Research

Depending on the topic, our research has been done in cooperation with one or more of the following institutions: the American University of Beirut, the University of New Mexico, the Lebanese University, and Notre Dame University in Lebanon.

Research Topics:

• Antennas for High Power Microwaves
  
• High Power Microwave Generators
  
• Enhanced Metal Detectors and Ground Penetrating Radars
• Target Detection and Classification
  

Antennas for High Power Microwaves

Our antennas research aims to design and fabricate antennas that can be used with high microwave input powers. The two antennas types that we've focused on are the horn antennas, and the slotted waveguide antennas. In the famous horn antennas, our research goal has been to reduce the pattern sidelobes by corrugating the walls of the horn.

In the slotted waveguide antennas (SWAs), we have devised a simplified method to design 1D and 2D SWA versions with a sidelobe level of our choice. We've also investigated the use of metamaterials to improve SWAs in terms of size reduction and input port reflection improvement.

High Power Microwave Generators

A 1kW microwave generator based on a magnetron taken from a kitchen microwave oven has been designed. The design of higher-power generators is being investigated. These microwave generators are required to study the effect of heat on landmines and in their thermal imaging detection.

Enhanced Metal Detectors and Ground Penetrating Radars

The work on metal detectors and GPRs targets the design of smarter devices that can classify the detected object and make a decision regarding its nature. Both simulations and measurements of the metal detector and GPR footprints of common landmines and harmless objects are being these. Once a database of these footprints is ready, it will be used in an algorithmic system that the metal detector and GPR will be equipped with to classify a detected object.

Target Detection and Classification

The work in this area involves several image and signal processing techniques based on the available input in order to detect the required objects such as landmines. These techniques range from basic filtering approaches such as median filtering that initially enhance the images and/or signals and reduce the noise, to more advanced algorithms such as wavelets or sparse based methods including for example independent component analysis, segmentation, etc ...
After detection, we classify the different objects using several classification approaches that utilize both supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms. These classification methods range from basic clustering to advanced deep neural networks, and include several techniques like boosting, self organized maps, support vector machines, etc ...

APS/URSI 2015 | 19 - 24 July 2015, Vancouver, BC, Canada

The IEEE APS/URSI 2015 Symposium was held in Vancouver, BC, Canada, during the period 19 - 24 July 2015. Website for APS/URSI 2015: http://www.2015apsursi.org/

Two papers by the HDRP team were presented at this conference. The first is titled "Controllable-Sidelobe Slotted Waveguide Antennas with Corrugations for Frequency Selectivity", and the second "Design Procedure for 2D Slotted Waveguide Antenna with Controllable Sidelobe Level".

Visits and Research Meetings in Switzerland | 02 - 06 March 2015, Switzerland

Drs. Ghaziri and Husseini were in Switzerland during the 2-6 March 2015 period. This trip aimed at kickstarting the cooperation between BRIC, EPFL and the National University of Colombia, Bogota on topics related to the HDRP. Several meetings were held and presentations were made at EPFL in Lausanne.
Visits were also made to Digger and Montena. Digger (http://www.digger.ch/) is a Swiss foundation and company offering demining solutions. Montena (www.montena.com) is specialized in developing systems for Electro-Magnetic Compatibility (EMC) testing.

AMEREM 2014 | 27 July - 01 August 2014 Albuquerque, NM, the USA

The AMEREM 2014 Symposium was held at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM, the USA, during the period 27 July - 01 August 2014. Website for AMEREM 2014:
http://ece.unm.edu/amerem2014/
A paper on the design of antennas for HDRP was presented at this conference. The paper co-authored by Dr. Mohammed Husseini is titled "Miniaturized Slotted Waveguide Antennas With Periodic Structures for High Power Microwave Applications".

ACME 2014 | 21-25 July 2014 Bologna, Italy

Dr. Mohammed Husseini was co-organizer of the Special Session on Advances in Computational Methods in Electromagnetics, Antenna Design, and Applications (ACME 2014) held as part of the 2014 International Conference on High Performance Computing & Simulation (HPCS 2014), Bologna, Italy, during the period 21-25 July 2014, Website for ACME 2014:
http://hpcs2014.cisedu.info/2-conference/special-sessions/session-01-acme

URSI 2014 | 8-11 January 2014 Boulder, Colorado, USA

Three abstracts on topics related to the HDRP were accepted in the proceedings of the 2014 National Radio Science Meeting (USNC-URSI 2014) held in Boulder, Colorado, the USA, during the period 8-11 January 2014. These abstracts are by Dr. Mohammed Husseini and collaborators from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, the USA, and are available through the IEEEXplore database. The abstract titles are the following:
"Improved Slotted Waveguide Antenna with Optimized Corrugations and Suppressed Sidelobes for High-Power Applications",
"A Soft Corrugated Pyramidal Horn Antenna for Radial Power Extraction from an A6 Magnetron", "An SRR-Loaded Sub-Wavelength Waveguide with H-Plane-Bend Radiator and Improved Matching for High Power Application".

University of New Mexico | Sept 2013 - Jan 2014 Albuquerque, NM, USA

Dr. Mohammed Husseini was a visiting research at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, the USA, from September 2013 till January 2014. During this visit, he worked on the design and optimization of antennas for high-power microwaves using metamaterial and repetitive structures.

PIERS 2013 | 12-15 August 2013 Stockholm, Sweden

Dr. Mohammed Husseini and Eng. Hilal El Misilmani attended the 2013 Progress in Electromagnetics Research Symposium (PIERS 2013) held in Stockholm, Sweden during the period 12-15 August 2013. Dr. Husseini presented the paper "High-gain S-band Slotted Waveguide Antenna Arrays with Elliptical Slots and Low Sidelobe Levels" and another paper titled "Single Layer Meta-material Lens with Graded Refractive Index". Eng. El Misilmani presented the paper "Optimized Reflector Position for Vlasov Antennas". Links to these papers are available on the Publications page.

ACME 2013 | 1-5 July 2013 Helsinki, Finland

Dr. Mohammed Husseini was an organizer of the Special Session on Advances in Computational Methods in Electromagnetics, Antenna Design, and Applications (ACME 2013) held in Helsinki, Finland, as part of the 2013 International Conference on High Performance Computing & Simulation (HPCS 2013). Dr. Husseini received a Certificate of Appreciation for the successful organization of ACME2013.
The research paper entitled "Improved Vlasov Antenna with Curved Cuts for High Power Microwaves", by Hilal El Misilmani, Mohammed Al-Husseini et al., was presented during this session by Prof. Karim Kabalan of the American University of Beirut. Prof. Kabalan is a co-author of the paper. This paper appears in the IEEEXplore database.

MoU with LMAC | 24 July 2013 Fayyadieh, Lebanon

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between BRIC and the Ministry of National Defense represented by the Lebanese Armed Forces - the Lebanon Mine Action Center (LMAC) to cooperate on the Humanitarian Demining Research Program.