Rafael A. Rodriguez Solis

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, CARSE Director

University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez

Abstract: Microstrip and slot antennas are planar structures that can usually be easily fabricated, are lightweight, can be made conformal, and have a low cost. Their main drawback is the limited bandwidth they provide. In this talk, we will present work done at UPRM on different techniques to increase the bandwidth for microwave and millimeter-wave planar antennas architectures, architectures for multiband antennas, and alternatives for tunable/reconfigurable microwave and millimeter-wave antennas using tunable thin-film materials.

Biography: Dr. Rafael A. Rodríguez Solís received a BS in electrical engineering and a BS in computer engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, an MS degree in electrical engineering from the University of Florida, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Pennsylvania State University. He is currently a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, where he serves as the Director of the NSF Center for Advanced Radio Sciences and Engineering (CARSE), the UPRM Microwave and Millimeter-wave Antennas and Remote Sensing Systems Laboratory (MAReS), and the Institute for Research in Integrative Systems & Engineering (IRISE). He also serves as the coordinator for the RF Systems Laboratory and the ECE Graduate Program. He received the NSF CAREER award in 2001 to work in the characterization of wideband slot-like antennas and a NASA Glenn Faculty Fellowship in the Summer of 2012 to work in the development of microwave and millimeter-wave antennas using polyimide aerogels. He worked as the UPRM PI for the NOAA Collaborative Science Center for Earth Systems Science and Remote Sensing Technology (CESSRST) and as a researcher with the NASA Tropical Center for Earth and Space Studies (TCESS), the NSF Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems (CenSSIS), and the NSF Center for Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA). He is a researcher in SpectumX: an NSF Spectrum Innovation Center and is working in the development of multiband microwave sensors for small UAVs in NOAA CESSRST and through an Advanced Research Grant from the PR Science, Technology and Research Trust. Dr. Rodríguez Solís was named Outstanding Professor in Electrical Engineering by the UPRM Engineering Faculty in 2021, 2019, 2013, and 2001, and is a Senior Member of the IEEE. He served as General Co-Chair for the 2016 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation, held in Fajardo, PR, in June 2016.

His research interests include wideband microwave and millimeter-wave antennas, reconfigurable, tunable, and multiband antennas, wideband and tunable microwave circuits, and microwave and millimeter-wave remote-sensing systems.