Dr. Daniel Faircloth of Nullspace Inc.

Abstract: Modern antenna and phased array design depends on full-wave electromagnetic simulation, yet the problems engineers want to solve, such as large arrays, platform-mounted antennas, and radar cross section prediction, quickly outgrow conventional methods. This talk traces the path from Maxwell's equations to practical, large-scale solvers. We begin with the Method of Moments and surface integral equations, showing how an antenna problem becomes a dense linear system and why its cost grows so quickly with electrical size. We then survey the techniques that make large problems tractable, including the multilevel fast multipole algorithm, hierarchical matrix compression, and GPU acceleration. Along the way, we look at how fast, accurate simulation enables automated design optimization, with examples drawn from antennas, phased arrays, and signature analysis. The talk closes with lessons learned from moving these methods out of the research lab and into commercial engineering practice, and with thoughts on where computational electromagnetics is headed. No prior background in numerical methods is assumed.

Biography:

Bio: Dr. Daniel L. Faircloth is the founder and Chief Technology Officer of Nullspace, Inc., a computational electromagnetics software company, and co-founder and CTO of IERUS Technologies, a Huntsville-based defense research and development firm. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical
Engineering from Auburn University, where his research focused on computational electromagnetic methods for the autonomous design and
optimization of RF devices. Over his career he has overseen more than 100 US. Government research and development contracts in
electromagnetic and multiphysics simulation, multiband antennas and phased arrays, machine learning, and signal processing. His hardware
experience includes radar, phased arrays, and RF front-end design.

Address:Huntsville, Alabama, United States