U of A Gaining Valuable Connections in Africa With the IMAS 2023 Conference

IEEE Microwave Theory and Technology Society (IEEE MTT-S) launched the International Microwave & Antennas Symposium (IMAS) conference for Africa in Cairo Egypt on February 7-9, 2023. The conference provided researchers and students with opportunities to collaborate on radiofrequency (RF) components, microwave technology and antennas. Dr. Samir M. El-Ghazaly, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor at the University of Arkansas (UARK) and a fellow of IEEE, spearheaded the initiative after recognizing Africa’s potential for growth.

“For several years, we felt that there is great potential for growth in Africa, especially with RF systems and their use in wireless technology… Scientists and engineers contributed and presented technical papers from both inside and outside Africa. This helped create major opportunities for researchers and students to learn from each other and get to know each other. Hopefully, in the future, these researchers and students will collaborate on projects together,” said Dr. El-Ghazaly.

With support of the National Science Foundation, the IMAS conference sponsored a two-day workshop prior to the start of the conference. The workshop attracted over 75 participants. The participants presented research on satellite communications, Radars for civilian applications, Smart Village, and Smart City.

Dr. El-Ghazaly

“Professor Uche Wejinya, from UARK Mechanical Engineering, and Professor Griffiths Atungulu, from the UARK Department of Food Science, presented at the workshop and attended the conference. They both are interested in follow up activities with other attendees,” said Dr. El-Ghazaly, “Both the workshops and the conference were huge successes because they introduced people to each other, created collaboration, and opportunities. I know several researchers from UARK and from Africa are communicating following their interactions at the workshop.”

The conference has far-reaching implications for UARK. It provides African scientists and students visibility to UARK and creates opportunities for strategic collaborations that are significant from technical, academic, economic points of view at a global level.

Dr. Wejinya

Dr. Atungulu

Dr. El-Ghazaly expresses hope that the conference would be held every two years in different African countries. This will promote research and collaboration in radiofrequency internationally. He believes the initiative will attract and recruit top students from Africa and create business relationships to benefit both Africa and the United States. The 2025 IMAS conference is likely to be held in Morocco, but has not yet been finalized.

Dr. El-Ghazaly said, “After that, we will move it anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa. It’s difficult for me to predict exactly where, but maybe Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, the East Coast of Africa, or maybe even South Africa.”