Professor Kwai-man Luk elected as a fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering
Professor Kwai-man Luk (Croucher Senior Research Fellowship 2001) of the City University of Hong Kong has been named a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK in recognition of his contributions to advancing the development of antennas.
Over the past three decades, Luk has made a great impact on the wideband antenna development, prompting further research around the world, and contributing to the advancement of 4G, 5G and probably 6G network systems. The L-shaped probe fed microstrip antenna and the magneto-electric dipole antenna that he and his team championed in 1998 and 2006, respectively.
Other inventions including the design of microstrip antennas, small antennas, dielectric antennas and complementary antennas have been deployed globally in wireless communications.
Luk has been working closely with industry players to design antennas. He found this to be a good way to learn about current and future market needs. The feedback he received helped to refine his designs, while the exchanges provided him with insights about future trends.
Engineers always need to think ahead.
In fact, the 5G protocol has been a focus of Luk and his colleagues for ten years. Likewise, the terahertz technology that Luk and his team have developed will contribute significantly to future communications.
“The future antenna requires not only a wider bandwidth, but also additional features, such as multiple input multiple output, phased array and antenna miniaturisation,” Luk said. Some of Luk’s recent research projects include non-metal antennas, water antennas and 3D antennas, all of which opens up further possibilities in wireless communication.
“We are now working with local medical professionals on a few applications using radio waves, including a study on electromagnetic interference, electromagnetic body imaging to detect abnormalities in the body and dissolving blood clots in stroke patients,” Luk said.
Commenting on the election of Professor Luk, Professor Dame Ann Dowling, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering said, “The achievements of our new fellow highlight the critical role engineering has in addressing major societal challenges and ensuring our readiness for the future. We are very much looking forward to working with them as we continue to fulfil our vision of engineering at the heart of a sustainable and prosperous society.”
Professor Kwai-Man Luk was born and educated in Hong Kong. He received the B.Sc.(Eng.) and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from The University of Hong Kong in 1981 and 1985, respectively. He joined the Department of Electronic Engineering at City University of Hong Kong in 1985 as a Lecturer. Two years later, he moved to the Department of Electronic Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong where he spent four years. Professor Luk returned to the City University of Hong Kong in 1992, and he is currently Chair Professor of Electronic Engineering. He served as Head of Department of Electronic Engineering from August 2004 to July 2010. His recent research interests include design of patch, planar and dielectric resonator antennas, microwave and antenna measurements, and computational electromagnetics. He is the author of three books, 9 research book chapters, over 260 journal papers and 200 conference papers. He was awarded 2 US and more than 10 PRC patents on the design of a wideband patch antenna with an L-shaped probe.
To view Prof Luk’s Croucher profile, please click here.