Prof. Mahmoud Wagih

The electronics industry produces non-negligible emissions and e-waste, and is a major consumer of critical raw materials (CRMs),which could hinder its growth to deliver our digital aspirations. I will introduce a life cycle assessment (LCA)-driven approach to electronics design, showing how to quantify the true environmental footprint as well as methods to design electronics for environmental sustainability and supply chain resilience. Looking at the impact of semiconductor devices and specifically RFICs, methods for circularity through recycling and re-use will be introduced, identifying trade-offs in reliability, performance, and ease of recycling. Fully biodegradable RF package assemblies with high-performance transmission beyond 170 GHz will be showcased, along with their ability to enable a circular economy for RFICs, without the use of traditional bonding approaches. Finally, emerging applications in RF-based sensing will be introduced, showing how microwave electronics could reduce the complexity of sensing interfaces.

Biography:

Mahmoud Wagih is the Professor of Responsible and RF Electronics at the University of Glasgow. He leads the UK Electronic and Electromagnetic Materials Network, and has been PI or Co-I on £19M projects, with 150 papers and 6 patents across RF sensing, power transfer, and novel materials and devices. He is also the founder of RX Watt, a wireless power chip startup, and an IEEE Distinguished Microwave Lecturer on sustainable microwave technologies.

Address:United States

Prof. Satish Sharma

There is a great demand for high data throughput, innovative beam steering antenna solutions for wireless and satellite communication applications. Over the last decade, beam steering antennas have advanced significantly, driven largely by mature silicon beamforming chipsets, multilayer printed circuit boards, and 3D printing technologies. This talk focuses on emerging flat panel phased array antennas used in wireless and satellite communications. The presentation will delve into electronic beam steering through beamforming networks and commercially available beamforming integrated circuit (BFIC) chips. The presentation will showcase examples of X-/Ku-/Ka-band flat panel phased array antennas featuring dual linear, dual circular, and polarization-reconfigurable designs. These discussions will explore the challenges and roles of silicon BFICs, multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication, RF component assembly, beamforming algorithms, and 3D dielectric and metal printing in antenna array design. The talk will emphasize the importance of data throughput testing of Ka-band flat panel phased array antennas in a laboratory environment and over-the-air (OTA) testing across a 1 km link between two San Diego State University buildings. It will also cover data throughput testing of a dual circular polarized Ka-band flat panel phased array on a payload over a 100,000 ft Aerostar balloon. The speaker will conclude with insights on the future evolution of beam steering technology.

Biography:

Dr. Satish Kumar Sharma, IEEE Fellow, received his Ph. D. degree in Electronics Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), India, in August 1997. He received his Bachelor of Technology in Electronics Engineering from Kamla Nehru Institute of Technology, India, in 1991. He was a Post- Doctoral Fellow at the University of Manitoba, Canada, from March 1999 to May 2001. He joined InfoMagnetics Technologies (IMT) Corporation, Winnipeg, Canada, as a Senior Antenna Engineer from May 2001 to August 2006. While at IMT, he also served as a Part-Time Research Associate at the University of Manitoba until August 2006. Dr. Sharma joined San Diego State University (SDSU) as an Assistant Professor in August 2006. He established the Antenna and Microwave Laboratory (AML) shortly after joining SDSU and has served as its Director since then. He became a tenured Associate Professor in August 2010. He was promoted to full Professor in August 2014 and currently holds this position. He received the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s prestigious faculty early career development (CAREER) award in 2009. He also received the 2015 IEEE AP-S Harold A. Wheeler Prize Paper Award. He was Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Antennas & Propagation and IEEE Antennas, Wireless & Propagation Letters. He is an IEEE AP-S Distinguished Lecturer (2025-2027), IEEE AP-S AdCom member (2025-2027), and the 2025/2026 inaugural Chair of the Technical Committee on Security (TC9): Security, Defense, Disaster Management. His research lab analyzes, designs, develops, and verifies antennas from VHF to millimeter-wave (110 GHz) frequencies. He has advised and mentored more than 110 undergraduate/graduate students and Post-Doctoral Fellows/visiting research scholars. Dr. Sharma has published over 350 journal and conference papers and holds four US and Canadian patents. He co-edited three volumes of “Handbook of Reflector Antennas and Feed Systems”, published by Artech House in May/June 2013. His other co-authored book, “Multifunctional Antennas and Arrays for Wireless Communication Systems”, was published by IEEE-Press/Wiley in April 2021. He has collaborated with industry professionals on SBIR/STTR Phase I and II projects funded by DARPA, SPAWAR, Missile Defense Agency, and the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), in addition to projects from the NSF and Office of Naval Research (ONR). He has also served as an engineer/consultant for several wireless and defense companies. He is also the CEO/founder of 5GAntennaTech, LLC. His research interests include microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies, beam-steering antennas, flat-panel phased-array antennas, reconfigurable and tunable antennas, 3D-printed antennas, inkjet-printed conformal antennas, massive MIMO antennas, antennas for CubeSats, reflector antennas and their feed systems, and metasurface antennas.