Prabhakar Pathak receives distinguished achievement award from IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society

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Professor Emeritus Prabhakar Pathak
Prabhakar Pathak, professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering and the ElectroScience Laboratory, is the recipient of the 2013 Distinguished Achievement Award of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. He was specifically recognized for “introducing and establishing the Uniform Theory of Diffraction (UTD) as a computational tool in Electromagnetics (EM) and for innovative solutions to EM antenna/scattering problems.”

The IEEE AP-S Distinguished Achievement Award recognizes outstanding career achievements by an individual in the field of antennas and propagation. Twenty-nine individuals have received the award since 1985. Pathak is the fifth recipient who is an alumnus or former faculty member of the ElectroScience Laboratory, along with: John Kraus (1985, 2003); Roger F. Harrington (1989), Robert G. Kouyoumjian (1999) and Constantine Balanis (2012).

Among other achievements, Pathak is widely known as the co-developer of the highly-successful uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (UTD) widely used to solve electrically large antenna radiation and radar scattering problems. Developed in the 1970s and 1980s, this technique allowed for an accurate analysis of antennas and radar systems when mounted on large airborne and ground vehicles. The method not only added an understanding of the phenomena associated with these problems, but more importantly it provided analysis and design tools that were sufficiently reliable to avoid repeated measurements. The success of the method allowed many other Ohio State faculty and researchers to participate in developing the theory into a routine tool of analysis and transitioning it to commercial software tools. Notably, the UTD impacted several well-known technologies of the 20th century including stealth aircraft, wireless propagation and connectivity, antenna design, and indoor measurement techniques.

“I congratulate Professor Pathak on this well-deserved honor which recognizes his nearly 40 years of dedication and generation of knowledge in a field that has impacted every aspect of radiation and scattering analysis,” says John Volakis, director of the ElectroScience Laboratory and Chope Chair Professor.

Pathak has published more than a hundred journal and conference papers, and has authored/co-authored chapters for seven books. He has presented many short courses and invited lectures both in the U.S. and abroad, and has chaired and organized many technical sessions at national and international conferences.

Pathak is a Life Fellow of IEEE and was elected to Commission B of the International Union of Radio Science (USRI). He is the recipient of the IEEE Third Millennium Medal from the Antennas and Propagation Society (2000), the Ohio State College of Engineering Lumley Research Award (1990, 1994 and 1998), and the George Sinclair Award for career contributions to the ElectroScience Laboratory (1996).

A member of the ElectroScience Laboratory since 1970, Pathak was appointed assistant professor in 1982, professor in 1991 and professor emeritus in 2007. He earned a PhD (1973) and master’s from The Ohio State University (1970), a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Louisiana State University (1965) and a bachelor’s in physics with a minor in math from the University of Bombay, India (1962).

The 2013 Distinguished Achievement award will be presented at the Awards Banquet of the 2013 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and USNC-URSI National Radio Science Meeting, July 7-13, 2013, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.