The EW in Academia

Considering EW as one’s academic field can - and in the presenter's experience does - lead to questions related to one’s sanity, this webinar will argue that EW is actually an excellent vehicle for research, and especially, teaching - the traditional tasks of academia. There is a surprisingly large number of publications on EW topics in the open literature. Some examples of such topics will be considered, along with some interesting outcomes of EW publications submitted by the presenter and his students. While detailed information about EW in the open literature is rare, this can be a positive attribute because it obliges students working in EW to develop systems themselves. This means that such students can develop skills that may not be developed in other fields where standard implementations can simply be downloaded and modified. Additionally, EW inherently operates at least at a system-of-systems level, thereby encouraging students to think beyond the silos that academic work can sometimes become trapped in. Examples of student projects that illustrate these principles will be provided. So far from being insane, this presentation will argue using EW as a vehicle for teaching and research can actually be tremendously beneficial.

Speaker and Presenter Information

Warren du Plessis received the B.Eng. (Electronic) and M.Eng. (Electronic) and Ph.D. (Engineering) degrees from the University of Pretoria in 1998, 2003 and 2010 respectively, winning numerous academic awards including the prestigious Vice-Chancellor and Principal's Medal. He has been working in EW and radar since 2006 and is currently a Professor at the University of Pretoria. Prof. du Plessis is a registered Professional Engineer (Pr.Eng.), a Senior Member of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a Lifetime Member of the Association of Old Crows (AOC), has served as a member of the AOC Aardvark Roost Board, and is a Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). He is an Associate Editor for EW for the IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems. Prof. du Plessis is author of 73 published and accepted peer-reviewed journal and conference papers and is lead or sole author of 39 of these and co- or second author on a further 29 papers, thereby demonstrating his leading role in developing and evaluating innovative new concepts. While his primary research interest has been cross-eye jamming, Prof. du Plessis has also published on issues such as engineering education, data reduction, and cognitive EW.