2024, Student Fellowships and Awards

Four members of our group had the pleasure to receive fellowships and awards for their outstanding research. On the left, Incheol (Aiden) Jung received the James M. Henderson Fellowship. In the center, Gonzalo Núñez Muñoz received the A.R. “Buck” Knight Fellowship. On the right, Qi Jian Lim received the Raj Mittra Outstanding Research Award. Ge Cao (not in image) also won the Promise of Excellence Fellowship. Congratulations to all of them!

2024, IEEE AP-S Distinguished Lecturer

Prof. Zhen Peng is honored to serve as an IEEE Antennas and Propagation (AP-S) Society Distinguished Lecturer for 2024-2026. The IEEE AP-S Distinguished Lecturer Program (DLP) provides experts, the Distinguished Lecturers (DLs), who are financially supported to visit active AP-S Chapters around the world and give lectures on topics of interest and importance to the antennas and propagation community.

2023, Experimental Demo at Brooklyn 6G Summit

Our group conducted a live experimental demo at the Brooklyn 6G Summit. In this demo, we presented a hybrid classical-quantum computing framework for solving the joint channel estimation and optimization problem for RIS-assisted wireless communications. Our demonstration included transmitter and receiver antennas with no line-of-sight link while using an RIS to create a virtual line-of-sight link. The antennas are connected to USRP N210 Software Defined Radio (SDR). An interactive interface is provided to plot in real time the configuration of the RIS, channel gain, received constellation, and decoded message data.

The work is in collaboration with Amitava Ghosh and Frederick Vook in the Radio Interface Group at Nokia Standards, and Gabriele Gradoni at the University of Surrey.

2023, Best Student Paper Award (2nd prize) at NEMO’2023

Charles Ross received the Best Student Paper Award (2nd prize) at the IEEE MTT-S International Conference on Numerical Electromagnetic and Multiphysics Modeling and Optimization (NEMO). The title of the paper is “A Hybrid Classical-Quantum Computing Framework for RIS-assisted Wireless Network”.

In this paper, we proposed and experimentally validated a quantum-assisted computing framework that allows for ultra-fast optimization of RIS-assisted smart radio environment. By leveraging the computing power of quantum adiabatic evolution and mathematics of tensor contraction, the onsite optimization of RIS configuration can be performed rapidly using only feedback (received power) at wireless endpoints. The outcomes enable the possibility of ultrafast joint channel estimation - optimization in dynamic wireless environments.

2023, Dr. Eric K. Walton Graduate Award at ECE Illinois

Charles Ross has been chosen as the recipient of the 2022-2023 Dr. Eric K. Walton Graduate Award. This award is presented to a graduate student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering who has demonstrated excellence in research in the area of antennae design, radar studies, or radio waves.

2023, Young Scientist Award at the URSI GASS 2023

Dr. Shen Lin received a Young Scientist Award at the XXXVth URSI General Assembly and Scientific Symposium (URSI GASS 2023). The Young Scientist Awards recognize an international group of individuals making innovative contributions and discoveries in multidiscipline research related to electromagnetic fields and waves.

2023, Best Student Paper Award (Honorable mention) at URSI GASS 2023

Qi Jian Lim received a Best Student Paper Honorable Mention Award at URSI GASS 2023. The title of the paper is “Heuristic Quantum Optimization for Engineering Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces in Smart Radio Environments”. In this paper, we demonstrate the scaling advantage of a hybrid classical-quantum optimization algorithm compared to state-of-the-art classical optimizer.

2023, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) Fellowship

Congratulations to Shen Lin for being selected for the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) Fellowship

2023, Best Paper Award Finalist at IEEE EMC Symposium 

Our paper, “Statistical Characterization of Cavity Quality Factor via the Stochastic Green’s Function Approach” entered into the 2023 Best EMC Symposium Paper Finalist in the 2023 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Signal & Power Integrity. 

2023, Honorable Mention Award in Student Paper Competition at IEEE AP-S Symposium

Qi Jian Lim received the 2023 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium Student Paper Competition Honorable Mention Award. The title of the paper is “Full-Wave Simulation of a 10,000-element Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface with a Single Workstation Computer”.

2023, Honorable Mention Award in Student Paper Competition at IEEE AP-S Symposium

Sangrui Luo received the 2023 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium Student Paper Competition Honorable Mention Award. The title of the paper is “A Hybrid Predictive Model for the Spatial-Spectral Analysis of Wave Physics in Complex Enclosures”. 

2023, TICRA-EurAAP Grant Awardee at EuCAP 2023

Congratulations to Qi Jian Lim for being selected as one of the eight awardees of the TICRA-EurAAP Grants at 17th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation.

2022, Best Electromagnetics Paper Award at 16th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation

Our Paper “Quantum-Assisted Combinatorial Optimization of Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces” (Qi Jian Lim, Charles Ross, Gabriele Gradoni, and Zhen Peng) received the Best Electromagnetics Paper Award at the 16th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP2022). 

We proposed a physics-based optimization approach for reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, inspired by the quantum mechanical physics of correlated spins. The new idea is grounded on the isomorphism between the electromagnetic scattered power and Ising Hamiltonian. Thereby, the problem of optimizing phase configuration is converted into finding the ground state of the target Ising Hamiltonian. Under this framework, we successfully demonstrated the feasibility of combinatorial optimization for weighted beamforming and diffusive scattering applications.

2022, Best Paper Award Finalist at IEEE EMC Symposium 

Our paper, “On the Vectorial Property of Stochastic Dyadic Green’s Function in Complex Electronic Enclosures” entered into the 2022 Best EMC Symposium Paper Finalist in the 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Signal & Power Integrity. 

2022, Yuen T. Lo Outstanding Research Award

Shen Lin received the Yuen T. Lo Outstanding Research Award in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Congratulations to Shen!

2021, Best Conference Paper Award at 30th Electrical Performance of Electronic Packaging and System

Our Paper “On the Statistical Analysis of Space-Time Wave Physics in Complex Enclosures” (Shen Lin and Zhen Peng) received the Best Paper Award at 30th Electrical Performance of Electronic Packaging and System (EPEPS2021). 

We proposed a physics-oriented, mathematically tractable statistical wave model, named the space-time stochastic Green’s function, for analyzing the wave physics of high-frequency reverberation within complex confined electromagnetic environments. The model characterizes both spatial and temporal variations and correlations of wave fields without the need for detailed knowledge of the complex environment. Experimental results are supplied to validate the proposed work.

2021, Honorable Mention Award and Final list in Student Paper Competition at IEEE AP-S Symposium

Shen Lin received the 2021 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium Student Paper Competition Honorable Mention Award. The title of the paper is “A Space-Time Stochastic Green’s Function Method for Statistical Analysis of Wave Physics in Ray-Chaotic Enclosures”.

2020, 3rd Place Winner in Student Paper Competition at IEEE AP-S Symposium

Our Paper “Statistical Analysis of Information Transmission in Ray-Chaotic Enclosures: A Stochastic Green’s Function Approach” (Shen Lin and Zhen Peng) won the 3rd place in Student Paper Competition (SPC) at 2020 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and North American Radio Science Meeting (2020 IEEE AP-S). A total of 203 student papers entered into the SPC this year.

There has been much interest in studying the physics of wireless channels in strongly scattering, indoor environments displaying ray chaotic dynamics. This paper presents a physics-based mathematical model, so-called stochastic Green’s function, built upon Wigner’s random matrix theory and Berry random wave hypothesis. The work can be used to characterize the channel capacity, spatial correlation, and coherence bandwidth based on macroscopic knowledge of the propagation environment.

2019, Best Conference Paper Award at 28th Electrical Performance of Electronic Packaging and System

Our Paper “A Novel Space-Time Building Block Methodology for Transient Electromagnetic Analysis” (Shu Wang and Zhen Peng) received the Best Paper Award at 28th Electrical Performance of Electronic Packaging and System (EPEPS2019). 

We proposed a space-time building block methodology for efficient time-domain analysis of multi-scale, locally periodic structures. By leveraging the principles of linear superposition and space-time causality in wave physics, the 4D simulation domain is represented by a few space-time building blocks, which are constructed upon 3D spatial unit cell and 1D time unit. The work results in novel time-evolution schemes, which exhibit high-order accuracy and achieve concurrency and parallelism in both spatial and temporal dimensions. 

2019, Best Paper Award at IEEE EMC Symposium 

Our paper, “A Novel Statistical Model for the Electromagnetic Coupling to Electronics inside Enclosures” has been selected as 2019 Best EMC Symposium Paper Award in the 2019 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Signal & Power Integrity. It is a joint work with Edl Schamiloglu (UNM), Zachary B. Drikas (NRL), and Thomas Antonsen (UMD). 

The work is supported by NSR CAREER Award, and AFOSR/AFRL Center of Excellence: Science of Electronics in Extreme Electromagnetic Environments. 

2019, Honorable Mention Award at IEEE AP-S Symposium Student Paper Competition

Shen Lin received the 2019 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium Student Paper Competition Honorable Mention Award. The title of the paper is “Physics-Oriented Statistical Analysis of Information Transmission in Wave-Chaotic Environments”. 

2019, 3rd Place in Student Paper Competition at NEMO Conference

Oameed Noakoasteen received the 3rd place in the student paper competition at 2019 IEEE MTT-S International Conference on Numerical Electromagnetic and Multiphysics Modeling and Optimization. The title of the paper is “Physics-Informed deep Neural Networks for Transient Electromagnetic Analysis”. Congratulations to Oameed.

We propose a deep convolutional encoder-recurrent-decoder architecture to predict the time-evolution in transient electromagnetics. Based on the principles of linear superposition and space-time causality, the network is able to superimpose the learned scattering mechanisms (wave reflection, diffraction, and creeping wave, etc.) locally and emulate the transient electromagnetic problems. It is a joint work with Mr. Shu Wang.

2019, 1st Place in Student Paper Competition at ACES Symposium

Shu Wang received the 1st place in the student paper competition at 2019 International Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society (ACES) Symposium. The title of the paper is “Platform-aware In-situ Antenna and Metamaterial Analysis and Design”. Congratulations to Shu!

The objective of this paper is to build a reconfigurable, reusable, and parallel model reduction platform towards transformative in-situ antenna design. The key idea is to introduce a separable and compressible platform Green’s function in an up-front offline computation. Once obtained, the online computational complexity does not depend on the size of the in-situ platform. As a result, in-situ design and optimization of multi-antenna systems can be performed at the same cost as the free-space radiation. The advancements make high-fidelity in-situ antenna design orders of magnitude faster. It is a joint work with Dr. Brian MacKie-Mason and Dr. Hongwei Gao.

2019 ACES Symposium Short Course

Ever-increasing fidelity and accuracy needs for advanced electromagnetic (EM) applications have been pushing the problem sizes toward extreme scales. It puts a high premium on the investigation of high-performance algorithms with optimal computational complexity. In recent years, domain decomposition (DD) methods have enjoyed considerable success in solving large multi-scale EM problems. These methods feature divide-and-conquer in solution algorithms (applying the most suitable solution strategy to solve each sub-problem) and plug-in-play in software architectures (integrating individual EM solvers into a portable and extensible solution suite). They also result in highly efficient and naturally parallelizable algorithms on distributed memory many-core parallel computing systems. 

This short course will review and discuss recent progress in the DD methods for solving differential and integral equations with applications to large-scale EM problems.