Electromagnetic Antenna for Satellites Wins Student Competition

Design announced by simulation company Altair


The Antenna Array prototype being measured.

FEKO’s (electromagnetic simulation software) Student Competition 2014 award goes to the “Design of a Patch Antenna Array for Beamforming Combined with Metamaterials at 5.8 GHz.” The design was made by Argentinean student Gastón Ezequiel Pérez from the Universidad Tecnológica Nacional.

The winning design outlines the planar array system for satellite applications. The system was optimized using Altair’s FEKO electromagnetic solvers. This CAE optimization process enabled the design to have a low profile, high gain, dynamic orientation, and meet volume and weight restrictions. The design uses phased signals when beamforming. This removed the issues of changing mechanical parts when reorienting the radiation pattern.

When Pérez started his research, he considered a single patch antenna within a planar multilayered substrate. Different feeds were compared as they could have a large effect on the antenna’s manufacturing.


The Antenna Array’s CADFEKO model.

Pérez then studied a linear patch array and eventual two dimensional array. These improved the antenna’s gain and allowed for better control of the angle of the main beam.

FEKO was used to study and optimize the array. Pérez also designed a corporate feed that was included in the simulation and prototype.

The international FEKO Student competition supports science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. It gives students a platform to share their Altair HyperWorks electromagnetic results for antennas, bio-electromagnetics, electromagnetic compatibility, microwave devices and more.

Gronum Smith, Marketing Director at Altair, said “The judges were very pleased to see the large variety of FEKO tools and features that Gastón used in his patch antenna array design project.”

He added, “We were thrilled with the quality of entries we received this year. With FEKO now being a part of the Altair HyperWorks suite, we look forward to the launch of another exciting competition in March 2015 with an even more pronounced commitment to worldwide engineering education.”

In addition to Pérez’s award, his academic advisor, Mr. Silvio Tapino received FEKO’s supervisor of the year award.

Source Altair.

Written by

Shawn Wasserman

For over 10 years, Shawn Wasserman has informed, inspired and engaged the engineering community through online content. As a senior writer at WTWH media, he produces branded content to help engineers streamline their operations via new tools, technologies and software. While a senior editor at Engineering.com, Shawn wrote stories about CAE, simulation, PLM, CAD, IoT, AI and more. During his time as the blog manager at Ansys, Shawn produced content featuring stories, tips, tricks and interesting use cases for CAE technologies. Shawn holds a master’s degree in Bioengineering from the University of Guelph and an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo.