SOFTWARE DEFINED MATERIALS FOR DYNAMIC CONTROL OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES (ANIMATE)
Lead Research Organisation:
Queen Mary University of London
Department Name: Sch of Electronic Eng & Computer Science
Abstract
Inspired by recent scientific breakthroughs in the area of transformation optics (TO) and metamaterials, QMUL in collaboration with its partners and UK industries have demonstrated several novel antenna solutions which potentially offer new composite flat lens antenna, surface wave and metasurface devices that could be embedded into the skin of vehicles without compromising aerodynamic performance, representing a major leap forward for future technologies related to the Internet of Things (IoT), CubeSat and Space Communications. The potential of the underlying design approaches have much wider applicability in arguably all technical challenges as addressed above. For example, we extended the TO technique to design novel beam steerable antennas . Instead of moving or tilting the feed/reflctor, we employ an alternative way to manipulate the reflected emission by varying the permittivity of dielectrics derived from TO. This method has the merits of maintaining a flat profile, being capable of beam-steering and frequeny agility. Combining with appropriate feed designs, the system can be effectively be used as either a single radiator or an array fulfilling massive MIMO functions. In a broad sense, dielectric substrates with spatially varying permittivity and/or permeability can be regarded as a "magic black box", whose properties are programmable according to required functional requirements. In the proposed ANIMATE project, we refer to this magic black box as "software defined materials", since they demonstrate far-reaching capabilities well beyond conventional antennas and arguably in all devices and systems that exploit electromagnetic spectra.
To enable this step change, a suite of novel advanced materials must be studied and developed, especially, active materials and structures with low loss, high tunability but low DC power dissipation are desirable. In addition, a robust biasing network is needed so that material building blocks can be individually controlled. In spite of the longstanding quest and intensive research over the years, this subject area still remains insufficiently explored. With ongoing advances in modelling and manufacturing tools, it is now possible to revisit some fundamental limits imposed on conventional materials and antenna designs. The vision of ANIMATE is therefore to unlock contributions and expertise from multiple disciplines, to develop a core programme of research on software defined materials, which will enable dynamic control of electromagnetic waves for applications in sensing, communications and computation.
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.
To enable this step change, a suite of novel advanced materials must be studied and developed, especially, active materials and structures with low loss, high tunability but low DC power dissipation are desirable. In addition, a robust biasing network is needed so that material building blocks can be individually controlled. In spite of the longstanding quest and intensive research over the years, this subject area still remains insufficiently explored. With ongoing advances in modelling and manufacturing tools, it is now possible to revisit some fundamental limits imposed on conventional materials and antenna designs. The vision of ANIMATE is therefore to unlock contributions and expertise from multiple disciplines, to develop a core programme of research on software defined materials, which will enable dynamic control of electromagnetic waves for applications in sensing, communications and computation.
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.
Planned Impact
ANIMATE will be the catalyst around which our industrial partners can ensure UK industry maintains its leading position in the marketplace and capitalises on the industrial strategy initiative, facilitating retention and growth of highly skilled jobs and supporting the UK's knowledge economy. Our strategic partnership with QinetiQ (QQ) will enable the design, development and integration of novel electromagnetic devices and structures and reshape the future of the UK manufacturing and electronics industry. Combining world-leading researchers with unique facilities to provide technical assurance, test and evaluation and training services, underpinned by long-term partnerships, this project has the potential to reinforce the UK's competitiveness in the field of RF and microwave devices at both commercial and academic levels. Impact will be demonstrated by transitioning the technology into new products to create revenue across the wider UK supply chain, and QQ is committed to this exploitation through its current and future customers, who will be engaged from the inception of the programme. This is demonstrable through the establishment of the QQ Advanced Services and Products division, whose mission is to incubate novel technologies and mature to product through partnership with with UK Primes (BAE, Thales, Huawei), SMEs (Plextek, Flann Microwave, Satellite Applications Catapult) and academia.
Given its potential for new technologies, we expect there to be significant press interest, and we will work with the press offices to ensure wide dissemination. We will ensure that the technicalities are translated into an accessible format for use in media including podcasts, conferences and webpages. QMUL has a 'Communications and Outreach Committee', who coordinate talks at technical institutions, colleges and schools and in the local community. Other partners undertake similar activities in their areas. We will also publish details of the project on our web sites. QMUL has a long history of dissemination in the popular media, including newspapers and the BBC. In addition, our project partner(s) have excellent relations with bodies that can assist in the wider dissemination of information including relevant KTNs and trade associations. We will encourage the investigators to engage with the public, schools and the stakeholder by having interviews, round table discussions and exhibitions in science festivals in order to raise the status of the field in the UK and encourage the next generation of young scientists with the skills to carry forward and diversify the myriad of economic and social opportunities promised by software defined materials. We will recommend that all researchers demonstrate awareness of and commitment to the principles of Responsible Innovation. We have allocated some funding to engage with ORBIT to promote creativity and opportunities for science and innovation that are socially desirable and undertaken in the public interest.
The Research Fellows and PhD students will benefit through this highly interdisciplinary project and multi-institutional approach, both in terms of specific research skills but also in team working and project management and will be expected to play an active role in interacting with stakeholders. We will work harder to increase the talented pool of women in engineering and attract them to work with us on this exciting research.
Given its potential for new technologies, we expect there to be significant press interest, and we will work with the press offices to ensure wide dissemination. We will ensure that the technicalities are translated into an accessible format for use in media including podcasts, conferences and webpages. QMUL has a 'Communications and Outreach Committee', who coordinate talks at technical institutions, colleges and schools and in the local community. Other partners undertake similar activities in their areas. We will also publish details of the project on our web sites. QMUL has a long history of dissemination in the popular media, including newspapers and the BBC. In addition, our project partner(s) have excellent relations with bodies that can assist in the wider dissemination of information including relevant KTNs and trade associations. We will encourage the investigators to engage with the public, schools and the stakeholder by having interviews, round table discussions and exhibitions in science festivals in order to raise the status of the field in the UK and encourage the next generation of young scientists with the skills to carry forward and diversify the myriad of economic and social opportunities promised by software defined materials. We will recommend that all researchers demonstrate awareness of and commitment to the principles of Responsible Innovation. We have allocated some funding to engage with ORBIT to promote creativity and opportunities for science and innovation that are socially desirable and undertaken in the public interest.
The Research Fellows and PhD students will benefit through this highly interdisciplinary project and multi-institutional approach, both in terms of specific research skills but also in team working and project management and will be expected to play an active role in interacting with stakeholders. We will work harder to increase the talented pool of women in engineering and attract them to work with us on this exciting research.
Organisations
- Queen Mary University of London (Lead Research Organisation)
- Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) (Collaboration)
- AGC Chemicals Europe (Collaboration)
- Qinetiq (United Kingdom) (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Thales Group (Collaboration)
- Satellite Applications Catapult (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Flann Microwave Ltd (Project Partner)
- Thales (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Huawei Technologies (China) (Project Partner)
- Plextek (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- BAE Systems (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
Publications
Cheng Q
(2018)
Study on Sparse MIMO Array for Compressive Sensing Imaging
Farooq H
(2019)
Noise figure of electromagnetic systems with parity and time-reversal symmetry
in Optics Express
Shi H
(2019)
Field transformation-based multifunctional and wide-angle polariser for antenna polarisation characteristics manipulation
in IET Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation
Vial B
(2019)
Enhanced tunability in ferroelectric composites through local field enhancement and the effect of disorder
in Journal of Applied Physics
Liu B
(2019)
Experimental Observation of Linear and Rotational Doppler Shifts from Several Designer Surfaces.
in Scientific reports
Li J
(2019)
On 3D Cluster-Based Channel Modeling for Large-Scale Array Communications
in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
Zhang H
(2020)
Polar nano-clusters in nominally paraelectric ceramics demonstrating high microwave tunability for wireless communication
in Journal of the European Ceramic Society
Castles F
(2020)
Active Metamaterials with Negative Static Electric Susceptibility.
in Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
Liu Y
(2020)
Low-Profile Beam Steerable Patch Array With SIW Feeding Network
in IEEE Access
Giddens H
(2020)
Multibeam Graded Dielectric Lens Antenna From Multimaterial 3-D Printing
in IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation
Cheng Q
(2020)
Compressive Sensing Radar Imaging With Convolutional Neural Networks
in IEEE Access
Zhang H
(2020)
High Tunability and Low Loss in Layered Perovskite Dielectrics through Intrinsic Elimination of Oxygen Vacancies
in Chemistry of Materials
Liu N
(2020)
Interactive human-machine learning framework for modelling of ferroelectric-dielectric composites
in Journal of Materials Chemistry C
Ma Y
(2020)
Antenna Classification Using Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM) and Machine Learning
in IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation
Cheng Q
(2020)
A Generic Spiral MIMO Array Design Method for Short-Range UWB Imaging
in IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters
Khan AN
(2021)
Deep learning framework for subject-independent emotion detection using wireless signals.
in PloS one
Pan C
(2021)
Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces for 6G Systems: Principles, Applications, and Research Directions
in IEEE Communications Magazine
Ihalage A
(2021)
Analogical discovery of disordered perovskite oxides by crystal structure information hidden in unsupervised material fingerprints
in npj Computational Materials
Vial B
(2021)
High frequency meta-ferroelectrics by inverse design
in Optical Materials Express
Giddens H
(2021)
Multimaterial 3-D Printed Compressed Luneburg Lens for mm-Wave Beam Steering
in IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters
Chu H
(2021)
Invisible surfaces enabled by the coalescence of anti-reflection and wavefront controllability in ultrathin metasurfaces.
in Nature communications
Zhang H
(2021)
Hyperuniform disordered distribution metasurface for scattering reduction
in Applied Physics Letters
Alavi S
(2021)
Optimal Observer Synthesis for Microgrids With Adaptive Send-on-Delta Sampling Over IoT Communication Networks
in IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics
Christogeorgos O
(2021)
Extraordinary Directive Emission and Scanning from an Array of Radiation Sources with Hyperuniform Disorder
in Physical Review Applied
Cha Y
(2022)
The Dawn of Metamaterial Engineering Predicted via Hyperdimensional Keyword Pool and Memory Learning
in Advanced Optical Materials
Vial B
(2022)
Topology optimization of electromagnetic metamaterials
Ihalage A
(2022)
Formula Graph Self-Attention Network for Representation-Domain Independent Materials Discovery.
in Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)
Zhang H
(2022)
Antiferroelectric-like Behavior in a Lead-Free Perovskite Layered Structure Ceramic.
in Inorganic chemistry
Vial B
(2022)
Open-Source Computational Photonics with Auto Differentiable Topology Optimization
in Mathematics
Vial B
(2022)
Optimization and experimental validation of a bi-focal lens in the microwave domain
in AIP Advances
Vial B.
(2022)
Multi-material additive manufacturing of microwave devices
in 2022 16th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, EuCAP 2022
Wang Y
(2022)
Broadband High-Efficiency Ultrathin Metasurfaces With Simultaneous Independent Control of Transmission and Reflection Amplitudes and Phases
in IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques
Cha Y
(2023)
Antennas and Propagation Research From Large-Scale Unstructured Data With Machine Learning: A review and predictions
in IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine
Ma Y
(2023)
Incorporating Meta-Atom Interactions in Rapid Optimization of Large-Scale Disordered Metasurfaces Based on Deep Interactive Learning
in Advanced Photonics Research
Vial B
(2023)
Topology optimization of a thermal cloak in the frequency domain
in AIP Advances
Zhang H
(2024)
Microwave tunability in tin substituted barium titanate
in Journal of the European Ceramic Society
Description | Inspired by recent scientific breakthroughs in the area of transformation optics (TO) and metamaterials, QMUL in collaboration with its partners and UK industries have demonstrated several novel antenna solutions which potentially offer new composite flat lens antenna, surface wave and metasurface devices that could be embedded into the skin of vehicles without compromising aerodynamic performance, representing a major leap forward for future technologies related to the Internet of Things (IoT), CubeSat and Space Communications. The potential of the underlying design approaches have much wider applicability in arguably all technical challenges as addressed above. For example, we extended the TO technique to design novel beam steerable antennas . Instead of moving or tilting the feed/reflctor, we employ an alternative way to manipulate the reflected emission by varying the permittivity of dielectrics derived from TO. This method has the merits of maintaining a flat profile, being capable of beam-steering and frequeny agility. Combining with appropriate feed designs, the system can be effectively be used as either a single radiator or an array fulfilling massive MIMO functions. In a broad sense, dielectric substrates with spatially varying permittivity and/or permeability can be regarded as a "magic black box", whose properties are programmable according to required functional requirements. In the proposed ANIMATE project, we refer to this magic black box as "software defined materials", since they demonstrate far-reaching capabilities well beyond conventional antennas and arguably in all devices and systems that exploit electromagnetic spectra. To enable this step change, a suite of novel advanced materials must be studied and developed, especially, active materials and structures with low loss, high tunability but low DC power dissipation are desirable. In addition, a robust biasing network is needed so that material building blocks can be individually controlled. In spite of the longstanding quest and intensive research over the years, this subject area still remains insufficiently explored. With ongoing advances in modelling and manufacturing tools, it is now possible to revisit some fundamental limits imposed on conventional materials and antenna designs. The vision of ANIMATE is therefore to unlock contributions and expertise from multiple disciplines, to develop a core programme of research on software defined materials, which will enable dynamic control of electromagnetic waves for applications in sensing, communications and computation. 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. |
Exploitation Route | A strategic partnership with Thales, Dstl and Qinetiq has been established with cash support generated for this project. Results are taken up by industrial collaborators. |
Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics |
URL | https://animate-research.com |
Description | ANIMATE will be the catalyst around which our industrial partners can ensure UK industry maintains its leading position in the marketplace and capitalises on the industrial strategy initiative, facilitating retention and growth of highly skilled jobs and supporting the UK's knowledge economy. Our strategic partnership with QinetiQ (QQ) will enable the design, development and integration of novel electromagnetic devices and structures and reshape the future of the UK manufacturing and electronics industry. Combining world-leading researchers with unique facilities to provide technical assurance, test and evaluation and training services, underpinned by long-term partnerships, this project has the potential to reinforce the UK's competitiveness in the field of RF and microwave devices at both commercial and academic levels. Impact will be demonstrated by transitioning the technology into new products to create revenue across the wider UK supply chain, and QQ is committed to this exploitation through its current and future customers, who will be engaged from the inception of the programme. This is demonstrable through the establishment of the QQ Advanced Services and Products division, whose mission is to incubate novel technologies and mature to product through partnership with with UK Primes (BAE, Thales, Huawei), SMEs (Plextek, Flann Microwave, Satellite Applications Catapult) and academia. Given its potential for new technologies, we expect there to be significant press interest, and we will work with the press offices to ensure wide dissemination. We will ensure that the technicalities are translated into an accessible format for use in media including podcasts, conferences and webpages. QMUL has a 'Communications and Outreach Committee', who coordinate talks at technical institutions, colleges and schools and in the local community. Other partners undertake similar activities in their areas. We will also publish details of the project on our web sites. QMUL has a long history of dissemination in the popular media, including newspapers and the BBC. In addition, our project partner(s) have excellent relations with bodies that can assist in the wider dissemination of information including relevant KTNs and trade associations. We will encourage the investigators to engage with the public, schools and the stakeholder by having interviews, round table discussions and exhibitions in science festivals in order to raise the status of the field in the UK and encourage the next generation of young scientists with the skills to carry forward and diversify the myriad of economic and social opportunities promised by software defined materials. We will recommend that all researchers demonstrate awareness of and commitment to the principles of Responsible Innovation. We have allocated some funding to engage with ORBIT to promote creativity and opportunities for science and innovation that are socially desirable and undertaken in the public interest. The Research Fellows and PhD students will benefit through this highly interdisciplinary project and multi-institutional approach, both in terms of specific research skills but also in team working and project management and will be expected to play an active role in interacting with stakeholders. We will work harder to increase the talented pool of women in engineering and attract them to work with us on this exciting research. |
First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics |
Impact Types | Cultural,Economic |
Description | (GrapheneCore2) - Graphene Flagship Core Project 2 |
Amount | € 88,000,000 (EUR) |
Funding ID | 785219 |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 04/2018 |
End | 03/2020 |
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 | Dstl PhD studentship on software defined materials |
Amount | £120,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2019 |
End | 07/2022 |
Description | Frequency Agile Antennas |
Amount | £300,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 10/2019 |
End | 09/2022 |
Description | Multi-functional sensor designs based on graphene |
Amount | £100,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 10/2019 |
End | 09/2020 |
Description | SOFTWARE DEFINED MATERIALS FOR DYNAMIC CONTROL OF ELECTROMAGENTIC WAVES (ANIMATE) |
Amount | £1,631,777 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/R035393/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2018 |
End | 08/2022 |
Description | THz Antenna Fabrication and Measurement Facilities (TERRA) |
Amount | £1,232,783 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/S010009/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 12/2018 |
End | 11/2021 |
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 |
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 | Luneburg lens for passive radar enhancement |
Organisation | Qinetiq |
Department | QinetiQ (Farnborough) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The lens reflector is a sphere in shape, usually composed of concentric dielectric shells. By the proper selection of dielectric constants for each shell, radar energy incident on one of the faces of the lens is focused at a point on the rear surface of the lens. The rear conductive surface reflects radar energy back to the source. The physical characteristic of a Luneburg lens varies according to its application and the frequency at which it is required to operate. To meet a variety of weapon system requirements, QinetiQ Target Systems integrates a variety of lens types into its targets. Generally these are of 7.5 inches in diameter, but alternative sizes from 4 inches to 8.7 inches in diameter are available. QMUL has been able to use TO techniques developed from QUEST and compressed the lens into compact and flat devices, which enable seamless integration with airplane frame, such as wings. |
Collaborator Contribution | Qinetiq provides funding, technical specifications and fabrication facilities to support this partnership. |
Impact | N/A |
Start Year | 2022 |
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 | 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 | Spatial SpANiel Antennas (Spatial Antenna Network Intelligence) |
Organisation | Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | This project supports AOTOMAT, our recent spinout company from QMUL founded by Prof. Yang Hao and Dr Henry Giddens in partnership with Queen Mary Innovation, the technology Transfer Office of QMUL. AOTOMAT uses a suite of proprietary modelling and design tools to develop new electromagnetic devices, materials and systems that are based on recent advances in electromagnetics, atomistic-scale materials, meta-heuristic optimisation and data-driven modelling. The AOTOMAT technology is robust and minimises the cost of design, development and prototyping of complex EM devices. In particular, AOTOMAT technology is focused on designing antennas and EM devices such as lenses which are suitable for 3D printing and additive manufacturing. The AOTOMAT design tools utilise a number of methods such as TO and multi-objective constrained optimisation of 3-dimenaional EM devices. Importantly, these are tailored to account for the limitations of differing manufacturing methodologies. Recently, AOTOMAT's technology has been used to generate 3D printed lens designs for car windscreen antennas with mm-wave beam tilting for next generation automotive communications. |
Collaborator Contribution | AOTOMAT will be subcontracted by QMUL to deliver new designs of various lens antennas that are suitable for 3D printing using their propriety design tools. Any IP that is developed by AOTOMAT in the development of the design tools used in the this work relating specifically to the TO and Electromagnetic Optimisation design process will be retained by the company. All final designs and the details of the design process will be provided in the technical documentation provided during and at the end of the project. The physical antennas and their individual designs will be owned by DSTL. |
Impact | This project supports AOTOMAT, our recent spinout company from QMUL founded by Prof. Yang Hao and Dr Henry Giddens in partnership with Queen Mary Innovation, the technology Transfer Office of QMUL. |
Start Year | 2022 |
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 | 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 |