Another successful IEEE MTT-S WAMICON wrapped up last week in Melbourne, Florida. WAMICON began as a one-day forum in 1999 as a spinout from the University of South Florida WAMI (Wireless and Microwave) Advisory meetings. The founders and longtime participants of the event often refer fondly to the “WAMI Magic” that results from a loose collection of friends that organize a conference in coastal Florida. A humble description of a world class technical program and an excellent networking event with Industry, Government and Academic attendees who share all their meals overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. This is no ordinary trade show. Here is a link to the Photo Gallery from the event.

This 24th annual event had a focus on “Microwave and RF Innovations connecting Government, University and Business communities” and had three parallel tracks on all aspects of RF Design and Microwave Microelectronics and Systems.

The Keynote address on Reconfigurable Communications was presented by Dr. Holger Maune, Chair of Microwave and Communication Engineering, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. The Plenary talk on ENERGY sustainability for Net ZERO Radio Communications was presented by Dr. Nuno Borges Carvalho, Departamento de Electrónica, Telecomunicações e Informática, Instituto de Telecomunicações, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal. Dr. Carvalho is also the current IEEE MTT-S President. 

Technical program highlights included tracks on Advances in Power Amplifiers, Additive Manufacturing for RF Applications, Active Circuits, Sensors and Systems, Antennas and Passives, Emerging Applications, Recent Developments in Communication Systems and Artificial Intelligence for RF and Wireless.

Additionally, the technical program included a Poster Session, student day, an IEEE Young Professionals and Women in Microwave Session and an excellent line-up of workshops:

  • VNA 101 Workshop with Copper Mountain Technologies. Brian Walker, Sr. RF Engineer SME, Copper Mountain Technologies
  • AI/ ML Workshop. Prof. Linda Katehi, Texas A&M University
  • Recent Developments in Millimeter-Wave Imaging for Short-Range Sensing. Prof. Stavros Vakalis, University of South Florida
  • PA design with the latest GaN technology using Wolfspeed large signal GaN HEMT model. Dr. Yueying Liu, Wolfspeed

Paired with the conference is an Industry Exhibition that is headlined by the event Platinum Sponsor, Mini-Circuits. The exhibit area was a great place to interact with all attendees for breaks and to see the latest products and innovations from industry leaders. First time exhibitor, Preferred Power Products, created a fantastic summary video of their WAMICON experience – see here: https://www.preferredpowerproducts.com/ieee-wamicon-2023. The Exhibitors and Sponsors included:

  • Mini-Circuits – Platinum Sponsor
  • Keysight – Gold Sponsor
  • Wolfspeed – Gold Sponsor
  • Transline Technology – Silver Sponsor
  • Spectrum Control – Silver Sponsor
  • Cadence – Silver Sponsor
  • Qorvo – Silver Sponsor & Student Program
  • Florida International University – Silver Sponsor & Student Program
  • Microwave Journal – Media Sponsor
  • Advanced Test Equipment Corp.
  • Atlantic Tech Marketing
  • Boonton, a Wireless Telecom Group Company
  • Copper Mountain Technologies
  • cotsRF
  • FormFactor
  • Knowles
  • Maury Microwave
  • Modelithics
  • Preferred Power Products
  • Reactel
  • SGMC Microwave
  • Sonnet
  • Spartech South
  • T&E Repco

There are numerous awards presented at the WAMICON event. The “crown jewel” of these awards is the annual Rudolf Henning Distinguished Mentoring Award. Former IEEE MTT-S President, Prof. Rashaunda Henderson, was the well-deserving recipient for her exemplary service in mentoring young engineers to advance their careers. WAMICON also presented its annual Distinguished Service Award to Ryan Baker of Wolfspeed for his countless contributions and many years of service to the conference. The Exhibit and Sponsorship Chair, Jim Assurian, Reactel, presented the annual Best Exhibitor Award to Keysight for their display, demos and engaging attendee interaction.

IEEE MTT-S President, Dr. Nuno Borges Carvalho, presented Recognition of Service Awards to the Conference General and Vice Chairs, Steven Lardizabal, Raytheon and Gokhan Mumcu, University of South Florida. Dr. Carvalho also presented Recognition of Service Awards to the Technical Program Chairs, Arya Menon, Texas A&M University and Michael Grady, GTRI.

Wolfspeed sponsored numerous awards which were given in conjunction with the technical program to recognize the best work presented at the conference. The winners are as follows:

  • Best Conference Paper
  1. “Co-Design of Doherty Power Amplifier and Post-Matching Bandpass Filter”
    Haifeng Lyu1, Ricardo Lovato2, Shakthi Priya Gowri1, Xun Gong1 and Kenle Chen1
    1University of Central Florida, 2Johns Hopkins University
  • Best Student Papers
    1. 1st Place – “Magnetic-Less Simultaneous Transmit and Receive Front-End using Highly Efficient GaN-Based Quadrature Balanced Amplifier”
       Niteesh Bharadwaj Vangipurapu, University of Central Florida
    2. 2nd Place – “Dynamic Supply Modulation of a 6-12 GHz Transmit Array”
       Connor Nogales, University of Colorado Boulder
    3. 3rd Place – “Wide Band CMOS Power Amplifier with High Flatness Using Inter-Digit Transformer and RC -Feedback”
       JaeHeon Cho, Soongsil University
  • Best Young Professionals Paper
    1. “A Fully-Integrated Band-Switchable CMOS Low Noise Amplifier”
       S. Babak Hamidi and Debasi Dawn, University of Washington
  • Non-reviewed Student Research Poster Awards
    1. 1st Place – “3D Printed Mm-Wave Dielectric Slab Lens Antenna Subarrays with Curved and Skewed Focal Planes”
       Omar Jebreil and Gokhan Mumcu, University of South Florida
    2. 2nd Place – “3D Printed Composite Mesh for EM Shielding Applications”
       Isabela Buitron Burbano, Carlos Andres Perez-Lopez, and Alba Avila, Universidad de los Andes
    3. 3rd Place – “Design of Wireless Interrogated MEMS Capacitive Intraocular Pressure Sensors”
       Liguan Li and Jing Wang, University of South Florida

    WAMICON will celebrate its 25th Anniversary in 2024 and planning is already underway for this milestone edition of the conference. The event will take place April 15-16, 2024, and returns to its roots on the west coast of Florida in Clearwater Beach. The steering committee encourages all to make plans to participate and experience “WAMI Magic” for themselves.