Skip to content
John Hodge

← Blog

Electromagnetics & RF

Metasurfaces, phased arrays, and wave physics: research retrospectives, open-source modeling tools, and interactive EM labs.

phased-array-systems 0.9.0: validated physics and multi-objective trade studies

v0.9.0 brings NSGA-II multi-objective optimization and Sobol sensitivity to phased-array trade studies, on top of ITU-R propagation, real clutter models, and exact detection statistics.

phased-array-modeling 1.4.0: polarized patterns for phased arrays

v1.4.0 adds a vector pattern engine: polarized element models, co/cross-pol cuts, axial ratio and XPD maps, measured pattern import, and polarization-correct conformal arrays.

metasurface-py: a Python toolkit for programmable electromagnetic surfaces

An open-source Python toolkit for RIS, reflectarray, and metasurface antenna design: beam steering, phase quantization, hardware constraints, link budgets, sensing, and optimization.

OpenEM Wave Lab: an interactive browser lab for electromagnetic wave physics

An open-source browser lab for EM wave physics: plane waves, Fresnel coefficients, phase vs group velocity, and standing waves, computed live from validated closed-form models.

Programming the aperture: my PhD research on reconfigurable intelligent metasurfaces

A retrospective on my Virginia Tech PhD: reconfigurable intelligent metasurfaces (RIS) for beam steering and index modulation, a fabricated two-bit prototype, and generative deep learning for inverse design.

Model-based engineering for phased arrays: from a radar project to open-source tools

A graduate radar project led me to MBSE and MDAO, then to model-based engineering of AESA phased-array radar systems, and finally to a set of open-source phased-array design tools.

The antenna is the modulator: index modulation with reconfigurable metasurfaces

A plain-language explainer of our IEEE JSTSP paper: reconfigurable metasurfaces that perform index modulation for 6G, encoding bits in which beam or frequency harmonic is active, grounded in full-wave EM.

Modeling phased arrays in Python, from physics to trade study

Two open Python tools for phased arrays: one computes the beam pattern, the other asks whether a design meets its link, radar, cost, and reliability margins.