IEEE AP-S Awards 2025

Roberto D. Graglia received the Laurea degree (summa cum laude) in Electronic Engineering from the Politecnico di Torino, Italy, in 1979, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), USA, in 1983. From 1980 to 1981, he was a Research Engineer at CSELT (now Telecom Italia Lab S.p.A.) in Torino, and from 1981 to 1983, he served as a Teaching and Research Assistant at UIC.

He was a Lecturer at the Politecnico di Torino from 1984 to 1991, and a Researcher with the Italian National Research Council (CNR) from 1985 to 1992, where he led several international research projects. He was also an Associate Visiting Professor at UIC in 1991 and 1993. In 1992, he joined the Department of Electronics and Telecommunications at the Politecnico di Torino as an Associate Professor, where he has been a Full Professor of Electrical Engineering since 1999.

His current research interests include numerical methods in electromagnetics, theoretical and computational techniques for electromagnetic scattering and wave interactions with complex media, antennas, and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). Over the course of his career, Professor Graglia has led numerous national and international research projects and has over 35 years of distinguished service within the IEEE.

He served as President of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) in 2015. He has been a member of the Editorial Board of Electromagnetics (Taylor & Francis) since 1997, and was one of three Guest Editors of the first ever Special Issue of the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation dedicated to Advanced Numerical Techniques in Electromagnetics (March 1997).

During his AP-S presidency, he initiated the IEEE Journal on Multiscale and Multiphysics Computational Techniques, a publication focused on the computational methods he pioneered. Professor Graglia has served as Associate Editor for several key IEEE journals, including IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility, and IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.

He has been a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE AP-S since 2009, Chair of the AP-S Meetings Committee (2017–2020), and since 2025, Chair of the AP-S Strategic Planning Committee. He has served as General Chair of the International Conference on Electromagnetics in Advanced Applications (ICEAA) since 1999, and of the IEEE AP-S Topical Conference on Antennas and Propagation in Wireless Communications (IEEE-APWC) since 2011. He is a Life Fellow of IEEE, the recipient of the 2021 IEEE AP-S Harrington–Mittra Computational Electromagnetics Award and an elected member of the Accademia delle Scienze di Torino, founded by Giuseppe Luigi Lagrange in 1783.

Kwai Man Luk is the Senior Vice-President of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering and a Chair Professor of Electronic Engineering at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK). He received his Bachelor and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from The University of Hong Kong.

Since joining CityUHK in 1992, he served as Head of Department of Electrical Engineering and the Founding Director of the State Key Laboratory of Terahertz and Millimeter Waves.

His major interest is in conducting antenna research and education and is currently the Project Coordinator of an Area-of-Excellence Project entitled: “Advanced Antenna Technology for a Smart World” which is the most competitive and largest research grant supported by the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong. He supervised over 39 Ph.D. students and many postdoctoral fellows.

He authored the reference book entitled: “Magnetoelectric Dipole Antennas”, and co-authored the popular text book entitled: “Microstrip Patch Antenna” with Prof. Kai Fong Lee. He holds 27 patents, delivered over 100 invited talks, and published more than 420 journal papers. Together with his students, he received more than 30 paper awards.

He organized many international conferences and was the General Chair of the 2020 AsiaPacific Microwave Conference held in Hong Kong. He was an elected member of the IEEE APS Administrative Committee from 2021 to 2023. He was the Chair of the IEEE APS Distinguished Lecturer Program Committee, Field Award Committee and Best Paper Award Committee. He was a Chief Guest Editor for a special issue on “Antennas in Wireless Communications” published in the Proceedings of the IEEE in 2012, and for a special issue on “Advanced Antennas for Wireless Connectivity” published in Engineering in 2022. He is a Deputy Editor-in-Chief of PIERS journals and the Chair of the Fellow Committee of the Electromagnetic (EM) Academy.

He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE, and an elected Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering, Royal Academy of Engineering, IET, HKIE, Chinese Institute of Electronics and the EM Academy.

He won many accolades, including the 2000 Croucher Foundation Senior Research Fellowship in Hong Kong, 2011 State Technological Invention Award of China, 2017 IEEE APS John Kraus Antenna Award, 2019 Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize for Science and Technology Progress in China, and 2022 Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Prize in China.

Nader Behdad (S’98-M’06-SM’12-F’17) received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in 2000 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor in 2003 and 2006, respectively. Currently he is the McFarlandBascom Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Behdad’s research expertise is in the area of applied electromagnetics with particular focus on electrically small antennas, phased-array antennas, bio-electromagnetics, microwave ablation, microwave periodic structures, and high-power microwaves. He has 23 U.S. patents in these areas. Dr. Behdad has served as a consultant on topics related to designing antennas and phased arrays to industry. He has also served as a consultant and an expert witness for different U.S. law firms on topics related to intellectual property disputes as well as cell phone record analysis and historical cell site analysis. Over the years, Dr. Behdad’s research has been sponsored by various U.S. Federal agencies including the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, National Science Foundation, and the Defense Health Agency among others.

Dr. Behdad has graduated 29 Ph.D. and 15 M.S. students so far and served as the research advisor of 33 other post-doctoral research fellows and visiting scholars. He received the Harvey D. Spangler Faculty Scholar Award, the H. I. Romnes Faculty Award, and the Vilas Associates Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Behdad is also the recipient of the 2021 H. A. Wheeler Prize Paper Award, the 2014 R. W. P. King Prize Paper Award, and the 2012 Piergiorgio L. E. Uslenghi Letters Prize Paper Award of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. In 2011, he received the CAREER award from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Young Investigator Award from the United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the Young Investigator Award from the United States Office of Naval Research. Dr. Behdad is serving as a member of the Fellow Election Committee of IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society and served as the 2020 chair of the paper awards committee of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. He also served as an Associate Editor for IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters (2011-2015) and as the co-chair of the technical program committee of the 2012 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting.

Negar Ebadi (formerly Tavassolian) (Senior Member, IEEE) received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, and McGill University, Montreal, Canada respectively. She received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2011 and was a Postdoctoral Associate at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2011‒2013. Dr. Tavassolian joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology as an Assistant Professor in 2013 and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2019. In 2022, she was a Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. She subsequently joined Johnson & Johnson MedTech in 2023, where she worked in the Surgical Robotics division. Since 2025, she is part of the EMC Design Group at Apple Inc., where she focuses on electromagnetic compatibility in consumer electronic devices.

Negar’s research has been focused on microwave and millimeter-wave antenna systems, biomedical imaging, and non-contact physiological monitoring technologies. She has led pioneering efforts in ultra-wideband radar and high-resolution millimeter-wave imaging for medical diagnostics. Her work has been supported by various agencies, including the National Science Foundation, U.S. Army, NIH, and NASA. She has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications and holds seven U.S. patents. Her contributions have been recognized with several honors, including the NSF CAREER Award, the NSF Mid-Career Advancement (MCA) Award, and the Provost Early Career Award for Research Excellence at Stevens Institute of Technology. Dr. Ebadi has served as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters (AWPL) and as a Technical Program Committee member for IEEE MTT-10: Biological Effects and Medical Applications of RF and Microwaves. She was also selected as an IEEE MTT-S Distinguished Microwave Lecturer for the 2024–2026 term.

Cynthia M. Furse is a Fellow of the IEEE, the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), and the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society (ACES) . She is a Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, where she was also the Associate Vice President for Research from 2009-2019. Her research interests are the application of electromagnetics to sensing and communication in complex lossy scattering media such as the human body, geophysical prospecting, ionospheric plasma, and complex wiring networks.

Dr. Furse is a founder of LiveWire Innovation, Inc., a spinoff company from her research, commercializing devices to locate intermittent faults on live wires. Dr. Furse is an expert in computational electromagnetics, particularly the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method applied to bioelectromagnetics. She developed one of the first MRI-derived human body models, some of the earliest simulations of the cell phone near the human body, and efficient methods for bioEM simulations. She applied these methods to the design of implantable antennas, evaluation of the effects of tissue variability, and more recently to the development of spread spectrum microwave breast cancer detection.

Prof. Furse has been an active teacher and a leader in the development of the flipped classroom, and is well-known for her video lectures and open access circuits textbook. Dr. Furse is an Associate Editor for the Transactions on Antennas and Propagation (AP), a past Administrative Committee member for the IEEE AP society, IEEE APS Distinguished Lecturer, past chair of the IEEE AP Education Committee, and current chair of the APS Fellow nomination committee.

She has received numerous teaching and research awards including the 2020 IEEE Chen To Tai Distinguished Educator Award, the 2009 IEEE Harriett B. Rigas Award, and the 2017 Utah Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology, and the 2017 Pioneers of Progress Award for Scientific Achievement. Dr. Furse has co-authored four books (Introduction to Bioelectromagnetics, Circuits, The World of Applied Electromagnetics, and the History of Emigration Canyon), contributed to chapters in several others, and co-authored over 130 journal publications and 200 conference presentations. She holds 16 patents. Her greatest accomplishment is her students – 24 PhD students, 66 masters students, and over 225 undergraduate research students.

Dr. Yihong Qi is an engineer, scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur. He founded Pontosense Inc., LinkE Inc., Sunway communications Inc. and General Test Systems. Additionally, he serves as an adjunct professor at the EMC Laboratory, Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA, and Western University, Canada and Shanghai Jiaotong University, China. From 1995 to 2010, he worked at Research in Motion (Blackberry) in Waterloo, ON, Canada, where he was the Director of Advanced Electromagnetic Research.

Dr. Qi holds over 600 granted and pending patents and has authored more than 150 scientific papers. He bridges Electromagnetics research to real-world engineering. His multi-band smart antenna technology, which positions the antenna at the bottom of mobile terminals, significantly reduces radio-wave radiation to the human head. This innovation has protected billions of smartphone users from potential electromagnetic hazards and addressed hearing aid compatibility issues, benefiting over 20 million users who rely on hearing aids.

His RF Over the Air measurement theory and technologies are widely used as international standards. His high-speed connector invention showcases leading performance for high-speed interconnects for computational servers and AI computation center. His wireless intelligent sensing innovation is the first mmWave wireless sensor used for child presence detection and driver monitoring in the automotive industry, and it is also applied globally in elderly care, health, and medical fields, earning multiple international awards. He is the founder and partner of five technological companies, employing more than 10,000 people globally.

Dr. Qi is a distinguished lecturer for the IEEE Antenna and Propagation Society and the IEEE EMC Society. He has received the IEEE EMC Society Technical Achievement Award. His inventions have garnered multiple accolades, including three CES Innovation Awards, the CES Network Product of the Year Award, the CES Wellness Product of the Year Award, and four Red Dot Awards among other awards. He contributes to the 3GPP and CTIA international standards. Dr. Qi is a Fellow of the IEEE, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Inventors.

Simone holds a PhD in Applied Electromagnetics and an M.S. in Electronic Engineering from “La Sapienza” University of Rome.

He began his research career at La Sapienza and the University of Houston, supported by Sandia National Laboratories.

Subsequently, he assumed the position of Vice President of Research and Development at Maxtena Inc. Since 2016, he has been employed by Apple Inc.

With over two decades of experience, Simone specializes in electromagnetic theory, antenna design, and computational electrodynamics.

His recognitions include the “M. Sannino” prize (2006), a URSI Young Scientist Award (2008), and the Via Satellite Excellence Award (2016). His technical expertise spans 5G mm-wave systems, phased arrays, satellite communications, metamaterials, and more.

Danilo Erricolo received the Laurea degree (summa cum laude) in electronics engineering from Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Chicago, IL, USA. He is a Professor and the Director of the Andrew Electromagnetics Laboratory in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, an Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and the Director of International Programs in the College of Engineering at UIC. During the summer of 2009, he was an Air Force Faculty Fellow at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH, USA. He has authored or coauthored more than 340 publications including refereed journals, international conferences, and book chapters. His research interests are primarily in the areas of antenna design, electromagnetic propagation and scattering, high-frequency techniques, wireless communications, electromagnetic compatibility, the computation of special functions, and magnetic resonance imaging.

Dr. Erricolo has an extensive record of service for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He currently serves as Vice President of Conferences for the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S). He was the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation (2016-2022) and one of only three editors in the history of the journal that served for two terms. He also served as Associate Editor for same journal (2013-2016). In addition, he was the Senior Associate Editor (2001-2008) and Associate Editor (2009-20014) for the IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.

He was the General Chairman of the 2012 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC-URSI National Radio Science Meeting, held in Chicago, IL, USA in July 2012. He was an elected Member of the Administrative Committee of the IEEE AP-S (2012-2014). He was Chair of the IEEE AP-S Distinguished Lecturer Program (2015-2016) and of the IEEE Chicago Chapter of the Antennas and Propagation/Microwave Theory and Techniques Societies (2011-2016). He also contributed to the organization of a large number of international symposia by being a member of their steering committee, by participating in their technical program committee, and by organizing special sessions.

Dr. Erricolo has an extensive record of service for the U.S. National Committee (USNC) of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI), a committee of the US National Academies. In particular, he was Chair (2009- 2011), Vice Chair (2006-2008) and Secretary (2004-2005) of the USNC-URSI Commission E on Electromagnetic Environment and Interference; he was Chair of the USNC-URSI Ernest K. Smith Student Paper Competition (2009-2014) and Vice-Chair of the Local Organizing Committee of the XXIX URSI General Assembly, held in Chicago, IL, USA in August 2008.

He is a Fellow of IEEE, a Fellow of AAIA, a Fellow of AIIA, a Fellow of the Electromagnetics Academy, a University of Illinois Scholar, and the recipient of the Inaugural 2023 USNC-URSI Impact Award.

Dr. Ajay K. Poddar is an IEEE Fellow and a member of IEEE Eta Kappa Nu, known globally for his significant contributions to electrical engineering, electronics, and communications. He obtained his graduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, India, followed by a Doctorate (Dr.-Ing.) from the Technical University of Berlin, Germany, and a Post-Doctorate (Dr.-Ing. habil.) from Brandenburg Technical University Cottbus, Germany. Dr. Poddar currently serves as Chief Scientist at Synergy Microwave Corp. in New Jersey, USA. In this role, he leads innovative research in signal generation and processing electronics, RF-MEMS, antennas, and metamaterial-based resonators and sensors designed for current and future electronics and communication systems. His work supports various applications, including industrial, medical, and aerospace technologies, and leverages AI-inspired electronic modules to enhance performance and reliability. Dr. Poddar is also engaged in academia, serving as a visiting professor at the University of Oradea (UO) in Romania and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Jammu, India, and as a guest lecturer at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany. He actively shares his expertise with students and researchers globally to advance technology for humanity.

Earlier in his career, Dr. Poddar worked as a Senior Scientist and Program Director at India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) under the Ministry of Defense from 1991 to 2001. During this time, he also served as a visiting professor at the University of Pune. Dr. Poddar has received numerous accolades that highlight his significant contributions to the fields of science and engineering, to name a few recent awards: 2023 RCA Armstrong Medal for outstanding contributions to radio and wireless communications, 2018 IEEE MGA Innovation Award for exceptional volunteer service and humanitarian projects, 2015 IEEE IFCS Cady Award for advancements in frequency-controlled electronics and timing devices, 2015 IEEE Region 1 Award for scientific leadership and service, and 2009 IEEE Region 1 Award for leadership in microwave systems research and development.

Dr. Poddar possesses an extensive body of work featuring over 350 published papers, the coauthorship of eight technical books or chapters, and the ownership of more than four dozen patents. His contributions have profoundly influenced the fields of science and engineering, with a particular focus on humanitarian technology designed to benefit society. Additionally, he has actively mentored a considerable number of graduate and Ph.D. students internationally and has served as an editor for various technical journals. Dr. Poddar is also engaged in several scientific committees and professional societies. Currently, he holds several distinguished leadership positions within IEEE, including Chair of the IEEE AP-S Chapter Activity Committee (CAC), Vice Chair of the IEEE AP-S Committee on Promoting Equality (COPE), Chair of the IEEE North Jersey Section Awards & Nominations Committee, as well as membership in the IEEE AP-S SIGHT and IEEE MTT-S Committees. Under his leadership, more than 200 IEEE chapters have been established across the globe, with a focus on underrepresented regions. This effort has led to record-high membership numbers in the AP-S, marking 75 years of excellence in the field. He actively promotes collaboration and community engagement while also engaging in humanitarian efforts through initiatives such as IEEE AP-S COPE, IEEE SIGHT, EPICS in IEEE, and IEEE Smart Village. Additionally, he addresses pressing global issues, including climate change, by forging partnerships with IEEE Inter-society and aligning with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Branislav M. Notaroš is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Director of Electromagnetics Laboratory, and University Distinguished Teaching Scholar at Colorado State University. Previously, he held assistant/associate-professor positions at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and University of Belgrade. His research contributions are in computational and applied electromagnetics. His publications include about 340 journal and conference papers, and several Electromagnetics textbooks.

Prof. Notaros serves as Immediate Past President of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) and Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society (ACES), Immediate Past Chair of the USNC-URSI Commission B, and Track Editor of the IEEE AP Transactions. He served as General Chair of the IEEE APS/URSI 2022 Denver Conference, Chair of the IEEE AP-S Meetings Committee and Joint AP-S/ USNC-URSI Meetings Committee, and AP-S AdCom member.

He was the recipient of the 1999 IEE Marconi Premium, 2005 IEEE MTT-S Microwave Prize, 2022 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Edward E. Altshuler Prize Paper Award, 2019 ACES Technical Achievement Award, 2014 Carnegie Foundation Colorado Professor of the Year Award, 2015 ASEE ECE Distinguished Educator Award, 2015 IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award, and many other research and teaching awards. He is Fellow of IEEE and ACES.

During Prof. Notaros’ service as 2024 AP-S President, the Society accomplished notable results, thanks to incredible work, enthusiasm, and contributions by all AP-S leaders, volunteers, and members, including: 25% membership growth in one year, topping the 13,000 members mark on December 31, 2024; 50 new chapters; 64% women membership growth in 2024; Fundamental changes of the Society structure, governance, and operation; Establishment of five Society Vice Presidents and Director of Intersociety Collaboration; New Technical Directions Committee; 12 inaugural IEEE AP-S Technical Committees; Restructuring the AP-S Finance Committee; Creation of Fellows and Awards Search Committees; New journals and collaborations: JSTEAP, T-TST, JWPT; Inaugural IEEE Latin American Conference on Antennas & Propagation (LACAP); Advancement of the IEEE AP-S Talent Development Fund; AP-S Standing Committees Vice Chairs; New intersociety initiatives; AP-S/URSI 2024 Florence Conference with record participations; and Spectacular 75th AP-S Anniversary Celebrations. More details on 2024: https://ieeeaps.org/75-years-celebration.

Dr. Lei Guo received the B.Eng. degree in communication engineering from the Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, in 2011, and the Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering from the City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, in 2016. From 2016 to 2019, she was a postdoctoral research fellow with City University of Hong Kong, China and PolyGrames Research Center, Polytechnique Montreal, Canada. She is currently an Associate Professor with the School of Information and Communication Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China.

She has authored/ co-authored more than 60 articles, and holds 12 patents including 6 US patents and 6 Chinese patents. She received the Student Best Paper Award in iWEM- 2015 and her student won the Third-Place Prize in IEEE MTT-S FLASH Competition. She served as the organizing committee member in multiple international conference, e.g. 2018 IEEE MTT-S WPTC, 2022 ICMMT, 2023 MTT-S IWS, 2025 MTT-S IWS, and etc. She has continuously contributed to organizing women special sessions and activities for the IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation (OJAP) and the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation (TAP).

She served as a Guest Editor for special issues in IEEE OJAP (2021), IEEE MTT (2023), and IEEE AWPL (2025). She also takes lead in the launch of a WeChat Channel in China, for the promotion of IEEE TAP in China. Dr. Guo is now serving as an Associate Editor for both IEEE TAP and IEEE OJAP. She was recognized as the Outstanding Associate Editor for OJAP in 2025, and was selected as AP-S Young Professional Ambassador for the same year. Her current research interests include wireless energy harvesting techniques, dielectric resonator antennas, millimeter-wave antenna arrays, and wireless sensing technologies.