was the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE JOURNAL ON MULTISCALE AND MULTIPHYSICS COMPUTATIONAL TECHNIQUES.
Address:United States
Dr. Zoya Popovic
The Magic of Radio
Biography:
Prof. Zoya Popovic is a Distinguished Professor and the Lockheed Martin Endowed Chair in Electrical Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She obtained her Dipl. Ing. degree at the University of Belgrade, Serbia, and her Ph.D. at Caltech. She was a Visiting Professor at the Technical University of Munich, ISAE in Toulouse, France and a Chair of Excellence at Carlos III University in Madrid. She has graduated over 70 PhDs and currently advises 18 doctoral students. Her research interests are in microwave and millimeter-wave high-performance circuits for communications and radar, medical applications of microwaves, quantum sensing and metrology, and wireless powering.
She is a Fellow of the IEEE, IEEE MTT Distinguished Educator and the recipient of two IEEE MTT Microwave Prizes for best journal papers. She was named the White House NSF Presidential Faculty Fellow and was the first woman to receive the URSI Issac Koga Gold Medal. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and a Member of the National Academy of Engineering