Commission B: Fields and Waves

The interest of Commission B is fields and waves, encompassing theory, analysis, computation, experiments, validation and applications. Areas of emphasis are:

  • Time-domain and frequency-domain phenomena;
  • Scattering and diffraction;
  • General propagation including waves in specialised media;
  • Guided waves;
  • Antennas and radiation;
  • Inverse scattering and imaging.

The Commission fosters the creation, development, and refinement of analytical, numerical, and measurement techniques to understand these phenomena. It encourages innovation and seeks to apply interdisciplinary concepts and methods.

UK Panel Commission B Representative

Dr Akram Alomainy
Engineering Building
Queen Mary, University of London
Mile End Road
London E1 4NS
T: 020-7882-3324
E: a.alomainy [at] qmul.ac.uk

Highlights of UK research relevant to Commission B

Highlights of research within the remit of Commission B in the United Kingdom inlcude:

  • Research is being carried out in wireless communication antenna design. Examples include antenna arrays and ultra-wideband antennas.
  • Wave field imaging for medical diagnosis and also for safety and security in order to screen persons for concealed objects, to scan buildings to assess their integrity and monitor the aging of materials non-destructively.
  • Optimisation and design of complex artificial material structures for the optimal control of wave propagation. Examples include novel absorbers, cloaking devices and frequency selective surfaces.
  • Extensive research is focused on the possibility of using electromagnetic "metamaterials" that are intended to increase antenna efficiency and performance, obtain wider bandwidth, minimise size and weight, and also provide health safety to mobile phone users by "capturing" the near field.
  • High level research is also pursued in computational electromagnetics to solve complex problems using a variety of computational techniques in both the time and frequency domains.