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ISBN: 978-1-118-45817-4
Rajeev Bansal received his Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Harvard University in 1981. Since then he has taught and conducted research in the area of applied electromagnetics at the University of Connecticut where he is currently a Professor (1992–) and Head (2009-) of the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE). His technical contributions include three edited books [Fundamentals of Engineering Electromagnetics (2006), Engineering Electromagnetics: Applications (2006), Handbook of Engineering Electromagnetics (2004)], two commercialized patents (1989 and 1993), and more than 100 journal/conference papers/book chapters. Dr. Bansal has served as an Editor/Reviewer of Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications as well as an Associate Editor of Radio Science. He has also served on the editorial advisory boards of IETE Technical Review and the International Journal of RF & Microwave CAE. He is a columnist for the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine (1987–) and the IEEE Microwave Magazine (since its inception in 2000). He is a fellow of the Electromagnetics Academy, an elected member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE), and a senior member of the IEEE. He has served as a consultant to the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, RI.
Electromagnetic technologies have seeped into every corner of our lives. From that cup of coffee one reheats in the microwave oven to the cellular wireless network that lets one download an ebook in a jiffy, we depend on the marvels of these technologies every day. There are times when we wonder if our privacy is going to be made obsolete one day by RFID chips; others when we worry about the safety of all this radiation around us. Love it or hate it, one cannot get away from these electromagnetic technologies.
In this book, I have tried to showcase many of these wonderful electromagnetic technologies that are changing the world we live in (e.g., new medical devices for the ER) and the future they may create for us (e.g., making contact with E.T. some day). The book owes its genesis to the regular columns for the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine and the IEEE Microwave Magazine that I have been writing for many years. Based on the comments I have received, the columns have been enjoyed by science/engineering students, practicing engineers, academic colleagues, and many members of the general public with an interest in technology. In planning the book, I had two goals in mind:
With respect to the second goal, it may be noted in passing that the current accreditation criteria for electrical engineering programs emphasize that students, in addition to mastering the technical content, become conversant with the societal and ethical implications of technologies and learn to place the engineering subject matter in the broader global context. This small book goes some distance in filling that niche in a student's technical education. Depending on the topic, the tone of each essay varies but, in my opinion, the material is presented always in a readily accessible and succinct style so that it can be read quickly in a classroom and discussed without having to take too much time away from the technical material being covered in the class. (I have used this approach with some of these essays myself in courses ranging from a freshmen class open to non-engineers to junior/senior level EM/microwaves courses.) Another goal is to entice the reader into pursuing the sources for the essay to delve more deeply into the subject (life-long learning). The sources are always listed in each short piece and most of them are available online for instant access.
The main technical entries in the book are grouped by broad areas of application/interest and, in the spirit of Monty Python's “And Now for Something Completely Different,” are interspersed with amusing tidbits in the form of “quizzes” and essays on far-out topics. I hope you will have as much fun reading them as I had in compiling them.
I would like to thank the editors-in-chief Ross Stone (through 2014) and Mahta Moghaddam of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine (where most of the columns originally appeared) and the editors of the IEEE Microwave Magazine for their support over the years. I am also thankful to Taisuke Soda, the then acquisitions editor for Wiley/IEEE, as well as the reviewers of the book proposal and a draft of the manuscript for their many helpful suggestions. I appreciate greatly the support of the current Wiley/IEEE editor Mary Hatcher, who kindly extended the deadline to complete this book when my additional short-term professional responsibilities forced a 2-year delay in the project. She also helped me find an online resource (Pixabay) for the images used in this book. Finally, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my family, without whose encouragement the book would have remained a gleam in the eye.
Rajeev Bansal