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Sami Saab, Faustus' Manager of Information and Technology, has spoken with Professor Bornemann, internationally known researcher and microwave educator, about his experience with MEFiSTo-2D.
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Professor Bornemann has been with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C., Canada, since 1988. His research activities include microwave/millimeter-wave components and systems design, and problems involving electromagnetic field theory in integrated circuits and radiating structures. He is a coauthor of Waveguide Components for Antenna Feed Systems - Theory and Design (Artech House, 1993) and has authored or coauthored more than 140 technical papers. He has received the A.F. Bulgin Premium of the Institution of Electronic and Radio Engineers in 1983 and won the APEGBC Teaching Award in 1991. He is also Associate Editor (Microwave Modeling and CAD) of the IEEE MTT Transactions, and member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Numerical Modelling. |
Here is the interview with Professor Bornemann:
- S. Saab:
- Dr. Bornemann, why did you decide to acquire MEFiSTo-2D?
- J. Bornemann:
- I teach an undergraduate course on transmission lines and waveguides. I was looking for software that would allow me to demonstrate and visualize the propagation of electromagnetic fields in space and time. Since my research work also involves complex waveguide components I was interested in the dynamic visualization of fields in such structures as well. So I decided to try MEFiSTo-2D.
- S. Saab:
- Did you have any specific applications in mind that you wanted to model?
- J. Bornemann:
- For my teaching I needed a tool that could model rectangular waveguides, discontinuities, and hybrid junctions. I wanted to demonstrate the scattering of waves, the formation of evanescent higher-order modes at discontinuities, and both the transient and time-harmonic behavior of fields in components such as stub tuners and filters. At the same time, I wanted to compute scattering parameters, VSWR or return loss. I also wanted to cover the field behavior and circuit characteristics of microstrip and stripline components.
- S. Saab:
- Was MEFiSTo-2D able to handle these applications?
- J. Bornemann:
- I found that MEFiSTo-2D not only generated accurate frequency domain results, but also provided physical insight into the relationship between the geometry, the field behavior and the circuit characteristics of microwave components.
- S. Saab:
- Did you encounter any difficulties? If yes, how did you overcome them?
- J. Bornemann:
- In the beginning I found it difficult to accommodate structures with arbitrary dimensions since the discretization is restricted to uniform square cells. However, for teaching purposes it was adequate to select dimensions that fitted the grid, particularly when I used a fine mesh. For the analysis of a structure with given dimensions it would be nice to have more flexibility in the discretization, a graded mesh capability and automatic meshing. I am thinking particularly of curved or slanted boundaries. In the present version they must be discretized manually.
- S. Saab:
- How did your students respond to your demonstrations with MEFiSTo-2D?
- J. Bornemann:
- I noticed two marked effects on the students. Firstly, they were better motivated to study the theoretical foundations of what they saw on the screen. Secondly, the demonstrations helped them to understand the physical meaning of the abstract equations we derived and studied in the course.
- S. Saab:
- What new features would you like to see in the future?
- J. Bornemann:
- I would like to see MEFiSTo's capability extended to 3D with automatic meshing and flexible discretization. Another desirable feature would be a near-to-far-field transformation capability for computing antenna radiation pattern and radar cross-sections of scatterers.
- S. Saab:
- What features of MEFiSTo-2D do you like best, and why?
- J. Bornemann:
- Above all I like the intuitive user interface. It is easy to learn and to use. The HTML help facility is very handy and clearly structured. The Tutorial and the Virtual Electromagnetics Laboratory cover already most of the experiments I needed for my course. After only a few hours I could use the program effectively and with confidence in class. I also like the capability to visualize the field solution as it evolves in space and time. The computational speed is impressive. Even large problems take only seconds to solve.
- S. Saab:
- Thank you, Professor Bornemann, for sharing your observations with us.
