Safieddin Safavi-Naeini

Contact information

Website

Biography summary

Safieddin (Ali) Safavi-Naeini was a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and cross-appointed to the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He was also the Director of the Centre for Intelligent Antenna and Radio Systems (CIARS) at the University. CIARS features a unique multi-configuration electromagnetic radiation lab, including an anechoic chamber and terahertz measurement facility where terahertz radiation is explored.

In addition, Professor Safavi-Naeini held a $6.3 million Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC)-NSERC/C-COM Industrial Research Chair in Intelligent Antenna and Radio Systems for Next Generation Millimeter-Wave Mobile Communications. This research chair program explores a number of generic and modular approaches essential to applying the latest advances in intelligent multi-antenna structures, novel electromagnetic materials, micro- and nano-electronics and photonics, as well as efficient computational methods for the emerging communication and sensing systems including 5G and beyond, next generation mobile satellite communication, radar, and imagers.

Professor Safavi-Naeini’s work with terahertz technology posed significant benefit to the pharmaceutical industry. He devised a new process for quality control of pharmaceutical products, in which the total destruction of pills for analysis is eliminated and instead requires use of 4D or terahertz cameras. This application exploits the properties of terahertz waves to both visualize and penetrate each pill as it comes off the production line. This penetration guarantees full chemical analysis, ensuring that all the medication produced has the intended composition.

Professor Safavi-Naeini’s work with electromagnetic waves led to the development of an inexpensive device for skin cancer pre-screening. This device uses microwave signals to illuminate the skin and test the reflection the device receives. It is able to determine if there is cause for concern based on the intensity of the reflected wave, potentially leading to fewer biopsies.

Research interests

Electromagnetics
Photonics
Antennas
Microwaves
Photonics
Computational electromagnetics
Microwaves/millimeter-waves
RF technology
Terahertz technology
Wireless communication
Autonomous and Connected Car
Microwave HTSC thin film technology
Advanced Manufacturing
Automotive
Bioengineering
Biomedical Engineering

Education

1979, Doctorate, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois
1976, Master of Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois
1974, Bachelor of Science (BSc), Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Tehran

Courses*

ECE 675 - Radiation & Propagation of Electromagnetic Fields
- Taught in 2019
ECE 770 - Special Topics in Antenna and Microwave Theory
- Taught in 2021

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

Selected/recent publications

Abdallah, Mona and Wang, Ying and Abdel-Wahab, Wael M and Safavi-Naeini, Safieddin, A Tunable Circuit Model for the Modeling of Dielectric Resonator Antenna Array, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, 15, 2016, 830 - 833
Alsaedi, Hussam and Ali, Jawad K and Abdel-Wahab, Wael M and Gigoyan, S and Safavi-Naeini, Safieddin A, A Dual Circularly Polarized Patch Antenna for Broadband MilliMeter Wave (MMW) Communication Systems, , 2016
Raeis-Zadeh, S Mohsen and Strickland, Donna and Safavi-Naeini, Safieddin, Quantum-Enhanced Second-Order Nonlinearity in Graphene: The Role of Wave Momentum and DC Biasing, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, 52(2), 2016, 1 - 7
Raeis-Zadeh, S Mohsen and Safavi-Naeini, Safieddin, Analysis of Electromagnetic Wave Scattering by Graphene Flakes Using the Generalized Multipole Technique, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 64(3), 2016, 1032 - 1038
Abdellatif, Ahmed Shehata and Taeb, Aidin and Ranjkesh, Nazy and Gigoyan, Suren and Nenasheva, Elizaveta and Safavi-Naeini, Safieddin, Low-insertion loss phase shifter for millimeter-wave phased array antennas, International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies, 8(01), 2016, 33 - 39