Distinguished Professor Yahya Rahmat-Samii and his research team presented six technical papers, including two invited papers, at the 2026 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S)/USNC-URSI Symposium, held in Detroit, Michigan, from July 13–17, 2026. Recognized as the world’s premier international conference in antennas, propagation, and applied electromagnetics, the symposium attracted more than 1,100 attendees from academia, industry, and government laboratories worldwide. The conference showcased the latest advances in antenna systems, electromagnetic theory, computational electromagnetics, wireless communications, sensing technologies, and related disciplines, providing an outstanding forum for the exchange of cutting-edge research.
Rahmat-Samii’s group made a significant technical impact through the presentation of six papers, reflecting the breadth and quality of the team’s ongoing research. In recognition of the excellence of its student contributions, one paper received the Conference Honorable Mention Award, accompanied by travel support, while another student paper was awarded a prestigious TICRA Student Travel Grant. These honors underscore the international recognition of the group’s research and its continued leadership in antennas and applied electromagnetics.
The first invited paper, titled “Practical Considerations in Wearable Antenna Design: Materials, Electromagnetic Characterization, Mechanical Deformation, and Durability,” presented a comprehensive overview of recent advances in the design, fabrication, and characterization of wearable antennas for a broad range of applications.
The second invited paper, titled “Revisiting the UAV-Based Amplitude-Only Antenna Near-Field Measurements: Challenges and Potential Solutions,” presented a novel drone-based measurement system for the near-field characterization of large antennas. The paper examined the key technical challenges associated with UAV-enabled antenna measurements and proposed innovative solutions to improve measurement accuracy, efficiency, and operational flexibility for large-scale antenna testing.
The team also delivered four additional technical papers:
(a) W. Hu and Y. Rahmat-Samii, “A Novel Ka-Band 3-Layer Flat Antenna Capable of Radiating in Forward, Backward and Simultaneous” (W. Hu received Conference Honorable Mention Award, accompanied by travel support)
(b) C. Tweedy and Y. Rahmat-Samii, “Radar Characteristics of Orbital Angular Momentum Beams: Comparative Studies Between Two Models and Implications for RCS Interpretations”
(c) V. Manohar and Y. Rahmat-Samii, “Artificial Intelligence for Seed Prediction for Phaseless Near-Field Measurements: Classification vs. Regression””
(d) S. Bagherkhani, Y. Rahmat-Samii and F. De Flaviis, “Topology Optimization Framework for Mutual Coupling Reduction in Antenna Arrays” (S. Bagherkhani from UCI received prestigious TICRA student travel grant)
