Microwave Ice and Snow Sensors for Energy and Transportation Applications

Organizing OU: IEEE IES WA Chapter
Date: Thursday, 20 October 2022, 6.00 - 7.30 pm (AWST)
Speaker: A/Prof Mohammad Hossein Zarifi

Abstract:
Recently, the application of microwave sensors for detecting and differentiating liquids, frost, and ice has been demonstrated, where the microwave sensors are particularly well suited for this application owing to their non-contact, label-free, real-time detection mechanism and their resilience in harsh environments. Through electromagnetic field interactions, these sensors communicate with materials’ molecules to detect water, frost, ice, or snow in their proximity through protective coatings. These sensors can further be equipped with embedded systems and artificial neural networks capable of monitoring the accretion of ice or snow and triggering deicing systems. This talk will focus on using microwave sensors and integrating them with coatings to enhance ice sensing and improve deicing efficiently over heterogeneous surfaces.

Bio:
Mohammad Hossein Zarifi (Ph.D. PEng, PRC Tier II, SMIEEE) is currently an Associate Professor and Tier II Principal’s Research Chair (PRC) in Sensors and Microelectronics with the School of Engineering at the University of British Columbia, and the director of Okanagan MicroElectronics and Gigahertz Applications laboratory (OMEGA Lab), Canada. Prior joining UBC, Dr. Zarifi was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta from 2013-2017. Dr. Zarifi received CMC-NRC first place award, on industrial collaboration, for the innovative microwave sensors, in Canada, at 2015. Dr Zarifi’s research focus includes design of high-speed and low-power analog circuits, analog-to-digital converters for biomedical and communication applications, and microwave planar structures for sensing applications. Dr. Zarifi is a member of IEEE MTT-S TC- 26 “RFID, Wireless Sensor and IoT” and a senior member of the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society, and the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society.