IEEE IMAS 2026 Keynote Speakers

Prof. Amin Abbosh is a Fellow of the IEEE and Professor at The University of Queensland (UQ), Australia, where he leads the Electromagnetic Innovations (ƐMAGIN) research group.

Throughout his career, he has served as Head of the UQ School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, Director of Research, Director of Research Training, Director of the Medical Electromagnetic Imaging Cooperative Research Centre, and a member of the UQ Academic Board.

He is also a member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts and the chief inventor on more than 20 patents licensed to the medical industry, forming the core intellectual property of two Australian MedTech companies.

Prof. Abbosh has authored more than 600 refereed journal and conference publications covering electromagnetic theory, applied research, and industrial innovation.

His honors include receiving the IEEE APS King Prize twice, multiple University of Queensland Excellence Awards in Leadership, Research, Entrepreneurship, and PhD Supervision, as well as several Best Paper Awards at leading international conferences.

Medical microwave imaging has emerged as a promising, safe, low-cost, and portable alternative or complement to conventional medical imaging techniques. Advances in antenna technology, microwave sensing, computational electromagnetics, inverse scattering, and imaging algorithms have significantly improved its clinical potential.

This keynote reviews the evolution of medical microwave imaging from its electromagnetic foundations, highlighting the major scientific advances, remaining challenges, and the importance of physics-based modeling for reliable imaging, detection, and diagnostic performance.

The presentation introduces the emerging concept of physics-integrated artificial intelligence, where data-driven AI techniques are combined with electromagnetic models to improve image reconstruction, enhance robustness, reduce computational complexity, and enable real-time clinical decision support.

Drawing on recent research achievements, the talk demonstrates how integrating electromagnetic physics with AI is transforming medical microwave imaging and accelerating its translation from laboratory research into practical healthcare applications.

The keynote concludes with an outlook on future research opportunities and the next generation of intelligent microwave imaging systems that combine physics and artificial intelligence to deliver more accurate, reliable, and accessible healthcare solutions.

Stefano Maci is a Professor at the University of Siena (UNISI), with scientific responsibility for a research group of 15 researchers. He is also the Director of the UNISI PhD School of Information Engineering and Science, which presently includes about 60 PhD students.

His research interests include high-frequency and beam representation methods, computational electromagnetics, large phased arrays, planar antennas, reflector antennas and feeds, metamaterials, and metasurfaces.

Since 2000, Prof. Maci has been responsible for several projects funded by the European Union, including serving as WP Leader of the Antenna Center of Excellence (ACE, FP6-EU) from 2004 to 2007 and as International Coordinator of a 24-institution Marie Curie Action consortium from 2007 to 2010.

He has also carried out research projects supported by the European Space Agency (ESA-ESTEC), the European Defence Agency (EDA), the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL), and numerous international industries and research institutions.

Prof. Maci has served on the Technical Advisory Boards of international conferences, Review Boards of international journals, and has organized numerous special sessions and short courses for the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society.

He has served as Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility and IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, as well as Guest Editor of special issues. In 2003, he was elected a Fellow of IEEE.

In 2004, he founded the European School of Antennas (ESoA), a leading PhD school covering antennas, propagation, electromagnetic theory, and computational electromagnetics. The school brings together leading European research centers and experts in the field.

Prof. Maci has also been involved in NATO research activities and is currently involved in research related to metamaterials for defense and security applications.

He was co-founder of two spin-off companies and has served as honorary President of LEAntenne e Progetti SPA since 2008.

His research activity includes 10 book chapters, more than 100 papers in international journals, and approximately 300 papers in international conference proceedings. His research has received more than 2000 citations according to Google Scholar.

Metasurfaces constitute a class of thin metamaterials that can be used from microwave to optical frequencies to create new electromagnetic engineering devices. They are obtained by a dense periodic texture of small elements printed on a grounded slab, with or without shorting vias.

Metasurfaces have been used for realizing electromagnetic bandgaps (EBG) and equivalent magnetic walls. By changing the dimensions of the elements while maintaining the same sub-wavelength two-dimensional periodicity, the structure produces a pixelated visual effect together with an electromagnetic modulation of the equivalent local reactance.

The resulting Modulated Metasurface Reactance (MMR) is able to transform surface or guided waves into different wavefield configurations with required properties. This MMR-driven wavefield transformation is referred to as “Metasurfing.”

The MMR allows a local modification of the dispersion equation and, at a constant operating frequency, a modification of the local wavevector. The resulting effects are similar to those obtained in volumetric inhomogeneous metamaterials as predicted by Transformation Optics, particularly in redirecting the propagation path of an incident wave, while providing significant technological simplicity.

When the MMR is covered by a top ground plane, forming a parallel-plate waveguide Metasurfing structure, the real part of the Poynting vector follows a generalized Fermat principle similar to ray-field propagation in an inhomogeneous solid medium. This concept can be used for designing lenses and point-source-driven beam-forming networks.

When the MMR is uncovered, wave propagation is accompanied by leakage. A surface wave is transformed into a leaky wave, and the structure itself becomes an extremely flat antenna.

Introducing slots into the printed elements enables polarization control. In these configurations, the metasurface can be described using an anisotropic surface impedance.

In this lecture, after introducing the design methodology of metasurfing-wave antennas, several examples are presented and discussed, including Luneburg lenses, Maxwell’s Fish-eyes, isoflux antennas, Doppler-guide antennas, and new transmission lines.