Gunes Karabulut Kurt, a full professor in Polytechnique Montreal's Department of Electrical Engineering, has been appointed as the Director of the Poly-Grames Research Centre, which focuses on microwaves and space electronics. She is taking the reins from Ke Wu, who headed the research centre for 26 years.
Professor Gunes Karabulut Kurt.
The Poly-Grames Research Centre was established in 1992 by the late Professor Emeritus Renato G. Bosisio, building on the microwave research conducted at Polytechnique Montréal since the 1960s. Today it is the largest radiofrequency research centre in Canada and enjoys an international reputation for its contributions in the fields of microwaves, radiofrequencies, millimetre waves, terahertz technologies and microwave photonics.
Poly-Grames is actively pursuing research on microwaves for space and mobile communications. This includes developing numerical methods and designs for passive and active components used for centimetric, millimetric and terahertz waves; designing various types of circuits, systems, and microwave and radio-frequency sensors; and modeling transistors.
The centre's work also focuses on wave-matter interactions and microwave heating through the characterization and creation of models for dielectric materials, including biological tissues, and the development of new microwave reactors.
"For more than 30 years, the Poly-Grames Research Centre has been driving advanced research and innovation in radiofrequency systems, ranging from millimeter-scale microwaves to terahertz waves. And under the visionary leadership of Ke Wu, the centre has earned a reputation as a global leader in its field," said Gunes Karabulut Kurt, the research centre's newly appointed director.
"I'm determined to build on the centre's solid foundations by continuing to push the boundaries of innovation. This will involve pursuing cutting-edge research in the field of space networks, while leveraging our team's talent and expertise, and maximizing the use of our advanced facilities. With our specialized test platforms, we'll aim to bridge the gap between theoretical research and practical implementation. At the same time, we'll also aim to spark innovation and promote collaboration between our researchers and industrial partners so that together we can shape the future of communications."
The Poly-Grames Research Centre's integrated facilities include manufacturing, testing and characterization labs as well as computer servers. These assets enable research teams to develop new concepts and disruptive technologies. Over the years, numerous researchers have conducted advanced research activities at the centre, while scores of graduate students have used the labs to perform experiments as part of their studies.
The Poly-Grames Research Centre is internationally renowned for its pioneering contributions in the fields of non-radiative dielectric waveguides, substrate integrated circuits, and interferometric multi-port receiver and transmitters. Its notable achievements include a feedforward linearizer for power amplifiers, software-defined radio, the characterization of microwave heating and dehydration, and characterization methods for resonant cavities. The research centre has also collaborated on the development of a microwave cardiac tissue-ablation technique for the treatment of arrhythmia.
Poly-Grames also hosts the Quebec Centre for Radiofrequency Research, Expertise and Testing (CQREER) service platform, through which the industrial and academic communities can access services in the areas of manufacturing, machining, measurement and characterization.
Professor Wu's accomplishments and outgoing message
Gunes Karabulut Kurt is taking over from Ke Wu, who is a full professor in Polytechnique Montréal's Department of Electrical Engineering and has served as the director of the Poly-Grames Research Centre for 26 years.
Professor Wu joined Poly-Grames in early 1992, shortly after accepting a position as an assistant professor of Electrical Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal. He was appointed interim director of the research centre in 1998, and then director in 2000.
"The Poly-Grames Research Centre is like family to me. Over the past 32 years, my colleagues and I have worked tirelessly to develop and promote it," stated Ke Wu. "Together, we successfully established Poly-Grames as one of the world's leading institutions in the fields of radio frequency engineering, microwaves, millimeter waves, terahertz waves and applied electromagnetism more generally."
Professor Ke Wu (Photo: Caroline Perron)
"The Poly-Grames Research Centre has many notable achievements to its name, such as obtaining three major infrastructure grants from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), conducting various activities and collaborative initiatives both nationally and internationally, and completing numerous fundamental and applied research projects, including many in partnership with Canadian companies and government laboratories. Beyond that, Poly-Grames has hosted several national and international events, all of which were made possible thanks to the research centre's exceptional support and platform."
"I have fond memories of my many collaborations and discussions with colleagues," continued Professor Wu. "I'd like to express my deep gratitude to the technical staff, and will never forget the invaluable administrative support I received from the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Poly-Grames team. I've had the privilege of supervising many talented students, postdoctoral fellows and research associates. Our research centre owes its enviable reputation to them."
"It's a pleasure to be passing the torch to Professor Gunes Karabulut Kurt. I'm confident that she will skillfully lead Poly-Grames to new heights," concluded Ke Wu, who will continue to collaborate with the research centre as a regular member.
We wish to congratulate Gunes Karabulut Kurt on her new role and extend our sincerest thanks to Ke Wu for his many years of leadership.
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