As time marches on, technology is becoming more advanced, and advances in Antenna and Arrays are no exception.  One of the many advances in Antennas has been miniaturization.  Many of the devices today that rely on Antenna could not have even been imagined until Antenna miniaturization was developed.

In the 1960s, scientists thought they had pushed the limits of antenna miniaturization when they invented the Television glasses.  These glasses needed a TV antenna to receive the TV signal, but they simply attached rabbit ears to the glasses; ingenious.   Surely, the gentlemen in this picture must have thought that life could not get much better than to be able to watch television with glasses.   

On the fictional front during the same era, who could forget “My Favorite Martian”?  Uncle Martin could only communicate with Mars if he raised the antenna that came out of this head.  Being caught with his antenna raised provide a lot of material for the writers; imagine how dry the show would have been if miniaturization had permitted Uncle Martin to fully hide his antenna at all times.    

But miniaturization is a reality now, and many of the devices that we use every day take advantage of this technology.  Our cell phones contain miniature embedded antenna, and those antennae seem to get better every time a new phone is introduced.  In addition to cell phones, many wearable devices use embedded miniature antenna.  In addition to wrist watches that connect to the internet, there are many medical devices which can be worn on or in the human body that need to send and receive information via a miniature antenna.  If you think about it, you probably have many devices that have an embedded miniature antenna.

Antenna technology is something that all engineers need to be familiar with, as it impacts so many aspects of so many devices and systems.  Perhaps its time to brush up on your understanding of Antenna and Array Fundamentals.  ATI is here to help.  Consider taking the upcoming ATI short-course Antenna and Array Fundamentals.  This three-day course teaches the basics of antenna and antenna array theory. Fundamental concepts such as beam patterns, radiation resistance, polarization, gain/directivity, aperture size, reciprocity, and matching techniques are presented. Different types of antennas such as dipole, loop, patch, horn, dish, and helical antennas are discussed and compared and contrasted from a performance and applications standpoint.

To learn more about the ATI short course Antenna and Array Fundamentals, and to Register interest in attending, please visit this site, which can also be found on the ATI homepage at www.aticourses.com  .  Don’t delay in registering for this class, as it is coming up quickly, and seats are filling.  We hope to see you there.