Teaching

EECS 230 – Electromagnetics I

Course Objective:

To provide an introduction to transmission-line analysis, electrostatics, magnetostatics, and time-varying fields.

Course Description:

The course covers the following topics: waves and phasors, transmission lines, vector calculus, electrostatics, magnetostatics, time-varying fields (Faraday’s law and displacement current). There are 6 laboratories which cover a range of topics. Laboratories 1-3 cover transmission lines, the Smith Chart and magnetically coupled circuits. In laboratories 4-6, students develop a wireless power system

ECS 430 – Radiowave Propagation and Link Design

Course Objectives:

1. To develop a theoretical and practical understanding of wireless radiowave propagation, antennas, system noise, and the hardware realizations used in applications such as telecommunications, remote sensing, and satellite communications.
2. To acquire practical experience in wireless radiowave link design and to develop professional skills in team dynamics, project management, and product development.

Course Description:

The lecture topics include: fundamentals of electromagnetic propagation and radiation; radiowave propagation in different environments (near earth, troposphere, ionosphere, indoor and urban); antenna parameters; practical antennas; link budget analysis; system noise; fading and multipath interference. Practical wireless systems such as point-to-point microwave links, mobile, satellite, radiometer and radar systems are also covered. The course includes lectures, labs and a major design project in which student teams develop and implement practical wireless systems.

EECS 435 – Fourier Optics

I revived this course after it was not taught for 16 years in the department. The course is important to electromagnetics, optics and imaging processing students.

Course Objective:

In this course, linear systems theory is applied to optics. The course draws parallels between optics and communication systems. Communication systems are of a temporal nature (amplitude and phase vs. time) while imaging systems are of spatial nature (amplitude/intensity and phase vs. space), but analogies can be readily made between the two.

Course Description:

The course covers: Basic physical optics treated from the viewpoint of Fourier analysis; Fourier-transform relations in optical systems; theory of image formation and Fourier transformation by lenses; frequency response of diffraction-limited and aberrated imaging systems; coherent and incoherent light; resolution limitations; optical information processing and holography.

EECS 531 – Antenna Theory and Design

Course Objective:

To provide an introduction to the fundamental principles of antennas and electromagnetic propagation.

Course Description:

This graduate antenna course covers: fundamental antenna parameters, plane waves and polarization, radiation from elementary sources, the radiation integral, reciprocity and reaction theorems and duality, Friis equation, linear wire antennas and image theory, loop antennas, antenna array analysis and synthesis, self impedance, mutual impedance, the induced EMF method, aperture antennas (equivalence principle, slot antennas, horn antennas, plane wave expansion), small antennas, broadband antennas (Yagi Uda array, traveling-wave antennas, spiral antennas), helix antennas, printed antennas (microstrip antennas, printed inverted F antennas).

Course Restructuring:

I constructed the lecture material from scratch. To design the course content, I selected material from the following five textbooks:

  1. Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design, 4th Edition, Constantine A. Balanis, John Wiley and Sons, 2016.
  2. Antennas for All Applications, 3rd edition, John D. Kraus and Ronald J. Marhefka, McGraw-Hill, 2001.
  3. Antenna Theory and Design, 3rd Edition, Warren L. Stutzman, Gary A. Thiele, John Wiley and Sons, 2013.
  4. Antennas and Radiowave Propagation, Robert E. Collin, McGraw-Hill, 1985.
  5. Electromagnetic Waves and Radiating Systems, 2nd Edition, Edward C. Jordan and Keith G. Balmain, Prentice-Hall, 1968.

EECS 598 – Electromagnetic Metamaterials

Course Objective:

The course presents an introduction to electromagnetic metamaterials. The field of metamaterials is an emerging area and there are limited resources available to students that wish to learn about this research area. Students are generally left to learn from research papers scattered throughout numerous journals, edited books by multiple authors, and a few single author books on the subject. This course is offered to expose students to this growing area of research.

Course Description:

The course covers engineered structures possessing tailored electromagnetic properties, or properties that are difficult or impossible to achieve using conventional materials. The course content includes classical microwave structures like periodically loaded transmission lines and waveguides, corrugated surfaces, wire arrays, as well as more recent structures such as high impedance surfaces and metasurfaces, electromagnetic bandgap structures, negative refractive index and artificial magnetic media. Optical structures including photonic bandgap materials and metal-dielectric plasmonic media are also covered. The course allows students to develop an intuitive understanding of the electromagnetic response of various structures through exact and approximate methods. Periodic analysis, effective medium theories, and distributed circuit concepts are utilized to gain understanding.