Susan C. Hagness, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI
/The Intersection of Radio Science and Biology and Medicine: A Celebration of the Past and Future of Commission K
50th Anniversary Plenary Speaker, Thursday, January 11, 2024
Abstract: Radio scientists and electromagnetic engineers have long been inspired by the prospects of contributing to the advancement of human health and quality of life. Commission K sessions at the National Radio Science Meeting (NRSM) have provided an invaluable venue for disseminating research advances at the intersection of radio science with biology and medicine. At the foundation of Commission K is a focus on the physical interaction mechanisms of electromagnetic fields and waves – from DC to daylight – with biological systems, whether at the cellular or whole human body level. Two primary pillars build upon that foundation: 1) basic research on biological effects, the underlying mechanisms responsible for the effects, and techniques for quantifying and assessing exposure to electromagnetic fields and waves, and 2) applied research involving the development of diagnostic and therapeutic technologies for a host of medical applications. Commission K has also embraced research on communications and sensing technologies for non-medical applications that nevertheless involve interactions with the human body.
As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the NRSM in Boulder, CO, it is exciting to reflect on a 50-year span that straddles both the past and the future. Accordingly, this talk will provide a brief 25-year retrospective, highlighting representative research advances across the foundation and pillars of Commission K, and a forward-looking vision for the next 25 years. A timely societal challenge for Commission K to tackle is healthy aging. There are currently more than 55 million people in the U.S. above age 65, according to U.S. census data from 2020, and by 2030 an estimated 1.4 billion people will be over 60 years of age, according to the World Health Organization. Electromagnetics engineering in biology and medicine includes countless research directions that will yield future technologies in support of healthy aging, including supporting aging in place (e.g. health status monitoring and screening, detecting falls, etc.), energy harvesting for powering smartphones and other devices for monitoring and rehabilitation, and advancing point-of-care diagnostics and novel therapies.
Biography: Susan C. Hagness received the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Northwestern University in 1993 and 1998, respectively. She is currently the Philip D. Reed Professor of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she has served as Department Chair since 2018. She previously served as the College of Engineering Associate Dean for Research (2014-2017) and has held a variety of professional society and advisory board appointments and leadership roles within the IEEE, the U.S. National Committee of URSI, the ASEE Engineering Research Council, and ECEDHA. She has co-authored more than 100 journal papers, eight book chapters, and two editions (with Allen Taflove) of Computational Electrodynamics: The Finite-Difference Time-Domain Method (Artech House, 2000 and 2005).
She has received numerous recognitions for her holistic approach to teaching and mentoring and for her research in computational and experimental applied electromagnetics, which has emphasized medical applications over the past 25 years. Highlights include the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2000), the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Early Career Achievement Award (2004), the URSI Issac Koga Gold Medal (2005), the IEEE Trans. Biomedical Engineering Outstanding Paper Award (2007), the IEEE Education Society Van Valkenburg Early Career Teaching Award (2007), the Physics in Medicine and Biology Citations Prize (2011), the UW-Madison Women Faculty Mentoring Program Slesinger Award for Excellence in Mentoring (2017), and College of Engineering awards for excellence in teaching (2014), research (2018), and equity and diversity efforts (2021). She is a Fellow of the IEEE (2009), AAAS (2021), AIMBE (2022), and NAI (2022).
