George Ponchak, Samir El-Ghazaly
©PIXABAY/NADINEDOERLE
In the past, the IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (MTT-S) has established conferences in every region of the world except for the Middle East and Africa. Maybe it is a surprise to some, but substantial research in antenna and microwave technology occurs in Africa. To correct the preceding oversight, the MTT-S and the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) established the International Microwave and Antenna Symposium (IMAS), which will rotate around the Middle East and Africa. It will be held every two years, but if demand is high, it may become an annual conference.
The inaugural IMAS was held in Cairo, Egypt, on 7–9 February 2023 at the German University in Cairo (GUC). Two hundred researchers from around the world attended this inaugural conference. An IMAS steering committee, chaired by Prof. Samir El-Ghazaly of the MTT-S and Prof. Yahia Antar of the AP-S and comprising four other members from both the MTT-S and AP-S, guides the IMAS. The goal of the conference is to provide a forum for the exchange of scientific and technical information and an overview of the current state of the art highlighting the latest developments and innovations required for future applications at both the academic and industrial levels, to encourage and stimulate students to study microwave and antenna technologies, and to foster collaboration and cooperation in the fields of microwaves, antennas, and propagation within Africa and globally.
This year’s IMAS conference cochairs were Prof. Hany Hammad (GUC) and Prof. Ayman El-Tager (Military Technical College of Egypt), and the Technical Program Committee cochairs were Prof. Hadia El Hennawy (Ain Shams University) and Prof. Amr Safwat (Nile University). The conference was held under the auspices of His Excellency the Egyptian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. The conference included technical sessions, invited talks, poster sessions, workshops, student poster sessions, Women in Engineering and Young Professionals sessions, best paper and poster awards, and a gala dinner held on the Giza Plateau, right at the foot of the pyramids.
Preceding the conference, a full day of workshops on “Microwave Technology for Humanity,” sponsored by the National Science Foundation and organized by Prof. Samir El-Ghazaly, was held. The first workshop, on the topic of “Satellite and Space Communications,” was given by Prof. Aly Fathy. The second workshop was given by Prof. John Papapolymerou on “Recent Advances in Radars and Their Applications.” The third workshop was given by Prof. Ayman El-Tager on “High-Power Microwave Technologies.” These were followed on the first day of the conference by a full-day workshop on “Technology for Smart Villages and Smart Cities in Africa,” chaired by Dr. Edward Rezek.
The conference opened with remarks from the conference chairs and the GUC president, followed by an invited talk by AP-S President Prof. Stefano Maci on “Self-Complementarity and Duality in Meta-Surfaces” (Figures 3 and 4). Throughout the three days of the conference, there were invited talks by Prof. Rafaat Mansour on “Microwave and Millimeter-Wave Phase Change Material Devices for Future Communication Systems,” Prof. Atif Shamim on “Microwave Water Cut Sensors for Oil Industry: From Design to Deployment in the Field,” MTT-S President Prof. Nuno Carvalho on “Backscatter Radios,” Prof. Qammer Abbasi on “A Next Wave of Wireless Communication Is Here: How 6G Will Evolve,” and Prof. Abbas Omar on “Health and Safety Aspects of Millimeter-Wave Radiation in 5G and Beyond.”
Figure 1. IMAS conference organizers on a site visit to GUC in Cairo Egypt. GUC: German University in Cairo.
Figure 2. Members of the IMAS organizing committee and attendees.
Figure 3. The Chair of the GUC’s Board of Trustees addressing the attendees.
Figure 4. The opening session was well attended.
A total of 158 papers written by 426 authors was submitted from 31 countries. As shown in Figure 5, the conference met the goal of being international and providing a great forum for authors from the Middle East and Africa. The papers were reviewed by an international review committee comprising 130 reviewers. This resulted in 80 papers being accepted for presentation and 40 for posters, resulting in a 75% acceptance rate. The papers were presented in 15 technical sessions, three special sessions, and two poster sessions. Maybe the most exciting session, at least to some of us, was the student poster session. These young engineers initiated discussions with everyone who passed by their posters and enthusiastically explained their research. There were also many opportunities for networking (Figure 6).
Figure 5. Distribution of paper submissions from around the world.
Figure 6. Lunches were a great way to meet new colleagues.
The conference ended with an awards ceremony with awards (first, second, and third) given for the Best Paper, Best Student Paper, Best Young Professional Poster for Graduate Students, and Best Young Professional Poster for Undergraduate Seniors (Figures 7 and 8). The ceremony ended with Prof. Samir El-Ghazaly presenting Certificates of Recognition to the IMAS chairs and Technical Program Committee chairs.
Figure 7. Students receiving best paper and poster awards.
Figure 8. Student receiving best paper award.
Overall, this conference was a great success. The audience asked many questions of the authors, and the session chairs allowed the questions to continue. Although this meant that some sessions ran over the allotted time slot, everyone was satisfied that they understood the work. Maybe the only negative thing that happened at the conference was that the weather was unseasonably cold. This caused some of us to wear hats during the gala dinner beside the pyramids (Figure 9). We may have looked funny, but everyone had a great time.
Figure 9. Gala dinner beside the Giza Pyramids.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MMM.2023.3277403