The Department of Electrical Engineering (EE) and the Center for Applied Electromagnetic Systems Research (CAESR) at The University of Mississippi (UM) seeks support from the National Science Foundation to acquire near-field antenna range instrumentation which will be dedicated to support ongoing research on antennas and scatterers in the commonly known technology areas of RF, wireless, microwave, millimeter wave, infrared, and optics. The equipment will be used to pursue studies of new, innovative antennas and scatterers, and large planar phased array antennas for research projects, including studies of dielectric resonator antennas, printed antennas, cylindrical wire antenna scatterers in multi-layered media, radar/sensor antennas, spatial power combiners, and meander and spiral antennas for wireless communication. This instrumentation is needed because EE and CAESR do not currently have capability for large aperture antenna measurements.
UM EE programs supporting this research have grown to an enrollment of about 100 undergraduate students and over 45 graduate students with a faculty having 11 tenure track, instruction/research positions. The department research areas are in electromagnetic applications and telecommunications. Seven faculty members are in the area of electromagnetics and their research will benefit from these facilities. In addition, two professors emeritus of electrical engineering who are very active in research and RF measurements will be using this instrumentation.
Intellectual Merit: The research objectives are 1) to continue investigation of developing new DR antennas with wideband performance and to study the performance of these radiators in large antenna array environments and 2) to investigate technological advances in providing basic, state-of-the-art building blocks for advanced phased array radar systems.
Currently, design and construction of new and innovative large aperture antennas are in progress, and full-scale testing is needed for design validation. This instrumentation will contribute significantly to the quality of ongoing research and will add new research capability and greatly enhance research-relate education, because UM does not have facilities for testing and measurement of large aperture and phased array antennas.
Broader Impact: This equipment will have significant impact on our research and the development of highly efficient antenna arrays such as dielectric resonator antennas. Also, this equipment will help the engagement of the University with the industry in the area and help in the economical development of the area. As widely noted by the industry, a shortage of RF, wireless, and microwave engineers has been evident in the past few years, and this growing problem must be addressed in order to maintain the leadership of the United States in the rapidly growing and demanding information and communication intense areas in the 21st century. The instrumentation supported by this proposed grant will provide the latest technology for instruction in antenna design and testing to facilitate technology research and education. The graduates of our program will be able to use new methods of antenna design and be able to build and test large array, state-of-the-art antenna components needed for RF, wireless, microwave, and millimeter-wave systems of the future based on experiences with this new instrumentation as well as existing facilities.
