Computational Electromagnetics using The Finite DifferenceTime Domain Method with Emphasis on Antenna Designs andtheir Interaction with Human Body
Atef Z. Elsherbeni
Professor, aelsherb@mines.edu
IEEE Fellow (2007) - ACES Fellow (2008)
IEEE APS Distinguished Lecturer (2020-2023)
Electrical Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines
This presentation will focus on recent developments in the finite difference time
domain (FDTD) method for the solution of several electromagnetic problems.
Focused applications will include the design of antennas for wirelesscommunication applications and the interactions of antenna radiations with thehuman body. First a brief introduction to the method, its capabilities, and the typeof lumped circuit elements, linear and non-linear, which can be integrated into anelectromagnetic simulation will be presented. Several examples of designingantennas, filters, and RFID tags will be demonstrated. This will be followed by
the demonstration of how to integrate dispersive material analysis in the FDTD
simulation. Medical applications will benefit from this integration. An example isthe prediction of the field and temperature distribution inside a human head due tothe radiation from a close by antenna or due to radiation from wearable antennas
such as smart glasses. The speed up of the FDTD method using graphicalprocessing gaming cards (GPUs) along with the use of different programming
languages such as FORTRAN, MATLAB, CUDA, and OpenCL will behighlighted.

Atef Z. Elsherbeni received an honor B.Sc. degree inElectronics and Communications, an honor B.Sc. degree inApplied Physics, and a M.Eng. degree in ElectricalEngineering, all from Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt, in1976, 1979, and 1982, respectively, and a Ph.D. degree inElectrical Engineering from Manitoba University, Winnipeg,Manitoba, Canada, in 1987. He started his engineering
career as a part time Software and System Design Engineerfrom March 1980 to December 1982 at the Automated Data
System Center, Cairo, Egypt. From January to August 1987, he was a PostDoctoral Fellow at Manitoba University. Dr. Elsherbeni joined the faculty at theUniversity of Mississippi in August 1987 as an Assistant Professor of ElectricalEngineering. He advanced to the rank of Associate Professor in July 1991, and tothe rank of Professor in July 1997. He was the Associate Dean of the college ofEngineering for Research and Graduate Programs from July 2009 to July 2013 atthe University of Mississippi. He then joined the Electrical Engineering andComputer Science (EECS) Department at Colorado School of Mines in August

2013 as the Dobelman Distinguished Chair Professor. He was appointed theInterim Department Head for (EECS) from 2015 to 2016 and from 2016 to 2018he was the Electrical Engineering Department Head. He spent a sabbatical term in1996 at the Electrical Engineering Department, University of California at Los
Angeles (UCLA) and was a visiting Professor at Magdeburg University during
the summer of 2005 and at Tampere University of Technology in Finland during
the summer of 2007. In 2009 he was selected as Finland Distinguished Professor
by the Academy of Finland and TEKES.
Over the years, Dr. Elsherbeni participated in acquiring millions of dollars tosupport his research group activities dealing with scattering and diffraction ofEM waves by dielectric and metal objects, finite difference time domain analysisof antennas and microwave devices, field visualization and software development
for EM education, interactions of electromagnetic waves with human body, RFID
and sensor Integrated FRID systems, reflector and printed antennas and antenna
arrays for radars, UAV, and personal communication systems, antennas for
wideband applications, and measurements of antenna characteristics and material
properties. Dr. Elsherbeni is an IEEE life fellow and ACES fellow. He is theEditor-in-Chief for ACES Journal, and a past Associate Editor to the Radio
Science Journal. He was the Chair of the Engineering and Physics Division of theMississippi Academy of Science, the Chair of the Educational Activity
Committee for IEEE Region 3 Section, and the general Chair for the 2014 APSURSI Symposium and the president of ACES Society from 2013 to 2015. Dr.
Elsherbeni is selected as Distinguished Lecturer for IEEE Antennas andPropagation Society for 2020-2023.