Yang Li, a PhD student in electrical engineering, has been selected to receive an IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Doctoral Research Award for the 2011-12 academic year. This prestigious award includes a $2,500 fellowship and is given annually to up to ten PhD students pursuing research in the area of electromagnetics.
Li was selected to receive the award for his proposal, “Design of a Non-Metallic, Low-Loss Metamaterial Planar Superlens at Microwave Frequency.” Li’s proposal involves creating a planar lens for super-resolution imaging (a ‘superlens’) by three-dimensional arrays of two sets of magneto-dielectric spheres arbitrarily arranged on a simple tetragonal lattice that he hopes can be implemented and be applied in the industry of nondestructive evaluation.
“IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society is the biggest and most famous international community for researchers and engineers working on electromagnetics. Receiving its annual doctoral research award is a great confirmation of my previous research work and a significant encouragement to my future work,” Li says.
Li was introduced to this research challenge by his major professor, Associate Professor Nicola Bowler, who suggested that he study the design of a low-loss, dielectric metamaterial with intended application as a so-called ‘superlens’ for sub-wavelength resolution imaging of defects in dielectrics.
“Mr. Li is a very capable and productive student both in terms of laboratory work and theoretical analysis,” Bowler says. “As well as well-developed mathematical, analytical, and computational skills, Mr. Li demonstrates an unusually high level of dedication and resourcefulness in his research. These qualities underlie his success in being selected to receive the IEEE award, and make him highly deserving of it.”
Li, a native of Wuhan, China, received both his BS in Telecommunication Engineering in 2006 and his MS in Electromagnetic Field and Microwave Technology in 2008 from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), in Wuhan, China.
During the fall of his junior year at HUST, Li took a course on field and wave electromagnetics. “During that semester, I realized the intrinsically symmetrical beauty of electromagnetics,” Li says. “Just after the final of the course, I decided to dedicate the entire life of my career to the area of electromagnetics.”
After graduate school, Li plans to pursue a position in academia. “I hope that I can continue my career in electromagnetics and implement my own ideas on it,” Li says. “Electromagnetics is a classical area with numerous applications in our daily life, such as wireless communications. I encourage every undergraduate in the ECpE department to get the fundamental knowledge of it.”
Li received his award at the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society meeting July 3-8, 2011, in Spokane, Washington. -30-