IEEE IMAS 2026 Special Sessions

The transition from 5G to 6G is redefining the role of antenna systems in wireless networks. Far from being passive radiating elements, antennas are now becoming intelligent and adaptive enablers of future connectivity. Although 6G research often emphasizes new frontiers such as sub-THz communications, C-band will continue to serve as a foundational spectrum for wide-area coverage, reliable capacity delivery, and scalable deployment. This makes C-band (Upper 6 GHz, 6.425–7.125 GHz and 7.125–8.4 GHz) antenna innovation especially important for the practical realization of 6G. This convened session seeks contributions that showcase disruptive developments in C-band antenna technologies for next-generation wireless systems. Areas of interest include advanced beamforming and massive MIMO arrays, reconfigurable and multifunctional antennas, compact and integrated front-end solutions, wideband and dual-polarized architectures, and low-cost, low-power, and high-efficiency antenna platforms. The session will also explore how these technologies can support key 6G requirements, including intelligent radio environments, integrated sensing and communications, ultra-reliable and low-latency operation, and flexible network adaptation across diverse use cases. Read More..

The 6G wireless technology is envisioned to create an intelligent, multi-functional digital ecosystem. It is capable of supporting seamless high-capacity communications and high-resolution wireless sensing. At the physical layer, Programmable Holographic Metasurface Antennas (PHMAs) and Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) are emerging as prime enabling technologies to support 6G networks. PHMAs broadly encompass Dynamic Metasurface Antennas (DMAs), Reconfigurable Holographic Surfaces (RHS), as well as fluid and pinching antennas. This special session brings together technical contributions at the frontier of advanced digital metasurface antenna technologies, covering fundamental prototype designs, space-time coding implementations, experimental demonstrations, and system-level investigations. This will cover recent progress in intelligent wavefront engineering, address key scientific and technological challenges, and highlight the transformative research and technological impact of programmable metasurface-based antenna technologies for 6G and beyond wireless networks. The application areas span multi-user communications, massive MIMO, near-field communications and localization, as well as applications in contactless RF sensing such as vital-sign monitoring and multi-subject radar-like sensing. Read More..

The convergence of electromagnetics, materials science, and healthcare is driving transformative advances in personalized medicine and continuous health monitoring. Antennas and RF/microwave systems that operate in, on, or near the human body present unique and critical engineering challenges: miniaturization under severe dielectric loading, biocompatibility, regulatory compliance, patient safety, and reliable operation within dynamic physiological environments. As global healthcare systems increasingly demand remote, real-time, and non-invasive monitoring solutions—driven by aging populations, the rise of chronic diseases, and the expansion of digital health platforms—biomedical antenna and RF system research has never been more urgent or impactful. This special session will cover, but is not limited to, the following technical areas:

• Wearable and flexible antennas for on-body sensing and communication
• Implantable antenna design for neural interfaces, cardiac devices, and drug delivery
• Wireless power transfer (WPT) for biomedical implants and wearables
• Microwave and millimeter-wave imaging for cancer detection and diagnostics
• RF-based non-invasive physiological sensing (glucose, respiration, cardiac monitoring)
• Body area network (BAN) channel modeling and antenna performance in biological media
• Metasurface and reconfigurable antenna technologies for biomedical applications
• Electromagnetic safety and SAR analysis for medical devices

This session is directly aligned with the scope and mission of IEEE AP-S Technical Committee 11 (Health, Imaging, Sensing, Medicine, and Services) and serves as a flagship TC11 contribution to IMAS 2026. The session will foster cross-disciplinary dialogue between antenna engineers, bioelectromagnetics researchers, and medical device innovators. IMAS 2026, hosted in Jeddah and co-sponsored by IEEE AP-S and MTT-S, provides an ideal international venue for this topic given the growing research momentum in the Gulf and broader MENA region in digital health and biomedical engineering. The session will stimulate new collaborations and provide a platform for early-career researchers to showcase leading-edge work. Read More..

Growing interest in microwave and millimeter-wave sensing and imaging is driving research in scattering analysis. This session provides a focused forum for advances in these areas and their role in validated sensing and imaging systems. This special session will address advanced research in electromagnetic sensing and imaging at microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies. Topics of interest include scattering analysis, near-field-to-far-field transformation, electromagnetic forward and inverse modeling, full-wave and hybrid numerical methods, image reconstruction, and radar signal processing. Contributions are particularly encouraged on methodologies that link electromagnetic theory, antenna design, and propagation effects to experimentally validated sensing and imaging result. This session connects the shared interests of IEEE AP-S and IEEE MTT-S in antennas, propagation, and microwave/mmWave sensing. It will highlight recent advances in electromagnetic modeling, scattering analysis, numerical methods, and signal processing for sensing and imaging, while encouraging collaboration between the two communities. Read More..

Recent advances in biomedical engineering and healthcare technologies are transforming disease diagnosis. Early and accurate diagnosis remains a critical factor in improving patient outcomes and reducing mortality rates. This special session is motivated by the growing need to integrate cutting-edge computational methods, signal processing techniques, and intelligent systems into clinical practice. The technical scope includes medical imaging analysis, machine learning and artificial intelligence for healthcare, biosignal processing, wearable health monitoring systems, and data-driven diagnostic tools. Special emphasis will be placed on innovative approaches for cancer diagnosis, including image-based detection, pattern recognition, and multimodal data fusion techniques. Contributions addressing real-time systems, robust algorithms, and clinical validation are particularly encouraged. This session is highly relevant to current global healthcare challenges, where there is an increasing demand for cost-effective, accurate, and scalable diagnostic solutions. By bridging the gap between engineering innovations and medical applications, the session aims to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, clinicians, and industry experts. The expected impact of this session includes advancing the state-of-the-art in biomedical diagnostics, promoting translational research, and encouraging practical healthcare solutions. Read More..

This special session aims to bring together recent advances in antenna design and RF systems. The motivation stems from the urgent demand for systems capable of operating in harsh, dynamic, and infrastructure-deficient environments. The technical scope includes reconfigurable and cognitive antenna systems, low-profile antennas, RF sensing and radar systems, wireless power transfer, secure communication systems, millimeter-wave technologies, and AI-integrated RF front-ends. Contributions addressing electromagnetic solutions for post-disaster scenarios including ad hoc networks, localization, and biomedical monitoring are encouraged. The session is sponsored by IEEE APS Technical Committee 9 on Security, Defense, and Disaster Management. Read More..

This special session focuses on transparent microwave elements. These components enable radio-frequency functionality while remaining optically see-through. These elements are critical for next-generation smart infrastructures and 6G-connected environments, automotive glazing, wearable devices, electromagnetic shielding for displays, biomedical sensors, and defense systems. The session aims to establish design methodologies, characterization standards, and benchmarking frameworks for transparent microwave elements. The discussion will also cover advanced fabrication techniques including additive manufacturing approaches. This session seeks to inspire new research collaborations and practical pathways for integrating transparent microwave technologies into mainstream industry solutions. Read More..

Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) have rapidly evolved from passive beam-steering reflectors into multifunctional electromagnetic platforms. These platforms are capable of jointly enabling sensing, communication, and on-surface computing. As 6G research moves toward integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), AI-native air interfaces, and energy-efficient hardware, the antenna and microwave community needs a dedicated forum to consolidate progress across these intersecting frontiers and to align academic advances with emerging ETSI and industry standardization efforts. This session brings together leading academic and industrial groups to address the full RIS stack, including:

• Unit-cell and aperture design at mmWave and THz frequencies
• Novel reconfiguration mechanisms (electronic, wave-bias, and physically actuated)
• ISAC architectures leveraging RIS for joint radar–communication operation
• Computational microwave imaging using reconfigurable apertures
• Energy-efficient encoding and waveform engineering for low-power RIS operation
• Machine-learning-driven RIS control
• Reconfigurable Intelligent Computing Surfaces (RICS)

Both theoretical models and measurement-validated prototypes will be presented, including results from early 6G study-band testbeds. Read More..

This special session highlights emerging research contributions in antennas, microwaves, propagation, and applied electromagnetics led by women researchers. The session aims to provide a technical forum for showcasing innovative developments spanning RF, millimeter-wave, and THz technologies for next-generation wireless, sensing, biomedical, and vehicular applications. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Wearable and flexible antennas for healthcare and telehealth systems
• Low-profile and reconfigurable antenna arrays
• Propagation and scattering studies at mmWave and THz frequencies
• THz transmission and shielding technologies
• Vehicular and MIMO antenna systems
• Electromagnetic characterization and modeling
• Emerging RF sensing and biomedical propagation applications

The session welcomes both theoretical and experimentally validated contributions that advance the state of the art in antenna and microwave engineering while fostering greater visibility and participation of women researchers within the AP-S and MTT-S communities. Read More..

The emergence of 6G wireless systems is accelerating the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI), non-terrestrial networks (NTN), and integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) technologies. Future 6G ecosystems are expected to provide seamless terrestrial connectivity while enabling intelligent services, autonomous systems, real-time sensing, and ubiquitous communications. The integration of satellites, high-altitude platforms (HAPS), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and terrestrial infrastructures will play a critical role in extending coverage, improving resilience, and supporting global connectivity. Simultaneously, ISAC is expected to transform wireless networks into sensing-capable intelligent platforms, while AI-native architectures will enable autonomous optimization, resource management, and context-aware communications. This special session aims to bring together leading researchers and industry experts to discuss the latest advances, open challenges, and future research directions related to NTN, ISAC, and AI-native 6G systems. Read More..

The rapid expansion of advanced wireless networks, including 5G/6G, satellite communications, and automotive radar systems, demands high-performance RF front-ends operating at increasingly higher frequencies. As these devices are pushed to their performance limits, accurate nonlinear modeling becomes essential. It is crucial for predicting complex large-signal behavior, mitigating distortion, and minimizing costly design iterations in critical components such as power amplifiers, mixers, and oscillators. This special session covers both theoretical and practical advancements in the modeling of active microwave and millimeter-wave devices. The scope encompasses a broad range of methodologies, including:

• Empirical and behavioral modeling
• Advanced parameter extraction
• Physics-based modeling of millimeter-wave transistors
• Electro-thermal effects and trapping phenomena
• High-frequency parasitic de-embedding
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques in device characterization workflows

By bridging the gap between foundational semiconductor physics and system-level circuit design, this session delivers critical insights to both researchers and industry professionals. Robust nonlinear models are the bedrock of first-pass design success, enabling the development of more efficient, reliable, and cost-effective high-frequency systems. Showcasing these state-of-the-art modeling techniques will directly support the IMAS community’s ongoing efforts to drive the next generation of wireless and sensing technologies. Read More..

This session aims to highlight the essential role of microwave engineering in enabling quantum computing hardware. It introduces the key differences between classical and quantum computers, explains the fundamentals of qubits and quantum gates, and examines how superconducting qubits are practically implemented. This special session also emphasizes the importance of advanced microwave components—such as tunable couplers and ultra-low-noise amplifiers—in controlling qubit interactions and accurately reading extremely weak quantum signals. The session ultimately demonstrates how precise electromagnetic design supports reliable and scalable quantum systems. Read More..

Advanced techniques and emerging technologies in mmWave radar systems and applications.

Emerging trends, advanced techniques, and future developments in RF Power Amplifier (RFPA) technologies and applications.