Working Groups (WG)

WG1 – Higher-symmetric waves: dispersive engineering

We aim at relating dispersive properties of artificial materials with relevant symmetries and explain them in terms of degenerate points and symmetry properties of the modal fields. Different symmetry conditions can provide different polarizations, anisotropic or non-reciprocal effects. We want to investigate the possibility to engineer desired frequency dispersions by introducing suitable symmetric/asymmetric conditions.
Group leaders:
Tiago Morgado, Instituto de Telecomunicações and University of Coimbra, Portugal, tmorgado@co.it.pt
Simon Horsley, University of Exeter, United Kingdom, S.Horsley@exeter.ac.uk

WG2 – Higher-symmetries to design radiating devices

We manage the activities related to the design, the optimization, the fabrication and the measurement of radiating devices based on higher-symmetric metamaterials or metasurfaces. The main investigations focus on several kinds of antennas, such as holographic antennas, graded-index metasurfaces, conformal antennas, and many others.
Group leaders:
Eva Rajo-Iglesias, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain, eva.rajo@uc3m.es
Marco Antoniades, University of Cyprus, Cyprus, mantonia@ucy.ac.cy

WG3 – Higher-symmetries for guided-wave components

We work on applications of higher-symmetric structures that guide confined waves. The relevant applications will be frequency- or spectral-domain filters, EBG materials, guided-wave lenses, modified waveguides, or metamaterial elements to be embedded in antenna devices.
Group leaders:
Marta Martínez Vázquez, Renesas Electronics, Germany, martinez@imst.de
Pablo Padilla, Universidad de Granada, Spain, pablopadilla@ugr.es

WG4 – Modelling of higher-symmetries

We study fast and accurate modelling tools to i) predict the behaviour of higher-symmetric structures and ii) optimize final prototypes. Several problems need to be adressed, such as the presence of a large number of details at different scales and strong coupling among the scatterers in the lattice.
Group leader:
Francesca Vipiana, Politecnico di Torino, francesca.vipiana@polito.it

WG5 – Dissemination of results

We manage the dissemination of the results of the SyMat COST Action, organization of special sessions/workshops, and participation in exhibitions/outreach events.
Group leaders:
Marko Bosiljevac, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, marko.bosiljevac@fer.hr

WG6 – Training activities

We organize training activities related to higher-symmetric structures. The activities include schools co-organized with the European School of Antennas, short courses at leading conferences on metamaterials, antennas, and microwaves in Europe, and seminars at universities.
Group leaders:
Valma Prifti, Polytechnic University of Tirana, valmaprifti1@gmail.com
Jan Kracek, Czech Technical University in Prague, jan.kracek@fel.cvut.cz

Transversal Activities (TA)

TA1 – Space Sciences

Higher-symmetry metamaterial lenses can bring great advantages for satellite communications, whose frequencies are shifting higher in the millimetre-wave spectrum, as well as for telescopes in radio astronomy, providing multi-beam discrimination of different directions in the sky associated with a given pixel in bolometric detectors.
Group leaders:
Eloy De Lera Acedo, Cambridge, United Kingdom, eloy@mrao.cam.ac.uk
Herve Legay, Thales Alenia Space, France, herve.legay@thalesaleniaspace.com

TA2 – 5G Communications

In the approaching internet-of-things (IoT) revolution, higher data rates and shared platforms require new approaches to device technologies. Higher-symmetries offer larger bandwidth, reduced losses, compact and low-cost designs.
Group leaders:
Astrid Algaba Brazalez, Ericsson, Sweden, astrid.algaba.brazalez@ericsson.co
Joana Silva, Huber & Suhner, Switzerland, joana.silva@hubersuhner.com

TA3 – Medical applications

Compact solutions providing a large bandwidth and reduced losses can be useful for a wide class of devices for health applications such as medical imaging.
Group leaders:
Tuba Yilmaz Abdolsaheb, Instanbul Technical University, yilmaztub@gmail.com
Stavros Koulouridis, University of Patras, Greece, stavros.koulouridis@upatras.gr