Keynote Speakers

Biography: 

Prof. AMIN ABBOSH is currently a member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts. Previously, Prof Abbosh was the Head of the School of ITEE-UQ, which includes five Departments (Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Software Engineering, Data Science & Human Centred Computing). He also served as Director of Research and Director of Research Training at UQ. He has authored over 500 papers, mainly on Medical Electromagnetic Imaging (MEI). He is the chief inventor of more than 20 patents licensed to the medical industry. His patents form the core IP of a publicly listed Australian company, and a start-up company. He won many awards, including the IEEE APS King Prize twice (2016 & 2019), for his excellence in fundamental, applied, and translational research. UQ Excellence in HDR Supervision (2016) & Entrepreneurship Award (2018), and many best paper awards in premier IEEE conferences. He successfully led a 35-member team in more than 30 projects, including Being the Director of the MEI Cooperative Research Centre, funded by the Australian Research Council and Industry.

Abstract:

Biological tissues have specific dielectric properties, which are frequency dispersive. Changes in physiological and pathological conditions alter these dielectric properties, affecting the tissues’ response to electromagnetic (EM) waves transmitted using proper antennas. Medical EM Imaging (MEI) leverages these changes to image, detect, and classify relevant pathologies.

Prof Abbosh has pioneered MEI systems as a disruptive medical imaging modality with far-reaching societal impact, and applications, from early diagnosis to therapy and monitoring. His dynamic 35-member team has built a series of clinical EMI prototypes for head imaging in stroke detection, torso imaging for pulmonary edema, congestive heart failure, fatty liver disease detection, skin scanner for melanoma detection, knee imaging, etc. Unlike traditional tools, MEI is a portable point-of-care device that can be deployed in ambulances, rural clinics, doctor’s offices, hospitals, and medical centers. Moreover, since MEI is non-ionizing and non-invasive, it can be used frequently for real-time monitoring. Also, using advanced data acquisition, processing, and imaging algorithms, MEI can provide real-time imaging.

The journey toward building a clinical MEI modality was challenging. Human tissues are lossy, and the allowed safe EM power is low, while useful target signals are embedded in clutter, making it difficult to image internal human tissues using MEI. Additionally, the available information is limited due to the restricted number of antennas and frequency bands that can be used. To address these challenges, Prof. Abbosh developed novel structures supported by a hybrid suite of AI techniques guided by the principles of applied EM, enabling reliable accuracy in clinical trials. These results were achieved by building a multidisciplinary team with complementary skills in applied EM, AI, and Bio-Signal Processing, working collaboratively towards a common objective.

In this talk, Prof. Abbosh will discuss the roller coaster of his research journey with MEI. While his journey verified the potential of MEI, it also highlighted significant challenges that must be addressed when translating research from the bench to innovation and bedside.   

Biography: 

Prof. ALA SHARAIHA (Senior Member, IEEE) received the Ph.D. and Habilitation à Diriger la Recherche (HDR) degrees in telecommunication from the University of Rennes 1, France, in 1990 and 2001 respectively. Currently, he is a Full Professor at the University of Rennes and he Co-Head of the small Antennas team in Microwave Devices Department, IETR Research Laboratory (Institut d’Electronique et des Technologies du numéRique). He has graduated/mentored more than 45 Ph.D. students/postdocs and co-authored with them. He has authored or co-authored more than 550 journal and conference papers, concerning antenna theory, analysis, design and measurements. He holds 15 patents. His published works have been cited over 2500 times in Google Scholar. His current research interests include small antennas, broadband and UWB antennas, reconfigurable antennas, printed spiral and helical antennas, absorbers, innovative materials for antennas and antennas for mobile communications. He was the French delegate member of the European Association on Antennas and Propagation (EuRAAP) until January 2024 and is a member of the small antennas working group of EuRAAP. He is a senior member of the IEEE and of URSI and a reviewer for the IEEE APS, IEEE AWPL, the IET Letters and the IET Microwave Antennas Propagation. He was the conference Chairman of the 11th International Canadian Conference ANTEM (Antenna Technology and Applied Electro- Magnetics), held at Saint-Malo in France, 2005 as well as the 20th JNM (Journée National Microonde) in 2017.

Abstract:

In today’s swiftly advancing realm of technology and communication, the emergence of 5G connectivity stands as a heralded revolution. However, the progression of 5G wireless communication necessitates advanced antenna architectures, along with the integration of antenna diversity and beamforming techniques. This type of antenna offers new possibilities for wireless applications in terms of spectral efficiency, radio link reliability, reduced environmental impact and increased communication system capacity. However, conventional beamforming techniques often lead to a significant increase in antenna size. As a result, the integration of such systems into small wireless devices is relatively limited.

The main challenges to overcome for future evolutions in the sub-7GHz frequency bands are integration and deployment of new compact radiating structures in order to produce directional radiation with beamforming where the antenna spacing generates negligible coupling effects between antennas and thus facilitates the system design and reduces power consumption.

To tackle these challenges, several innovative approaches are being explored, revolving around the concept of efficient superdirective antenna arrays. The increase of low directivity of electrically small-sized antennas is a modern motivation for super-directivity and offers an innovative and attractive solution for both beamforming needs and integration in small volumes. The design of an efficient and a wideband superdirective array is a challenging and difficult task. The challenges lie in the inverse proportionality between the maximum achievable directivity in one hand and the efficiency as well as the impedance bandwidth in the other hand.

In this presentation, a straightforward optimization strategy aimed at overcoming the current limitations of small-sized antennas in terms of their ability to focus energy in specific directions will be introduced in additional to the design process of high-gain compact antennas for a single indoor 5G-box configurations.

Biography: 

NG KOK JIUNN was born in Teluk Intan, Perak, Malaysia in 1977. He received the B.Eng., M.Sc. and Ph.D in electrical, electronic and system engineering from the National University of Malaysia, in 2000, 2004, 2021 respectively. From 2004 to 2006, he was a Research Engineer with the Anscom Sdn. Bhd. He has involved in concealment solution and initial setup of the research team for Base station Antenna. He was RF Engineer with Laird Technology (M) Sdn. Bhd. and Senior RF engineer with Amphenol Antenna Solution (M) Sdn. Bhd in year 2006 and 2007 respectively.  He has worked various antennas for wireless router, embedded antenna for portable device such as laptop, mobile phone, dongle and etc.  From 2008-2013, he has been with Laird Technologies(M) Sdn. Bhd as Staff Engineer leading the antenna design team for innovative antenna product development. He was Snr. Staff Engineer in Advance Technology Group for new design technology in year 2013-2024 at Laird connectivity which later as part of TE Connectivity. Currently he is R&D Engineering Manager for RF antenna team for Penang and Korea RF Engineering since May 2024.  He holds more than 15 patents in various antenna designs including embedded antennas, MIMO antenna, portable radio antenna, LTE Distributed Antenna System platform, vehicular antenna etc. His research interests include embedded antenna, portable land mobile antenna, MIMO antenna, DAS antenna, array antenna, Low PIM antenna, multimode vehicular, multimode panel or baton antenna. He is a member of IEEE.

Abstract:

Connectivity for Intelligent Transportation solutions has become a necessity in the modern world and play important roles to enable multi band multi-mode applications from a basic broadcast AM/FM radio reception, infotainment, navigation to application public safety, critical information, emergency warning etc. The new applications grow and evolve day by day including V2X (Vehicle to everything), FOTA (Firmware Over the Air), diagnostics, keyless entry, digital radio etc.  To realize such broad application or services, antenna design and the number of antenna system no longer limited to a single rod antenna reception broadcast application but with multi antenna, MIMO antenna, multi type antenna at various frequency ranges applications from VHF to mm Wave.

The presentation focuses on rooftop low profile multi antenna system that offers multi-mode for applications 5G cellular, GNSS, Wi-Fi, V2X and Public safety in various form factors. The challenges of the designed are described and the strategies the optimized high performance antenna architecture applied to provide miniaturization, wideband enhancement, reduced impact of the proximity antenna elements, design for manufacturing and mechanical requirements.