From Engineering Electromagnetics to Electromagnetics Engineering

The role of Electromagnetic (EM) fields in our lives has been increasing. Communication, remote sensing, integrated command/ control/surveillance systems, intelligent transportation systems, medicine, environment, education, marketing, defense are only a few areas where EM fields have critical importance. We have witnessed the transformation from Engineering Electromagnetics to Electromagnetic Engineering for the last few decades after being surrounded by EM waves everywhere. Among many others, EM engineering deals with broad range of problems from antenna design to EM scattering, indoor-outdoor radiowave propagation to wireless communication, radar systems to integrated surveillance, subsurface imaging to novel materials, EM compatibility to nano-systems, electroacoustic devices to electro-optical systems, etc. The range of the devices we use in our daily life has extended from DC up to Terahertz frequencies. We have had both large-scale (kilometers-wide) and small-scale (nanometers) EM systems. Large portion of these systems are broadband and digital, and have to operate in close proximity that results in severe EM interference problems. Engineers have to take EM issues into account from the earliest possible design stages. This necessitates establishing an intelligent balance between strong mathematical background (theory), engineering experience (practice), and modeling and numerical computations (simulation). This invited talk aims at a broad-brush look at certain teaching / training challenges that confront wave-oriented EM engineering in the 21st century, in a complex computer and technology-driven world with rapidly shifting societal and technical priorities. The talk also discusses modeling and simulation strategies pertaining to complex EM problems and supplies several user-friendly virtual tools, most of which have been presented in the IEEE AP Magazine and which are very effective in teaching and training in lectures such as EM Wave Theory, Antennas and Radiowave Propagation, EM Scattering and Diffraction, Guided Wave Theory, Microstrip Circuit Design, Radar Cross Section Prediction, Transmission Lines, Metamaterials, etc.