IEEE Chicago APS/MTT Chapter Distinguished Seminar

IEEE Chicago APS/MTT Chapter Distinguished Seminar

Speaker:

Rhonda R. Franklin, PhD
McKnight Presidential Professor of Electrical Engineering
Abbott Professor of Innovative Education in the Institute for Engineering and Medicine
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Minnesota

Friday, February 16, 202411:00 A.M. In-person seminar, University of Illinois Chicago, Lecture Center (LC) C3

Abstract: Over the past two decades, our vision for wireless and internet systems informed advances and the merger of communications with computing, imaging, and sensing to form multifunctional integrated devices. The evolution from 1G to 5G, enabled the connectivity of systems of devices through the Internet of Things and Smart Connected Cities to enhance human-to-human communications and lay the groundwork for ubiquitous connectivity between humans and machines. As we develop 6G communications alongside machine learning and AI, we are poised to see the leap, the development of systems of systems, which will demand new and different solutions for ever growing non-traditional applications in healthcare, the environment, agriculture, and transportation. Concurrent progress in hardware design and fabrication are integral to achieving more functionality in small form factors with complex integrated hardware and software systems. Success in design of such innovations for high-speed circuitry, packaging, and integration, however, will also depend on both fabrication advances (i.e., microelectronics, nanotechnology, and MEMS technology) and novel use of materials to achieve the desired performance. This talk will highlight our advanced design concepts for applications in communication, ecology, and nanomedicine based on metasurfaces for antenna arrays, biosensors for material characterization, and nanotechnology for sub-terahertz interconnects and biolabels.

Bio: Rhonda R. Franklin, the McKnight Presidential Professor of Electrical Engineering and Abbott Professor of Innovative Education at the University of Minnesota (UMN), is a distinguished researcher specializing in high-frequency circuit and antenna design, integration/packaging, and materials characterization. With 161 co-authored articles, six book chapters, and 12 patents/application/licenses, her work spans high-speed communications, biomedicine/nanomedicine, and ecology applications. Recognized with the NSF Presidential Early Career Award, IEEE MGA Diversity & Inclusion Award, and IEEE N. Walter Cox Service Award, she also received UMN College of Science and Engineering’s George W. Taylor Award for Distinguished Service and the University of Michigan Distinguished Educator Alumni Award. Franklin actively contributes to microwave engineering education, serving as an MTT-S Distinguished Microwave Instructor, and advocates for diversity through initiatives like Project Connect and the IEM Inspire program. As the Director of the new NSF Inclusive Hub, M-FORCE, she will be forming a community to mentor graduate and undergraduate students, particularly from underrepresented groups, focusing on research careers. Having supervised 27 graduate students (M.S. and Ph.D.) and guided 34 undergraduate research projects, Franklin’s impact extends across research, leadership, awards, and a dedicated commitment to fostering diversity in academia and the professional realm.

Co-sponsored by: University of Illinois Chicago

Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60607