Life Fellows

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Dr. Sudakhar Rao

Life Fellow WAMS society receiving medal

Dr. Sudhakar Rao is the president & CEO of RaoS Consultants LLC providing technical consultancy to several companies. Over the past 47 years of his professional career, he worked at Northrop Grumman Space Systems (2010-2022), Lockheed Martin (2003-2010). Boeing Satellite Systems (1996-2003), Spar Aerospace Ltd, Montreal (1983-1996), University of Mani- toba (1982-1983), University of Trondheim, Norway (1981-1982), LRDE, Ban- galore (1980-1981). IIT Madras (1977-1979) and ECIL, Hyderabad (1976-1977). He developed and successfully implemented antenna pay- loads for 90 different satellites and 10 aircraft, vehicular and ground com- munications programs. Dr. Rao’s work on complex satellite antenna pat- tems was adopted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)/C- CIR in 1992 as the world-wide standard for satellite manufacturers and op- erators. He authored over 230 technical papers and was awarded with 57 patents (51 US & 6 European) and 5 trade secrets. He received several awards from IEEE, Boeing’s, Lockheed Martin’s, IEEE Region 6 Outstanding Engineer Award for 2017 and the 2017 Northrop Grumman’s President Award. He received Distinguished Alumni Professional Achievement Award from his alma mater NIT Warangal in 2016, IETE’s Prof. S.N. Mitra Me- morial Award, and IETE’s Biman Behari Sen Memorial Award. Dr. Rao served as the IEEE APS DL and AdCom member. He was the founder and Chair for the IEEE APS “Industry Initiatives Committee”, served as IEEE APS Fellow Evaluation Committee member, founder and Editor of the IEEE An- tennas & Propagation Magazine’s “Antenna Applications Comer”, Asso- ciate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Antennas & Propagation, and As- sociate Editor of IEEE AWPL. He is the founding EC member of the WAMS series of conferences in India. He instituted IETE-Dr. Sudhakar Rao Award in 2020 to recognize and honor outstanding antenna engineers.

Dr. Nacer Chahat (NASA/JPL)

Life Fellow WAMS society receiving medal

Dr. Nacer Chahat (NASA/JPL) received the Master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Ecole Supérieur d’ingénieurs de Rennes (ESIR), Rennes, France, in 2009; the Master’s degree in telecommunication and the Ph.D. degree in signal processing and telecommunications from the Institute of Electronics and Telecommunications of Rennes (IETR), University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France, in 2009 and 2012, respectively. He is a Senior Antenna/Microwave Engineer with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Califomia Institute of Technology, Pasade na, CA. Since 2013, he has been a Microwave/Antenna Engineer with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and he has been Technical Section Staff and Product Delivery Manager since 2017. He has authored and coau- thored more than 100 technical journal articles and conference papers. has written four book chapters, and also holds several patents. He also wrote the textbook entitled “CubeSat Antenna Designs” published by Wiley describing all of his innovative work on CubeSat antennas devel- oped at JPL. He has developed key antenna technologies enabling new types of mission for Deep Space Exploration. He is co-inventor of the iconic deployable reflectarray used on the Mars Cube One (MarCO) mission, the world’s first interplanetary CubeSat. He also co-invented the award-win- ning Raincube mesh lector antenna used on the first active radar on a CubeSat. He also invented the Europa Lander antenna enabling direct communication from the surface of Europa (600 million km away), capa- ble of surviving the harsh environment of icy moon of Jupiter.He was awarded by Foundation of Rennes 1. Best Ph.D. of University of Rennes. In 2013, he received the Best Ph.D. thesis in France in electrical engineering awarded by club EEA. In 2013, he was awarded the Airbus Group Founda- fion’s Best Thesis Prize in France. In 2015, he received a French Early Career Award for Researchers (Prix Bretagne Jeune Chercheur) for his significant scientific contribution in his early career.

Dr. Navin Kumar

Dr. Mahesh Appajappa receiving medal of Dr. Navin Kumar

Dr. Navin Kumar serves as Chairperson and Professor at the Department of Electronics and Communication, School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bengaluru. Dr. Navin obtained his Ph.D. in Telecommunication Engineering from the University of Porto, Aveiro and Minho – Portugal, Europe (2007-2011) and M.Tech in Digital System Engineering from Motilal National Institute of Technology, Allahabad, India in the year 2000. He did his bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers, New Delhi in 1996. Dr. Navin has over 24 years of working experience in Government, Industry and academia in IT and Telecommunication area. He has over 10 years of overseas experience in teaching, research and development. Navin has over 100 publications in peer-reviewed international journals and IEEE conference proceedings. In addition, he has also authored a book, edited books and book chapters. Dr. Navin has been awarded the Fraunhofer Challenge award (Portugal-EU) in the academic year 2010-2011 for the best PhD thesis work. He also received a research grant from Govt. of Portugal towards his Ph.D. research work. Navin is the recipient of the Gowri Memorial award, India in the year 2009 for the best journal paper and many best international conference papers. He is Fellow of Institution of Engineers (FIE-India), Charter Engineer (IE-India), Fellow European Association for Innovation (F-EAI), Sr. Member of IEEE, Life Member IETE-India, Life Member AIENG (HK). Dr. Navin has been giving tutorial at IEEE flagship conferences like ICC, WCNC. He regularly speaks and delivers talks as keynote, invited speakers in conferences and workshops. He has successfully guided 3 PhD and 6-PhD scholars are working with him, most of them in 5G Wireless Technology. He leads 5G India Forum (5GIF) at ITU towards evaluation of IMT 2020 candidate technology. His research area includes 5G (mmWave, Architecture and Massive MIMO), Intelligent Transportation Systems, Visible Light Communication, Optical Wireless Communication, IoT& Smart City and Wireless/Mobile Communications & Networks. He is very active in organizing workshops (local and international), conferences etc. He is the Vice Chair Membership Activity in IEEE Bangalore Section and Chair, IEEE VTS Bangalore.

Dr Ashutosh Kedar

Dr. Ashutosh Kedar holds a Ph.D. in Electronics Science, an M.Tech. in Microwave Electronics, and M.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees in Physics from the University of Delhi, and has over 21 years of professional experience as an electromagnetic engineer. He has made significant contributions to the design and development of antennas, antenna arrays, and RF/Microwave subsystems for various AESA radar platforms, along with earlier research on electromagnetic modelling of normal and HTS microwave components using MoM techniques. His research interests span computational electromagnetics, evolutionary optimization, and wide-scanning active phased array antennas. Dr. Kedar has authored more than 100 research papers, holds a patent on a radiating element for active phased arrays, contributed book chapters, and authored the Artech House book Sparse Phased Array Antennas: Theory and Applications. He has received several awards for radar development and multiple best paper awards, including at ICMARS, ATMS18, WAMS 2022 and 2024, as well as the IETE Hari Ramji Toshniwal Award (2023) and IETE CDIL Award (2024). A Life Fellow of WAMSS, Fellow of IETE, Senior Member of IEEE, and LM-ACES, he actively volunteers for IEEE APS, MTT-S, AESS, and AMTA-India, and has served the IEEE AP/MTT-S Bangalore Chapter as Secretary, Vice Chair, and currently as Chair. He has contributed to major IEEE conferences including MAPCON 2022, IEEE SPACE 2024, Connect 2025, WAMS 2023, WAMS 2024, WAMS 2025 and MAPCON 2025.

Chow-Yen-Desmond Sim

Prof. Chow-Yen-Desmond Sim, is an internationally recognized antenna researcher and educator who is currently serving at Department of Electrical Engineering at National Sun Yat-sen University. He received his B.Sc. (1998) and Ph.D. (2003) degrees in Engineering from the University of Leicester, U.K., and began his academic career as an Assistant Professor at Chienkuo Technology University (2003–2007), joined Feng Chia University (FCU) as Associate Professor in 2007, rising to Full Professor in 2012 and Distinguished Professor in 2017. Prof. Sim has authored or co-authored over 220 SCI-indexed papers, with research spanning 5G/6G antenna design, VHF/UHF tropospheric propagation, and RFID applications. He is a Fellow of IEEE (AP-S), IET, AAIA, a Life Fellow of WAMS-Society, and a Life Member of IAET (Taiwan). Widely active in the global EM community, he has served as TPC Member, Sub-Committee Chair, Track Chair, and TPC Chair for numerous international conferences, and was General Co-Chair of ISAP 2021. He has delivered keynote speeches at IEEE SOLI 2018, ISAP 2024, and WAMS 2025, and serves as an IEEE AP-S Distinguished Lecturer (2024–2026), giving invited DL talks across Asia. Prof. Sim has held major IEEE leadership roles including Chair of the IEEE AP-S Taipei Chapter (2016–2017) and founding Chair of the IEEE Council on RFID Taipei Chapter (2017–2020). His editorial contributions include service as Associate Editor for IEEE Access (2016–2021), and ongoing roles with IEEE AWPL, IEEE Journal of RFID, and IJRF&MCAE. In industry, he has been a technical consultant to SAG since 2016 and to Avary, the world’s largest PCB manufacturer, since 2018. His excellence has been recognized through eight consecutive IEEE AP-S Outstanding Reviewer Awards (2014–2021) and the IEEE AWPL Outstanding Associate Editor Award (2018). Elevated to IEEE Fellow (Class of 2025), Prof. Sim continues to be a leading global figure in antennas, propagation, and RF technologies.

Nasimuddin

Dr. Nasimuddin is a Principal Scientist at the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), ASTAR, Singapore, and an internationally recognized expert in RF, microwave, and antenna engineering, with research spanning wideband and high-gain metamaterial antennas, millimeter-wave phased arrays, reconfigurable/intelligent surfaces, RF energy harvesting, satellite antennas, and advanced beamforming systems. He holds a Ph.D. in Electronic Science (2004) from the University of Delhi and has previously served as an Australia Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Macquarie University. With over 250 research publications, multiple books, 8 technology licenses, 14 disclosures, and several U.S./Singapore patents, his work has significantly advanced antenna technologies for satellite communication, RFID, IoT, NDT sensing, and wireless power transfer. He is listed among the world’s top 2% scientists (2023, 2024) and has received several prestigious recognitions including the URSI Young Scientist Award (2005) and ASTAR service awards. A Senior Member of IEEE, he has contributed extensively to the IEEE MTT/AP community, served on editorial boards of major journals, delivered numerous invited/keynote talks worldwide, and led/organized special sessions at flagship conferences such as APS, APMC, ISAP, APCAP, and EuCAP.

Dr. S. Raghavan

Dr. S. Raghavan, Professor (HAG, Retd.) of Electronics and Communication Engineering at NIT Tiruchirappalli and currently Visiting Faculty, is a distinguished educator and researcher with nearly 40 years of contributions to microwave engineering. He established state-of-the-art Microwave Integrated Circuit and Microwave Laboratories at NIT Trichy, guided 16 Ph.D. scholars, and published over 130 journal papers, 140 international conference papers, and three patents. His work spans MICs, RF/MEMS, BioMEMS, metamaterials, antennas, filters, SAR reduction, and biomedical microwave applications. Dr. Raghavan has received numerous awards including Best Faculty Award, multiple Best Researcher Awards, IETE Ranjana Pal Award, DRDO Dare to Dream Award, and several best paper awards. He has held major academic leadership roles, chaired national events such as Indian Antenna Week 2014, delivered invited talks internationally, and contributed significantly to institutional development at NIT-T, including modernization of the library and hospital. He is a Fellow/Senior Member of more than 20 professional societies and continues to be an active contributor to the RF, microwave, and biomedical engineering communities.

Dr. Dilip Kumar Kothari

Dr. Dilip Kumar Kothari is a Senior Professor of Electronics and Communication Engineering with over 37 years of academic experience and strong expertise in Optical Networks. He played a foundational role in establishing the Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering at Nirma University, leading the development of UG/PG programs, laboratories, industry collaborations, curriculum design, and accreditation processes. His leadership enabled the creation of specialized PG programs, extensive faculty development initiatives, and major industry partnerships with organizations such as SAC–ISRO, PRL, and IPR. Dr. Kothari has supervised doctoral and postgraduate research, completed multiple funded projects, delivered specialized training programs for ISRO and the Indian Navy, organized several STTP/FDP programs, and contributed nearly 50 research publications in optical communication, free-space optical links, wireless networks, and cooperative communication. He has taught a wide range of courses in communication systems, networks, microprocessors, embedded systems, and processor architecture, and continues to contribute to academics as Professor Emeritus at Ganpat University.

Dr. Deb Chatterjee

Dr. Deb Chatterjee is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC), where he has served since 1999 after earning his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Kansas in 1998. A Senior Member of IEEE and an active member of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, Dr. Chatterjee’s research spans ultrawideband and electrically small antennas, phased arrays, electromagnetic pulse propagation, directed energy, wireless power transfer, Zenneck and surface wave propagation, and computational electromagnetics. He has extensive experience in developing advanced antenna technologies, multilayer Green’s function techniques, RF propagation models, and UWB microstrip antenna designs, supported by state-of-the-art RF simulation and measurement facilities at UMKC. As an ONR Summer Faculty Fellow from 2009 to 2017, he contributed significantly to applied electromagnetics research, including innovative methods for Sommerfeld integral evaluation, RF propagation in layered media, UWB antenna development, and exploratory studies on EM pulse and Zenneck wave propagation for strategic communications and directed energy applications.

Dr C J Reddy

Dr. C. J. Reddy, Fellow of IEEE, WAMSS, ACES, AMTA, and IETE, is a globally renowned expert in antennas, RF and microwave engineering, and computational electromagnetics, currently serving as Vice President, Business Development – Electromagnetics (Americas) at Altair Engineering, Inc. With a Ph.D. from IIT Kharagpur and over three decades of experience, he has led pioneering advancements including paint-on antennas, compact broadband and anti-jam GPS antennas, and the uCAST asymptotic EM solver, with several technologies successfully transitioned to U.S. Department of Defense applications. He previously served as President of Applied EM Inc. and EM Software & Systems (USA), contributing significantly to the growth of FEKO in North America. Dr. Reddy’s earlier research roles at NASA Langley, Hampton University, CRC Canada, and SAMEER India shaped foundational developments in hybrid FEM/MoM/GTD techniques, cavity-backed antennas, scattering analysis, and radar systems. Widely published and honored with the NSERC International Visiting Fellowship and NRC Research Associateship, Dr. Reddy continues to be a leading figure in the global electromagnetics community and a Life Fellow of WAMSS.

Madhumita Chakravarti

Ms. Madhumita Chakravarti has served DRDO/RCI with distinguished contributions in the design and development of advanced Radio Proximity Fuze (RPF) systems for Surface-to-Air, Air-to-Air and Ballistic Missile Defence weapon platforms. She led the creation of a generalized end-game algorithm capable of engaging both maneuvering and ballistic targets and spearheaded complete system indigenization through the design of multiple RF multifunction MMICs, including receiver and transmitter chips with integrated LNA, mixers, couplers, preamplifiers, power dividers and power amplifiers. Her work incorporates advanced techniques such as oversampling for improved range resolution and a high-speed two-dimensional range–Doppler map with a processing time of just 200 microseconds, achieving an exceptional system reliability of 99.96%. She guided the development of a DRFM-based portable target simulator and data acquisition system for qualification, integration and field testing, and conceptualized a dynamic evaluation method at PXE Balasore for assessing high-speed engagements. Her designs have been successfully qualified for extreme dynamic and climatic environments, transferred to industry partners, and produced at scale—over 2000 units for the AKASH weapon system—with further deployments for ASTRA, AAD, QRSAM, and AKASH-1S. As Director, CMSDS, she established a state-of-the-art mm-wave semiconductor fabrication facility and initiated fabrication, strengthening national capabilities in strategic defence technologies.

Dr. Vijay Shanker Tripathi

Dr. Vijay Shanker Tripathi is a Professor in the Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering at Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) Allahabad, with over 22 years of teaching and research experience. He holds a Ph.D. and M.E. from MNNIT Allahabad and a B.Tech. from the University of Allahabad. His research focuses on RF circuits and systems, dielectric resonator and microstrip antennas, metamaterial-based and implantable antennas, non-invasive RF sensors, near-field imaging for medical applications, intelligent transportation systems, SDR, neural networks, and cognitive radio. Dr. Tripathi has led multiple sponsored research projects, supervised numerous Ph.D. and M.Tech. theses, and published extensively in reputed international journals and conferences. His contributions include wideband wearable antennas for MIoT/5G, non-invasive microwave glucose sensing, and advanced antenna designs for ITS and biomedical applications. A Senior Member of IEEE and member of several IEEE societies, he has delivered invited lectures across India, organized major technical events including IEEE MAC 2023, and actively contributes to academic leadership and advanced RF/microwave research at MNNIT Allahabad.

Dr. Jaume Anguera

Dr. Jaume Anguera (IEEE Fellow) is the Founder and CTO of Ignion and an Associate Professor at Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona, with a distinguished career in antenna research, innovation, and technology development. He holds engineering and Ph.D. degrees from UPC Barcelona and has over two decades of experience spanning academia and industry, including leading R&D at Fractus in Spain and South Korea, where he contributed to breakthrough antenna technologies for major global manufacturers. He is the inventor of Antenna Booster Technology (Virtual Antenna®), holds more than 180 granted patents adopted worldwide, and has authored over 300 research publications, 7 books, and supervised more than 170 theses. Dr. Anguera has delivered over 80 invited lectures globally, participated in 24+ funded research projects worth over $14M, and received numerous prestigious awards, including the European Patent Award finalist distinction and Technology Pioneer recognition from the World Economic Forum. His research interests include multiband and small antennas, MIMO systems, antenna booster technology, fractal antennas, and genetically optimized antenna systems.

Prof Binod Kumar Kanaujia

Prof Binod Kumar Kanaujia is currently working as Director (deputation), Dr. B.R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology Jalandhar, Punjab since Feb. 2022. He is also a Professor in School of Computational and Integrative Sciences (SC & IS), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi since August, 2016. He held the positions of Dean, SC & IS and chief advisor of the Equal Opportunity Office, JNU. Before joining Jawaharlal Nehru University, he had been in the Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering in Ambedkar Institute of Advanced Communication Technologies & Research (formerly, Ambedkar Institute of Technology), Delhi as a Professor since Feb. 2011 & Associate Professor (2008-2011). Earlier, Dr. Kanaujia held the positions of Lecturer (1996-2005), Reader (2005-2008) and HoD, Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering, M.J.P. Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, India. Prior to his career in academics, Dr. Kanaujia had worked as Executive Engineer in the R&D division of M/s UPTRON India Ltd. Dr. Kanaujia had completed his B.Tech. in Electronics Engineering from KNIT Sultanpur, India in 1994. He did his M.Tech. and Ph.D. in 1998 and 2004; respectively from Department of Electronics Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. He has been awarded Junior Research Fellowship by UGC Delhi in the year 2001-02 for his outstanding work in the electronics field. He has a keen research interest in design and modelling of microstrip antenna, dielectric resonator antenna, left-handed metamaterial microstrip antenna, shorted microstrip antenna, ultrawideband antennas, reconfigurable and circular polarized antennas for wireless communication. He has been credited to publish more than 500 research papers, 4 books, 18 book chapters and 14 patents with more than 10000 citations with h-index of 49 in several peer-reviewed journals and conferences. He had supervised 50 M.Tech. and 47 Ph.D. research scholars in the field of microwave engineering. He is a reviewer for several journals of international repute i.e. IET Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, Wireless Personal Communications, Journal of Electromagnetic Wave and Application, Indian Journal of Radio and Space Physics, IETE Technical Review, International Journal of Electronics, International Journal of Engineering Science, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, AEU-International Journal of Electronics and Communication, International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies, etc. Dr. Kanaujia had successfully executed 08 research projects with 03 on-going projects sponsored by several agencies of Government of India i.e. DRDO, DST, ICMR, DBT, SERB, AICTE and ISRO. He is also a senior member of IEEE, Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India), and Institute of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers of India; also member of several academic and professional bodies i.e., Indian Society for Technical Education. He is also Associate Editor in IEEE ACCESS, and Editor of AEU-International Journal of Electronics and Communication of publisher Elsevier, IETE Technical Review of publisher Taylor and Francis, and Wireless and Communication Letters.

Prof Shweta Srivastave

Prof Shweta Srivastave is Director at Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Sector 62, Noida. She has completed her Ph.D from IIT, BHU and Senior Executive Leadership Program from Harvard Business School. Her research interests are in the field of microstrip, active and smart antennas, millimeter wave antennas, reconfigurable antennas, beam-forming antennas, on chip antennas, microwave integrated circuits, active/passive substrate integrated waveguide etc. She has published more than 130 research papers in International and National journals and conferences including IEEE transactions. She has published several book chapters and has two granted patents from her research. She has 14 Ph.D’s awarded under her guidance and 3 are ongoing. She is a reviewer of several reputed national and international journals like IEEE transactions, IEEE Wireless Propagation Letters, Wireless Personal Communication etc. She was awarded “Women In Technology, 2025”, for strong and leadership role in academics, research and administration. She was also awarded prestigious IETE – Lal C Verman Award 2023 in recognition for outstanding contribution in the field of standardization, quality control and precision measurements. She was also awarded IETE Smt. Ranjana Pal Memorial Award in recognition for significant contribution in the field of RF and Microwaves in 2016. She is a member of IEEE Antenna and Propagation society committee on security defense and disaster management.

Dr. Rama Rao T

Dr. Rama Rao T, Sr. Professor at SRM University – AP, Amaravati, India with 31+ years of long-standing research experience in Radio Communications. Received PhD on “Radio Wave Propagation studies of Fixed and Mobile Communications over Southern India” from Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, India during the year 2000. Earlier, Prof. Rama Rao was with SRMIST, Kattankulathur, Chennai, Tamilnadu as Professor for about 19 years. And worked at Aalborg University, Denmark as a Research Professor, at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain, and at the University of Sydney, Australia, as a Visiting Professor as well. Prof. Rama Rao received significant funding from the Govt. of India funding agencies of DST, ISRO, DRDO as PI on Wireless Sensor Communications; Inter-Satellite 60 GHz Antennas, Wearable UWB Antennas and Millimeter wave Communications. Also received funding from DST, GoI under FIST to develop Photonic Wireless Communications and received DST-PURSE grant as Co-PI on Electric Mobility. Recently involving DST-VAIBHAV Fellowship as Co-PI on 6G Network Technologies. He is a Senior Member of IEEE, and a Fellow of IETE and Fellow of WAMS Society, India. So far, he supervised 18+ PhD students and has authored 125+ papers in reputed journals and 135+ in various conferences. His research interests include Antennas & its Applications, Mobile Broadband Radio Communication Networks and AI ML assisted RF Photonic Communications – Quantum Communication Networks