Antennas and Electromagnetics Group seminar – 27th April 2026
When: Monday, April 27, 2026, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Where: Graduate Centre: GC603 + Online (Click here to join the meeting)., Mile End campus
On the 27th of Apr. we will have a talk from Dr Farhan Abdul Ghaffar. The title of Dr Farhan Abdul Ghaffar’s talk is: “Advanced RF Technology Solutions”. The full details of the talk are given in the attachment.
Title: Advanced RF Technology Solutions
Abstract: The continuing rapid proliferation and progress in wireless electronics technologies requires corresponding advancements in the field of radio frequency (RF) circuit, antenna and system designs. These advancements include compact, agile and efficient RF components and systems that can provide high-performing yet low-cost solutions. Against this backdrop, the talk will focus on two different aspects of modern RF engineering i) Solutions for Biomedical Applications, ii) Smart/Reconfigurable Wireless Components The first part discusses two different system-level solutions for healthcare industry. Specifically, innovative system integration will be demonstrated via two examples of RF solutions for biomedical applications. These include a wearable antenna technology for vital signs monitoring, and an X-ray dosimeter tag with RF wireless readout for emerging automated blood sterilization systems. The latter one is being pursued in collaboration with an industry partner in Canada. Component level designs of these applications alongside their actual implementation and characterization will be shown. Exploiting the flexibility of the fabrication techniques coupled with innovative design methodologies, the examples will show how integrated RF solutions can be the future for a variety of biomedical technologies. The second half revolves around the component-level reconfigurability where two sister technologies i.e., 1) magnetically controllable/tunable designs and 2) Field Programmable Microwave Substrate (FPMS) are illustrated. In the first case, RF components are implemented in a multilayer System-on-Package (SoP) technology and conventional substrates for high frequency applications. The designs will include original theoretical formulations along with the simulated and measured results validating our approach. The results provide compelling evidence that embedded magnetic materials can now be employed to produce high-performance RF devices with small form-factor for advanced applications. Also, under this theme, an entirely new idea of FPMS is illustrated. By employing FPMS unit cells along the substrate, the designer can control the impedance of the propagating wave resulting in the desired reconfigurability. Antennas, phase shifters and beam-steering radiators are all presented under this domain. Such a technology promises next generation RF devices with multi-functional and reconfigurable qualities. This is a work in progress and shows the future direction of our research at Lakehead University.
Speaker bio: Dr Farhan A. Ghaffar (SM, IEEE) received the B.E. degree in electronics engineering from the NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan, in 2007, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the King Abdullah University of Science and Tech-nology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, in 2010 and 2016, respectively. Before joining Lakehead University as an Assistant Professor with the department of Electrical Engineering, he was working as a Postdoc-toral Fellow/Instructor with Ontario Tech University, Oshawa, ON, Canada from January 2017 to July 2019. At present, he is working as an Associate Professor in the same department at Lakehead University. Dr. Ghaffar was an Assistant Manager with Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) of Pakistan from 2008 to 2009. He was invited as a Visiting Researcher with Carleton University and Royal Military College, in 2010 and 2012, respectively. He has authored or co-authored more than 50 international publications and he is a Co-Inventor on 5 international patents, showcasing the practical nature of his research. He has received several accolades in academia including Contribution to Teaching Award and Merit Award (for Research and Teaching) at his home institute i.e. Lakehead University. He was twice the recipi-ent of the Academic Excellence Award at KAUST, secured Honorary Mention in the First Ever 3MT Competition at International Microwave Symposium (IMS) and was awarded best perfor-mance award at SUPARCO in 2009. His current research interests include the design of system-on-package and system-on-a-chip-based antennas, radio frequency integrated circuits, flexible microwave passive components, and ferrite low temperature co-fired ceramic-based tunable antennas and passives.
Key contact: James Kelly