# ECE 444
Antennas, Phased Arrays, and Radar Systems
## Lesson 1 — Course Introduction
Fall 2026 · Dr. Neil Rogers
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## Welcome
- Who I am
- Who you are
- What this course is going to ask of you
Note:
Instructor bio; ask each student for name, background, one thing they hope to learn.
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## About your instructor
**Lt Col Neil Rogers, USAF (Ret.)**
BS — TU · MSEE — AFIT · PhD — AFIT
**Erdle Chair**, USAFA
**Field Applications Engineer**, Analog Devices
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## Where I've been
DF/USAFA · AFRL Directed Energy · NASIC · AFIT ×2 · AFLCMC
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## Antennas, radar, and high-power RF
OTS · ADS2 · 379th AEW · E-8C · ACUASR · retirement
Note:
Section chief for Active Denial and High-Power Sources at AFRL Directed Energy.
E-8C Joint STARS work at NASIC.
Directed the Academy Center for UAS Research (ACUASR) at USAFA through 2025.
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## Now — Analog Devices
**Field Applications Engineer** with the team behind the
**ADALM-PHASER** you'll use in Module 3.
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## Off the clock
Family — four kids (11 · 13 · 15 · 17)
CrossFit
Guitar with the band at Trace church
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## How I teach
- **We're learning this together** — I don't know it all.
- **Mistakes are part of learning** — make them, and make them count.
- **Ask questions** — there is no such thing as a dumb one.
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## What is an antenna?
An antenna is a **transducer**. It converts a **guided wave** on a
cable or waveguide into a **radiating wave** in free space, and
vice versa.
Two ideas we'll keep coming back to:
1. Antennas are **reciprocal** — the same antenna transmits and receives with the same pattern.
2. Antennas do **not create energy** — they shape *where* the energy goes.
Note:
Reciprocity: same antenna, same pattern, transmit or receive.
Antennas do not create energy — they shape where the energy goes.
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## Every wireless system has one
If the antenna is wrong, nothing downstream can fix it.
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## Why you should care — the AF mission
- **Comms** — HF/VHF/UHF/SATCOM, tactical radios, data links
- **Radar** — surveillance, tracking, targeting, weather
- **EW** — direction finding, jamming, protection
- **Nav** — GPS, TACAN, ILS, IFF
- **ISR** — SIGINT, synthetic aperture radar
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## Course roadmap
1. Foundations of EM and antennas
2. Antenna types, simulation, measurement
3. Arrays and ADALM-PHASER beamforming
4. Radar fundamentals and FMCW
5. Capstone — beamforming + radar
41 lessons, ~15 labs, 2 projects.
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## Course schedule
1Foundations
2Antenna Types & Measurement
3Arrays & Beamforming
4Radar & FMCW
5Capstone
L1 – L6
L7 – L14
L15 – L28
L29 – L38
L39 – L41
EM & antenna theory
3 labs
Midterm intro · L11
7 labs · ADALM-PHASER
Midterm due · L20
6 labs
Beamforming + radar
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## Two projects
**Midterm** — Antenna Pattern Measurement
- Introduced L11, due L20
**Final** — Combined Beamforming + Radar
- Track a moving target while suppressing a static jammer
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## Homework
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## Show & tell
Real antennas + a software-defined radio.
Note:
Have students predict which antenna will work best for which signal,
then show them the result on the SDR waterfall.
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## Demo — acoustic beam
Phased array, but audible.
Note:
This is our stand-in for phased-array intuition
until we get to Module 3 with the Phaser.
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## For next time
Full syllabus
Reference:
- §1-1 through §1-11.7 in [Milligan — *Modern Antenna Design*](/assets/ece444/materials/Antenna-design-Milligan.pdf)
- §3.1 through §3.9 in [Rohde & Schwarz — *Antenna Basics*](/assets/ece444/materials/Antenna_Basics_8GE01_1e_Rohde-Schwarz.pdf)
Next lesson: the fundamental **antenna properties**.
