THz Antenna Fabrication and Measurement Facilities (TERRA)
Lead Research Organisation:
Queen Mary University of London
Department Name: Sch of Electronic Eng & Computer Science
Abstract
This Strategic Equipment proposal aims to facilitate an integrated "digital" manufacturing and characterisation capability in the UK for a wide range of THz antennas and passive components, which, in turn, will accelerate the impact of our THz research and serve both S&T communities in the UK to align with the EPSRC priority area of "21st Century Products", especially for Metamaterials and Manufacturing with reduced materials pallet. We aim to achieve this by combining a state of the art millimetrewave spherical near-field antenna measurement system with a state-of-the-art sub-micron resolution 3D printer to provide rapid prototype fabrication and test of antennas and devices up to 500GHz. This will be installed within the already extensively equipped Antenna Measurement Laboratory (AML) at Queen Mary and will form the Thz antEnna fabRication and measuRement fAcilities (TERRA).
TERRA consists of three key items of equipment, firstly the NSI compact antenna multi-test system operating at frequencies up to 500 GHz, will be the first of its kind in the UK for THz antenna measurement and will serve to enhance our world-leading AML test facilities at RF/Microwave and THz frequencies. Secondly a pair of 140-220 GHz THz transmit/receive modules, which will fill the frequency band gap in our current Keysight vector network analyser (value £420k), giving us overall test capability from 10 MHz to 325 GHz (extendable to 500 GHz in the future). The final key component of TERRA is the Nanoscribe 3D laser lithography system that provides a fast and powerful platform for micro and nanofabrication, at the highest resolution commercially available with a writing area of up to (100 x 100)mm and 3mm height.
For future THz antennas, agile beam steering will be a frequent requirement (not least for 5G millimetrewave antennas) and the requested NSI system is the ONLY system that can characterise such antennas at the prototype stage prior to the expensive and time consuming packaging process. Such capability can rapidly reduce development time and cost-to-market of new millimetrewave antennas and so will be of major impact to UK universities and industry.
TERRA will be housed in the AML and the existing full-time Manager will administrate usage, supervision, advertising, future training and maintenance. To extract the maximum capability from TERRA, we will create a new full-time TSO (technical support officer Grade 4) post (supervised by the AML Manager). To maximise the external use of TERRA, we will register TERRA equipments as Small Research Facility (SRF) allowing academic users to incorporate hire costs into new research proposals. For industrial access, the priority will be given to our EPSRC collaborative partners, mainly QinetiQ, Catapult, DSTL, NPL, Leonardo, ESA, Huawei and Airbus as well as the SME's we support. QinetiQ have already offered an iCASE PhD studentship to TERRA to help fully exploit the capability offered by the facility. It is envisaged that by the end of year 2 there will be a (50/30/20)% split between QMUL, external RCUK funded academic partners and industry respectively.
The emergence of new technologies such as 5G and future generations of wireless communications means that UK industry needs facilities such as TERRA to support this important sector of the UK economy, the application of radio alone contributes in excess of £13 billion to UK GDP and supports more than 400,000 jobs. The changing nature of the science and technology base, e.g. materials by design, additive manufacturing and industry 4.0 etc. means that facilities accessible to UK industry and academia, such as TERRA, will provide vital training to a new generation of engineers needed to be skilled in the technologies of tomorrow, not the past. UK Industry will need these new skills, both to survive and increase productivity post-Brexit.
TERRA consists of three key items of equipment, firstly the NSI compact antenna multi-test system operating at frequencies up to 500 GHz, will be the first of its kind in the UK for THz antenna measurement and will serve to enhance our world-leading AML test facilities at RF/Microwave and THz frequencies. Secondly a pair of 140-220 GHz THz transmit/receive modules, which will fill the frequency band gap in our current Keysight vector network analyser (value £420k), giving us overall test capability from 10 MHz to 325 GHz (extendable to 500 GHz in the future). The final key component of TERRA is the Nanoscribe 3D laser lithography system that provides a fast and powerful platform for micro and nanofabrication, at the highest resolution commercially available with a writing area of up to (100 x 100)mm and 3mm height.
For future THz antennas, agile beam steering will be a frequent requirement (not least for 5G millimetrewave antennas) and the requested NSI system is the ONLY system that can characterise such antennas at the prototype stage prior to the expensive and time consuming packaging process. Such capability can rapidly reduce development time and cost-to-market of new millimetrewave antennas and so will be of major impact to UK universities and industry.
TERRA will be housed in the AML and the existing full-time Manager will administrate usage, supervision, advertising, future training and maintenance. To extract the maximum capability from TERRA, we will create a new full-time TSO (technical support officer Grade 4) post (supervised by the AML Manager). To maximise the external use of TERRA, we will register TERRA equipments as Small Research Facility (SRF) allowing academic users to incorporate hire costs into new research proposals. For industrial access, the priority will be given to our EPSRC collaborative partners, mainly QinetiQ, Catapult, DSTL, NPL, Leonardo, ESA, Huawei and Airbus as well as the SME's we support. QinetiQ have already offered an iCASE PhD studentship to TERRA to help fully exploit the capability offered by the facility. It is envisaged that by the end of year 2 there will be a (50/30/20)% split between QMUL, external RCUK funded academic partners and industry respectively.
The emergence of new technologies such as 5G and future generations of wireless communications means that UK industry needs facilities such as TERRA to support this important sector of the UK economy, the application of radio alone contributes in excess of £13 billion to UK GDP and supports more than 400,000 jobs. The changing nature of the science and technology base, e.g. materials by design, additive manufacturing and industry 4.0 etc. means that facilities accessible to UK industry and academia, such as TERRA, will provide vital training to a new generation of engineers needed to be skilled in the technologies of tomorrow, not the past. UK Industry will need these new skills, both to survive and increase productivity post-Brexit.
Planned Impact
The TERRA facility consisting of the Nanoscribe 3D laser lithography system and the NSI compact millimetrewave antenna multi-test system will provide a fast and powerful platform for micro and nanofabrication of millimetrewave antennas and devices, and then to take these devices and fully characterise their radiation characteristics up to 325GHz. This dual capability will be a unique facility within the UK.
TERRA will become part of QMUL's extensive Antenna Measurement Laboratory (AML) which has a long history in pioneering millimetrewave antenna measurements, including the construction of Europe's first 200GHz Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) in 1992, which was used to characterise the BAE Systems space based AMSU-B 183GHz microwave sounder for low earth orbit radiometry. With TERRA the AML can offer one of the most comprehensive THz antenna prototype manufacture and measurement facilities in the UK.
During the installation and commissioning phase of TERRA we will undertake publicity events to engage both partner universities and industrial as well as research groups from a wider THz community such as TERANET. This promotion will include press releases to magazines and journals (e.g. IET E&T, IEEE "Microwaves" and "A&P" magazines) as well as national and international conferences and meetings such as LAPC, EuCAP, Cambridge Wireless, ARMMS, AMTA all of which Antenna Group members regularly attend. AML already has an extensive web presence (https://antennas.eecs.qmul.ac.uk) and this will be expanded to include the TERRA facilities. AML already serves a number of SME customers in London and the South East and when TERRA is operational we will hold a QMUL funded open day to promote AML, its unique millimetrewave capability and especially the TERRA facility. This will be organised by the QMUL Science & Engineering Faculty Business Development Manager, who has run previous promotions for the Antenna Group's research capability.
Our current experience with hiring out AML facilities has shown that what started out as a small measurement programme for industry often leads to further research projects to tackle fundamental issues related to device characterisation. Thus, facilities such as TERRA will act as a focal point for enhanced engagement with the industry. As stated in the Case for Support we intend to register TERRA as a Small Research Facility (SRF) allowing academic users to access our facilities via EPSRC funding. A large benefit to the academic team will be the increase in scientific research, which will be accelerated through the proposed large interdisciplinary collaborations. The PI and Co-PIs already have a strong track record in publishing their findings in journals such as Nature Comms, Physical Review Letters and IEEE Transactions. Staff exchange between industry and QMUL will also result in knowledge share and foster a culture of working across the traditional academic-industrial boundaries to benefit both parties.
Our staff and students will need to be trained to operate the TERRA facilities and we will open this training up to other universities staff who wish to use the facility through direct hire or via SRF. The uniqueness of the TERRA facility will mean that these trained individuals will have highly valuable skills for industry. The emergence of new technologies such as 5G and future generations of wireless communications means that UK industry needs facilities such as TERRA to support this important sector of the UK economy, the application of radio alone contributes in excess of £13 billion to UK GDP and supports more than 400,000 jobs. The changing nature of the science and technology base, e.g. materials by design, additive manufacturing and industry 4.0 etc. means that facilities accessible to UK industry and academia, such as TERRA, will provide vital training to a new generation of engineers needed to be skilled in the technologies of tomorrow, not the past.
TERRA will become part of QMUL's extensive Antenna Measurement Laboratory (AML) which has a long history in pioneering millimetrewave antenna measurements, including the construction of Europe's first 200GHz Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) in 1992, which was used to characterise the BAE Systems space based AMSU-B 183GHz microwave sounder for low earth orbit radiometry. With TERRA the AML can offer one of the most comprehensive THz antenna prototype manufacture and measurement facilities in the UK.
During the installation and commissioning phase of TERRA we will undertake publicity events to engage both partner universities and industrial as well as research groups from a wider THz community such as TERANET. This promotion will include press releases to magazines and journals (e.g. IET E&T, IEEE "Microwaves" and "A&P" magazines) as well as national and international conferences and meetings such as LAPC, EuCAP, Cambridge Wireless, ARMMS, AMTA all of which Antenna Group members regularly attend. AML already has an extensive web presence (https://antennas.eecs.qmul.ac.uk) and this will be expanded to include the TERRA facilities. AML already serves a number of SME customers in London and the South East and when TERRA is operational we will hold a QMUL funded open day to promote AML, its unique millimetrewave capability and especially the TERRA facility. This will be organised by the QMUL Science & Engineering Faculty Business Development Manager, who has run previous promotions for the Antenna Group's research capability.
Our current experience with hiring out AML facilities has shown that what started out as a small measurement programme for industry often leads to further research projects to tackle fundamental issues related to device characterisation. Thus, facilities such as TERRA will act as a focal point for enhanced engagement with the industry. As stated in the Case for Support we intend to register TERRA as a Small Research Facility (SRF) allowing academic users to access our facilities via EPSRC funding. A large benefit to the academic team will be the increase in scientific research, which will be accelerated through the proposed large interdisciplinary collaborations. The PI and Co-PIs already have a strong track record in publishing their findings in journals such as Nature Comms, Physical Review Letters and IEEE Transactions. Staff exchange between industry and QMUL will also result in knowledge share and foster a culture of working across the traditional academic-industrial boundaries to benefit both parties.
Our staff and students will need to be trained to operate the TERRA facilities and we will open this training up to other universities staff who wish to use the facility through direct hire or via SRF. The uniqueness of the TERRA facility will mean that these trained individuals will have highly valuable skills for industry. The emergence of new technologies such as 5G and future generations of wireless communications means that UK industry needs facilities such as TERRA to support this important sector of the UK economy, the application of radio alone contributes in excess of £13 billion to UK GDP and supports more than 400,000 jobs. The changing nature of the science and technology base, e.g. materials by design, additive manufacturing and industry 4.0 etc. means that facilities accessible to UK industry and academia, such as TERRA, will provide vital training to a new generation of engineers needed to be skilled in the technologies of tomorrow, not the past.
Publications
Cheng Q
(2020)
Compressive Sensing Radar Imaging With Convolutional Neural Networks
in IEEE Access
Cheng Q
(2019)
Composite Luneburg lens based on dielectric or plasmonic scatterers.
in Optics express
Cheng Q
(2020)
A Generic Spiral MIMO Array Design Method for Short-Range UWB Imaging
in IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters
Cheng Q
(2022)
Dual Circularly Polarized 3-D Printed Broadband Dielectric Reflectarray With a Linearly Polarized Feed
in IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation
Cheng Q
(2018)
Study on Sparse MIMO Array for Compressive Sensing Imaging
Christogeorgos O
(2021)
Extraordinary Directive Emission and Scanning from an Array of Radiation Sources with Hyperuniform Disorder
in Physical Review Applied
Chu H
(2021)
Invisible surfaces enabled by the coalescence of anti-reflection and wavefront controllability in ultrathin metasurfaces.
in Nature communications
Giddens H
(2020)
Multibeam Graded Dielectric Lens Antenna From Multimaterial 3-D Printing
in IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation
Giddens H
(2021)
Multimaterial 3-D Printed Compressed Luneburg Lens for mm-Wave Beam Steering
in IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters
He D
(2019)
Influence Analysis of Typical Objects in Rural Railway Environments at 28 GHz
in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
Description | This Strategic Equipment proposal aims to facilitate an integrated "digital" manufacturing and characterisation capability in the UK for a wide range of THz antennas and passive components, which, in turn, will accelerate the impact of our THz research and serve both S&T communities in the UK to align with the EPSRC priority area of "21st Century Products", especially for Metamaterials and Manufacturing with reduced materials pallet. We aim to achieve this by combining a state of the art millimetrewave spherical near-field antenna measurement system with a state-of-the-art sub-micron resolution 3D printer to provide rapid prototype fabrication and test of antennas and devices up to 500GHz. This will be installed within the already extensively equipped Antenna Measurement Laboratory (AML) at Queen Mary and will form the Thz antEnna fabRication and measuRement fAcilities (TERRA). TERRA consists of three key items of equipment, firstly the NSI compact antenna multi-test system operating at frequencies up to 500 GHz, will be the first of its kind in the UK for THz antenna measurement and will serve to enhance our world-leading AML test facilities at RF/Microwave and THz frequencies. Secondly a pair of 140-220 GHz THz transmit/receive modules, which will fill the frequency band gap in our current Keysight vector network analyser (value £420k), giving us overall test capability from 10 MHz to 325 GHz (extendable to 500 GHz in the future). The final key component of TERRA is the Nanoscribe 3D laser lithography system that provides a fast and powerful platform for micro and nanofabrication, at the highest resolution commercially available with a writing area of up to (100 x 100)mm and 3mm height. For future THz antennas, agile beam steering will be a frequent requirement (not least for 5G millimetrewave antennas) and the requested NSI system is the ONLY system that can characterise such antennas at the prototype stage prior to the expensive and time consuming packaging process. Such capability can rapidly reduce development time and cost-tomarket of new millimetrewave antennas and so will be of major impact to UK universities and industry. TERRA will be housed in the AML and the existing full-time Manager will administrate usage, supervision, advertising, future training and maintenance. To extract the maximum capability from TERRA, we will create a new full-time TSO (technical support officer Grade 4) post (supervised by the AML Manager). To maximise the external use of TERRA, we will register TERRA equipments as Small Research Facility (SRF) allowing academic users to incorporate hire costs into new research proposals. For industrial access, the priority will be given to our EPSRC collaborative partners, mainly QinetiQ, Catapult, DSTL, NPL, Leonardo, ESA, Huawei and Airbus as well as the SME's we support. QinetiQ have already offered an iCASE PhD studentship to TERRA to help fully exploit the capability offered by the facility. It is envisaged that by the end of year 2 there will be a (50/30/20)% split between QMUL, external RCUK funded academic partners and industry respectively. The emergence of new technologies such as 5G and future generations of wireless communications means that UK industry needs facilities such as TERRA to support this important sector of the UK economy, the application of radio alone contributes in excess of £13 billion to UK GDP and supports more than 400,000 jobs. The changing nature of the science and technology base, e.g. materials by design, additive manufacturing and industry 4.0 etc. means that facilities accessible to UK industry and academia, such as TERRA, will provide vital training to a new generation of engineers needed to be skilled in the technologies of tomorrow, not the past. UK Industry will need these new skills, both to survive and increase productivity post-Brexit. |
Exploitation Route | The TERRA equipment will be undoubtedly beneficial to other UK research teams in universities such as Loughborough, Oxford, Exeter, Lancaster and Birmingham under several EPSRC funded research of which QMUL is a partner including AOMOMAT, SYMETA and TeraLINK. More importantly, it will extend the support to a very strong mm-wave and THz university research community including Cambridge, Chester, Imperial College, Kent, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Queen's Belfast, Reading, Sheffield, St Andrews, Surrey, UCL. Industrial users include NPL, RAL, QinetiQ, BAE Systems, Brody Forbes, Rosenberger, Thomas Keatings, Mediwise, whom we are collaborating in THz research and who have used our current facilities for their R&D projects. |
Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Electronics |
Description | The TERRA facility consisting of the Nanoscribe 3D laser lithography system and the NSI compact millimetrewave antenna multi-test system will provide a fast and powerful platform for micro and nanofabrication of millimetrewave antennas and devices, and then to take these devices and fully characterise their radiation characteristics up to 325GHz. This dual capability will be a unique facility within the UK. TERRA will become part of QMUL's extensive Antenna Measurement Laboratory (AML) which has a long history in pioneering millimetrewave antenna measurements, including the construction of Europe's first 200GHz Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) in 1992, which was used to characterise the BAE Systems space based AMSU-B 183GHz microwave sounder for low earth orbit radiometry. With TERRA the AML can offer one of the most comprehensive THz antenna prototype manufacture and measurement facilities in the UK. During the installation and commissioning phase of TERRA we will undertake publicity events to engage both partner universities and industrial as well as research groups from a wider THz community such as TERANET. This promotion will include press releases to magazines and journals (e.g. IET E&T, IEEE "Microwaves" and "A&P" magazines) as well as national and international conferences and meetings such as LAPC, EuCAP, Cambridge Wireless, ARMMS, AMTA all of which Antenna Group members regularly attend. AML already has an extensive web presence (https://antennas.eecs.qmul.ac.uk) and this will be expanded to include the TERRA facilities. AML already serves a number of SME customers in London and the South East and when TERRA is operational we will hold a QMUL funded open day to promote AML, its unique millimetrewave capability and especially the TERRA facility. This will be organised by the QMUL Science & Engineering Faculty Business Development Manager, who has run previous promotions for the Antenna Group's research capability. Our current experience with hiring out AML facilities has shown that what started out as a small measurement programme for industry often leads to further research projects to tackle fundamental issues related to device characterisation. Thus, facilities such as TERRA will act as a focal point for enhanced engagement with the industry. As stated in the Case for Support we intend to register TERRA as a Small Research Facility (SRF) allowing academic users to access our facilities via EPSRC funding. A large benefit to the academic team will be the increase in scientific research, which will be accelerated through the proposed large interdisciplinary collaborations. The PI and Co-PIs already have a strong track record in publishing their findings in journals such as Nature Comms, Physical Review Letters and IEEE Transactions. Staff exchange between industry and QMUL will also result in knowledge share and foster a culture of working across the traditional academic-industrial boundaries to benefit both parties. Our staff and students will need to be trained to operate the TERRA facilities and we will open this training up to other universities staff who wish to use the facility through direct hire or via SRF. The uniqueness of the TERRA facility will mean that these trained individuals will have highly valuable skills for industry. The emergence of new technologies such as 5G and future generations of wireless communications means that UK industry needs facilities such as TERRA to support this important sector of the UK economy, the application of radio alone contributes in excess of £13 billion to UK GDP and supports more than 400,000 jobs. The changing nature of the science and technology base, e.g. materials by design, additive manufacturing and industry 4.0 etc. means that facilities accessible to UK industry and academia, such as TERRA, will provide vital training to a new generation of engineers needed to be skilled in the technologies of tomorrow, not the past. |
First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics |
Impact Types | Cultural Economic |
Description | London Regional Defence and Security Cluster organisation |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Impact | The LRDSC holds a number of values that are at the core of what it has been formed to achieve. We expect all members to uphold the same values: Collaboration: Encouraging collaborative working and partnerships to broaden outreach and increase efficiency Innovation: Fostering and incubating novel ideas and innovation Respect: Inclusivity of membership and opportunity to thrive for all, including the promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion. Representation: Providing a sector voice and representation, helping to shape the future of D&S People: Investing in our workforce through education, training and skills development |
Description | Member of enterprise committee for the Royal Academy of Engineering |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Impact | In particular, I have contributed to the draft of responses to the following questions: • Do you agree with our characterisations of the issues facing UK SMEs, and our potential solutions to these issues? • Are there any other themes, issues or solutions that we have missed? • Is there any work by other organisations on the topics we have included that it would be useful to cite? • Are there any issues or solutions that are candidates for removal? |
Description | Member of membership committee for the Royal Academy of Engineering |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Impact | policy changes including EDI considerations in FREng election etc |
Description | Member of research committee for the Royal Academy of Engineering |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Impact | Definition of role and responsibilities of the IC Advisor and University Research Advisor (document to be finalised) Possible revision of the Academy mentor's role and responsibilities in line with the point above- TBC University advisor requirement about citizenship Candidate with dual citizenships - allowed, confirmed that at least one is from the permitted list of countries (Australia, Canada, the EEA, New Zealand, Switzerland, the UK or the US) |
URL | https://raeng.org.uk/ukicpostdoc |
Description | member of ERC starting grant evaluation panel |
Geographic Reach | Europe |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Impact | The ERC Work Programme will no longer include detailed prescriptive profiles of principal investigators. In the application, the Curriculum Vitae and Track Record will be merged into one document of up to four pages. The applicant will be expected to include - apart from standard biographical information - a list of up to ten research outputs that demonstrate how they have advanced knowledge in their field, with an emphasis on more recent achievements, and a list of selected examples of significant peer recognition (for example, prizes). A short explanation of the significance of the selected outputs, the applicant's role in producing each of them, and how the applicant has demonstrated their capacity to successfully carry out the proposed project can also be included. The applicant may also include relevant information on, for example, career breaks, unusual career paths, as well as any particularly noteworthy contributions to the research community. These will not in themselves be evaluated but are important to provide context to the evaluation panels when assessing the principal investigator's research achievements and peer recognition in relation to their career stage. |
URL | https://erc.europa.eu/news-events/news/evaluation-erc-grant-proposals-what-expect-2024 |
Description | DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC MATERIAL DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING FOR FUTURE WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY (DREAM) |
Amount | £2,579,837 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/X02542X/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2023 |
End | 02/2028 |
Description | Transmission Channels Measurements and Communication System Design for Future mmWave Communications (mmWave TRACCS) |
Amount | £491,424 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/W026732/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 12/2022 |
End | 05/2026 |
Title | Research lab automation being made to QMUL's antenna lab |
Description | A robotic system has been developed to test antennas for millimetre wave and THz frequencies. Meanwhile, a research lab automation system has been implemented for rapid material discovery. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2024 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | A nature communication paper is currently being reviewed. |
Description | AGC Contract on Optical Transparent Antennas for future wireless communications |
Organisation | AGC Chemicals Europe |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | 3D printed antennas have been co-developed with AGC for future communications in driverless automotives |
Collaborator Contribution | AGC has been providing system requirements, system integration and demonstration. |
Impact | A patent application is being prepared and a potential spinout will come out of this collaboration |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Antenna Design Studies |
Organisation | Qinetiq |
Department | QinetiQ (Farnborough) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | 1. Antenna A design studies and test of prototypes; 2. Antenna B-design studies and test of prototypes; 3. Device A-superscatter design studies and test of prototypes |
Collaborator Contribution | QinetiQ-provision of design guidelines at start of project-provision of prototypes for testing 3 months after initial design, noting requirement to optimise |
Impact | N/A |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Metasurface design for HBF antennas |
Organisation | Qinetiq |
Department | QinetiQ (Farnborough) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | This study entails the design of a holographic beam forming antenna. Holographic antennas are a type of leaky wave antenna where the feeding surface wave interacts with the radiated plane wave resulting in diffraction at the aperture. The beam shape and direction may be controlled by varying the metasurface impedance profiles, and they have the advantage that they can be thin, relatively easy to manufacture and are easier to integrate within a system due to for example an in-plane feed. Furthermore holographic beam forming overcomes the hardware expense and complexity of a phased array beamforming. The metasurfaces are formed from conductive patches on a dielectric substrate, and a number of designs have been reported in the literature, such as for example at satcom frequencies, cognitive radios and for ultra-wideband applications relating to tracking and wireless comms. |
Collaborator Contribution | Qinetiq provided antenna fabrication. |
Impact | N/A |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Ofcom and Queen Mary University of London publish white paper on reflective surfaces in wireless networks |
Organisation | Ofcom |
Department | Office of Communications (Ofcom) - Research Department |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Ofcom has undertaken a piece of technology foresight work in collaboration with Queen Mary University of London on the potential role of reflective surfaces in future wireless communications. QMUL provided the technical support including numerical simulations of reflective surfaces. |
Collaborator Contribution | Ofcom has provided the technical requirement, written the final white paper. |
Impact | White paper has been published based on a multi-disciplinary effort, which the expertise of computational electromagnetics, wireless channel modelling and system planning is involved. |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | SOFTWARE DEFINED MATERIALS FOR DYNAMIC CONTROL OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES (ANIMATE) |
Organisation | Qinetiq |
Department | QinetiQ (Farnborough) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The ultimate objective of ANIMATE is to remove the traditional boundary between the designs of antennas and RF/microwave electronics as well as materials and devices, so that a generic material platform can be developed that is programmable and flexible for multifunctional applications integrating communication, sensing and computation. Specifically, in this project, we will: 1. Establish a holistic approach of software-defined materials for communication, sensing and computation, by building novel integrated and adaptive antenna technologies. 2. Integrate wireless sensor networks into the design of computer interface and control units for tunable materials to demonstrate and validate the wholly new concept of "networked materials" at subwavelength scales. 3. Exploit challenging applications of proposed antenna and material technologies with our core industrial partners at all stages of development: prototyping, manufacturing, toolbox validation, platform integration and testing. 4. Research novel active and tunable materials and investigate fundamental limits of relevant materials to industrial challenges. 5. Develop simulation tools that span from materials, device and process modeling with intricate complexities that open up the design domain significantly and enable the production of optimal structures with improved performance. |
Collaborator Contribution | Our industrial partners are a vital part of our impact strategy, keeping our focus on what they need for innovative devices and systems to commercialise. We have recently established a strategic collaboration with Dr Sajad Haq (SH) and his team at QinetiQ (QQ), who have committed strong financial support and co-created the ANIMATE project. Other industrial collaborators include Thales UK, Huawei, BAE Systems, Satellite Application Catapult and UK SMEs including Flann Microwaves and Plextek, et al. We have a long history of collaborations with universities (Oxford, Sheffield, Exeter and Loughborough), some of whom (SYMETA) have provided letters of support for this application. |
Impact | A news release from Qinetiq can be found from https://www.qinetiq.com/News/2018/06/Queen-Mary-Collaboration As the project just started, there has been no publishable outputs and outcomes. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | SOFTWARE DEFINED MATERIALS FOR DYNAMIC CONTROL OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES (ANIMATE) |
Organisation | Thales Group |
Department | Thales UK Limited |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The ultimate objective of ANIMATE is to remove the traditional boundary between the designs of antennas and RF/microwave electronics as well as materials and devices, so that a generic material platform can be developed that is programmable and flexible for multifunctional applications integrating communication, sensing and computation. Specifically, in this project, we will: 1. Establish a holistic approach of software-defined materials for communication, sensing and computation, by building novel integrated and adaptive antenna technologies. 2. Integrate wireless sensor networks into the design of computer interface and control units for tunable materials to demonstrate and validate the wholly new concept of "networked materials" at subwavelength scales. 3. Exploit challenging applications of proposed antenna and material technologies with our core industrial partners at all stages of development: prototyping, manufacturing, toolbox validation, platform integration and testing. 4. Research novel active and tunable materials and investigate fundamental limits of relevant materials to industrial challenges. 5. Develop simulation tools that span from materials, device and process modeling with intricate complexities that open up the design domain significantly and enable the production of optimal structures with improved performance. |
Collaborator Contribution | Our industrial partners are a vital part of our impact strategy, keeping our focus on what they need for innovative devices and systems to commercialise. We have recently established a strategic collaboration with Dr Sajad Haq (SH) and his team at QinetiQ (QQ), who have committed strong financial support and co-created the ANIMATE project. Other industrial collaborators include Thales UK, Huawei, BAE Systems, Satellite Application Catapult and UK SMEs including Flann Microwaves and Plextek, et al. We have a long history of collaborations with universities (Oxford, Sheffield, Exeter and Loughborough), some of whom (SYMETA) have provided letters of support for this application. |
Impact | A news release from Qinetiq can be found from https://www.qinetiq.com/News/2018/06/Queen-Mary-Collaboration As the project just started, there has been no publishable outputs and outcomes. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Software Defined Materials for Antenna Applications |
Organisation | Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | This project is aimed to develop a new paradigm for software defined materials with wireless sensor network at subwavelength scales, in industrial contexts, which can be programmable for current and evolving standards, security requirements and multiple functionalities. It arises from several industrial challenges relevant to the development of future wireless communication, radar and sensor systems, which require frequency agile, broadband and beam-steerable antenna solutions. It is related to topic areas including "materials for antennas" and "novel electromagnetic materials". |
Collaborator Contribution | The ultimate objective of this PhD project is to remove the traditional boundary between the designs of antennas and RF/microwave electronics as well as materials and devices, so that a generic material platform can be developed that is programmable and flexible for multifunctional applications integrating communication, sensing and computation. |
Impact | The project is about to start and PhD recruitment is in the process. |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Wearable antennas |
Organisation | Qinetiq |
Department | QinetiQ (Farnborough) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The aims of the design and optimisation process remain reduction in the size, weight and power requirements associated with the antenna. In the core programme two design, manufacture and test iterations are provided for. Testing at the conclusion of the first phase will involve the antenna, feed and artificial magnetic conductor only. At the conclusion of the second phase, the antenna is to be tested on a human phantom. |
Collaborator Contribution | QinetiQ will provide data on available dielectric materials-with initial work starting from a value of er=3. It is also desired to operate the antenna conformally on a soldier's body, therefore it must be integrated onto an artificial magnetic conductor. QinetiQ will separately design a suitable surface and provide a model of that surface to QMUL for integration into the overall antenna optimisation process (underway). QinetiQ will also undertake antenna manufacture. |
Impact | N/A |
Start Year | 2021 |
Description | Invited speaker at Centre for wireless communications, Belfast, 2021. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | invited speaker |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Keynote Speaker at iWAT, Florida, USA, March 2019. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | A keynote speech was given on metamaterials and hyperuniform disorder metasurfaces |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://iwat2019.org/conference/sessions |
Description | Preparations for 'move towards a 6G future, 2023 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | A media report has been written and published. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.palatinate.org.uk/durham-university-begins-preparations-for-move-towards-a-6g-future/#go... |
Description | Queen Mary, QinetiQ secure funding for wireless tech innovations, 2023 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | New release and video have been made to the public. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
URL | https://www.miragenews.com/queen-mary-qinetiq-secure-funding-for-wireless-1011050/ |
Description | Scientists develop AI technology which can tell how someone is feeling, Daily Mail, |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | This is a news release on our recent work on the detection of human emotion using wireless signals. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
URL | https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9233749/Scientists-develop-AI-technology-tell-feeling.html |