Speaker: Dr. Alfonso Farina, LFIEEE and IEEE Distinguished Industry Speaker

Topic: RADAR Role: From the Underground to Outer Space

Abstract: This lecture will provide an in-depth look into the role of radar in several fields of engineering, providing a brief historical overview and presenting several real applications. This will include an overview of radar applications from underground to earth imaging and Space Situational Awareness (SSA), SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) and SAR differential interferometry, mitigating the electromagnetic spectrum erosion, SKA (Square Kilometer Array) for radio astronomy, and the first detection of gravitational waves by dispersed interferometers. In conclusion, we will look at the future of radar, and what is coming next.

Biography: Alfonso Farina received his doctoral degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Rome (IT) in 1973. In 1974, he joined Selenia, then Selex ES, where he became Director of the Analysis of Integrated Systems Unit, Director of Engineering of Large Business Systems Division, and senior VP and Chief Technology Officer. From 1979 to 1985, he was also professor of “Radar Techniques” at the University of Naples (IT). He is author of more than 700 peer-reviewed technical publications and of books and monographs. Some of the most significant awards he received include the (2004) Leader of the team that won the First Prize of the first edition of the Finmeccanica Award for Innovation Technology; (2005) Radar A; (2010) IEEE Dennis J. Picard Medal for Radar Technologies and Application. Today, Dr. Farina is a Visiting Professor at University College London (UCL), Dept. Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Visiting Professor at Cranfield University (UK) (2018-2020), and a Distinguished Lecturer (DL) of IEEE. He is a consultant to Leonardo “Land & Naval Defense Electronics Division” (Rome).

This seminar is co-sponsored by the Atlanta chapter of the IEEE Signal Processing Society and the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.