An inside look at the Microwave and Antenna Engineering Laboratory

The college’s E. S. Gillespie Microwave and Antenna Engineering Laboratory welcomed the public July 9, for an open house that drew nearly three dozen attendees. The lab, which is used to study ways of measuring the performance of microwave antennas, is named for the late Edmond S. Gillespie, former chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the lab’s founder.

It had been six years since the facility’s last open house, and for Sembiam Rengarajan, professor of electrical engineering, and Ronald J. Pogorzelski, an adjunct faculty member in the electrical and computer engineering department, both of whom conduct extensive antenna research, it was a chance to reach out to colleagues and potential collaborators in academia and industry.

“Some companies view us as a resource for measuring their antenna products—to see how the antennas perform,” says Pogorzelski. “Others might have projects for our students, like design clinics. The open house was a way for us to maintain connections to people interested in our work. It’s important to stay in contact.”