Abstract
In this talk, I will present the concept of encapsulated dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs), where 3D-printing techniques are used to create antennas in antennas. The fused-filament-fabrication (FFF) technique to construct such structures with high accuracy and precision is used in several presented designs. The technique allows for the variation of the effective dielectric constant values of the material used via the control of the filling percentage per volume (material vs. air gaps), thus giving the ability to create higher dielectric constant material within a lower valued ones to cover simultaneous multi-band operation, within a smaller volume. This was also used to create conventional and planar dielectric lenses to provide beam switching capabilities at mm-wave bands and hemispherical coverage at sub-6 GHz bands. This encapsulation technique allowed the creation of a highly compact, highly efficient, multiband DRA system covering FR1 and FR2 bands of the 5G standard. This presentation will show the various steps involved in the design and fabrication of encapsulated DRA antenna systems with beam-switching features and multi-band, high frequency separation capabilities for future 5G enabled applications. Operating bandwidths exceeding 20% at 3.5 GHz and 28% at 28.5 GHz will be shown.
Bio
Mohammad S. Sharawi is a Principal engineer (lead) with Blue Origin, USA, working on cutting edge communication systems for space applications, and an affiliate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Washington, USA. He was a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada, between 2019-2023. Prof. Sharawi was with King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia, between 2009-2018. He founded and directed the Integrated Multi-Application Antenna Group (IMAAG) and the Antennas and Microwave Structure Design Laboratory (AMSDL). He was a visiting Professor at the University of Calgary, Canada, and Oakland University, USA, in 2013, 2014 and 2023.
Prof. Sharawi’s areas of research include Multiband Printed Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) Antenna systems, Reconfigurable and Active integrated Antennas, Applied Electromagnetics, Millimeter-wave MIMO antennas and Integrated 4G/5G antennas for various applications, Dielectric Antennas, and on package antennas. He has more than 420 papers published in refereed journals and international conferences, 11 book chapters, and three books entitled “Printed MIMO Antenna Engineering,” 2014, “Design and Applications of Active Integrated Antennas,” 2018, and “MIMO Antenna Systems for 5G and Beyond”, 2024. Prof. Sharawi has 28 issued/granted and 8 pending patents in the United States Patent Office (USPO). He is serving/served as Area and Associate Editor for IEEE AWPL, IEEE OJAP, MOTL, IET-MAP and Frontiers. He served on the Technical and organizational program committees of several international conferences (EuCAP, APS, IMWS-5G, APCAP, iWAT). Prof. Sharawi is a member of the IEEE Member benefits committee, and the person managing the Antennas and Propagation Society (APS) Student travel grant. He served as the EuRAAP delegate for north America. He is a Distinguished Lecturer (DL) of the IEEE APS society (2023-2025). He is a Fellow-IEEE and Fellow-IET.
