John L. Volakis is a distinguished electrical engineer, academic, and researcher known for his significant contributions to the field of electromagnetics, particularly in computational electromagnetics, antenna theory and design, and metamaterials. His work has had a profound impact on wireless communications, radar, and sensing technologies.
Born in Greece, Volakis pursued his higher education in the United States, earning his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from The Ohio State University.
Career and Research: Volakis has held numerous prominent academic and leadership positions throughout his career. He spent a significant portion of his career at the University of Michigan, where he was the H. W. Farris Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and directed the ElectroMagnetic and Optical Sciences Laboratory. During his tenure at Michigan, he conducted extensive research in various areas of electromagnetics.
Later, he served as the Dean of the College of Engineering and Computing at Florida International University (FIU). Prior to FIU, he was the Roy and Lois Chope Chair Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The Ohio State University, where he also served as the Department Chair.
His research interests are broad and encompass:
- Computational Electromagnetics (CEM): Development of advanced numerical techniques, such as finite element methods (FEM) and finite difference time domain (FDTD), for solving complex electromagnetic problems.
- Antenna Theory and Design: Innovative design of antennas, including conformal antennas, reconfigurable antennas, ultra-wideband (UWB) antennas, and millimeter-wave antennas for various applications.
- Metamaterials and Frequency Selective Surfaces (FSS): Exploration of artificial materials with engineered electromagnetic properties for applications like cloaking, enhanced antenna performance, and filtering.
- RF and Microwave Circuits: Design and analysis of high-frequency components.
- Applications: His work finds applications in areas such as wireless communication systems (5G/6G), biomedical sensing, remote sensing, and defense technologies.
He is a prolific author and co-author of several textbooks and hundreds of peer-reviewed journal articles, which are widely cited in the electromagnetics community.
Awards and Honors: Volakis has received numerous accolades for his research and academic contributions. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), one of the highest honors in his field. He is also a Fellow of the Antenna Measurements Techniques Association (AMTA). His awards include the IEEE John Kraus Antenna Award, the IEEE H. A. Wheeler Prize Paper Award, and the IEEE S. A. Schelkunoff Transactions Prize Paper Award, among others, recognizing his seminal work in antenna engineering and computational electromagnetics.