About the Lab

The Electromagnetic Materials Laboratory focuses on developing new theoretical, computational and experimental techniques to apply to a diverse array of applications in electromagnetics and optics. Lead by Professor Mark Mirotznik, the Electromagnetic Materials Laboratory’s current research focus are;

(1) Multifunctional Structural Composites - Structural composites are a popular core building block of many commercial and military structures and vehicles. This popularity stems from the composite’s high strength to weight ratio. Decades of military, academic and industrial research have gone into the design and manufacturing of structural composites in which the mechanical properties are optimized. More recently, researchers have begun to investigate ways to create composites that have other attractive material properties such as EM properties. In our lab we work on a variety of new methods for integrating and optimizing interesting EM properties within a structural composite. Some applications we are actively researching include wideband RF transparency for use as structural or ballistic radomes, integrated signature/stealth composite structures, low profile load bearing conformal antennas and metamaterial integration within a structural composite.

(2) Functional Additive Manufacturing - In recent years additive manufacturing (AM) technologies have evolved from systems which produce prototypes strictly for fit and form testing to systems capable of producing finished products with production grade reliability. Direct write (DW) technologies, or the direct printing of circuitry on a substrate, have also been advancing at impressive rates. However, there are many areas of these two technologies that have not been explored. One major area that has largely gone un-realized is multi-material functional additive manufacturing. In the lab we are actively engaged in developing new AM and DW methods for creating structural parts with integrated EM properties.

(3) Computational Modeling and Optimized Design of Multifunctional Materials - Because of its layered construction composite materials are a flexible platform for integrating multifunctional properties. However, finding the right combination of materials and fabrication processes for a given application is not an easy problem. As a result we have been developing a suite of customized computational codes that can be used to optimize multifunctional composite design.