Electromagnetics RF Microwave Antennas Metamaterials Metasurfaces Periodic Structures
Ashwin K. Iyer received a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 2009. He joined the faculty of the University of Alberta Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the fall of same year and now, as an Associate Professor, he leads a growing team of talented students. His research is focused on the development and characterization of engineered electromagnetic materials, also known as metamaterials, that exhibit exotic properties such as a negative refractive index. He has authored four book chapters and several papers, and he has given over thirty invited talks, workshops, and seminars on the subject of his research. Dr. Iyer has received a number awards and recognitions, including the 2008 R.W.P. King Award, presented by the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society to an author less than 36 years of age for the best paper published in the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation during the previous year. He was as an associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation between 2012 and 2018 and now serves as a Track Editor. He was also Guest Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation Special Issue on Recent Advances in Metamaterials and Metasurfaces. He serves as co-chair of the IEEE Northern Canada Section (NCS) Joint AP-S/MTT-S Chapter, and is a member of the IEEE AP-S Education Committee. Dr. Iyer is a registered member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA).
Our research group seeks to develop new directions in classical areas of electromagnetics and RF/microwave engineering, but is centered around the study of 'metamaterial' technologies. Metamaterials are artificial materials designed to possess exotic electromagnetic properties not available in nature, such as a negative refractive index. Their unusual properties can be leveraged to improve the performance of several devices and, sometimes, yield entirely new phenomena. Metamaterials represent an explosive emerging research area that has attracted significant attention in recent years for groundbreaking innovations. Our research group is investigating the ways in which we can control electromagnetic fields using such metamaterials, as well as their applications to practical devices and components for biomedicine, defense, and telecommunications. Some examples of our group's most recent contributions are listed below.
RF/microwave circuits and transmission-line techniques
Fundamental electromagnetic theory
Novel concepts in antenna theory and design
Metamaterial/metasurface devices and their applications
Introduction to RF/microwave circuits and their applications. Maxwell's Equations and basic wave-propagation concepts. Transmission-line theory and impedance-matching techniques. Practical planar transmission lines. Lumped and distributed microwave-circuit elements. Microwave network analysis using impedance/admittance parameters, scattering parameters, and transmission-matrix methods. Analysis, design, fabrication, and test of practical RF/microwave devices including power dividers/combiners, couplers, amplifiers, and filters. Prerequisites: ECE 370 or E E 315 or PHYS 381. Credit may be obtained in only one of ECE 478 or E E 478.
Fall Term 2020Mechanisms of radiation and propagation, fundamental Antenna parameters, antenna array analysis and synthesis, source modeling, traditional and low-profile resonant antennas, broadband antennas, aperture and horn antennas, antenna-measurement facilities and techniques, special topics addressing recent developments in antenna theory and design. Prerequisites: E E 315 or equivalent, and E E 470 and/or E E 478 or equivalent considered an asset.
Winter Term 2021