Presenter: Dr. Ifana Mahbub, Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Abstract:
Implantable medical devices hold significant promise for the treatment of neurological conditions, yet their long-term viability depends on a fundamental challenge: delivering power safely and reliably to small, deeply implanted devices that are subject to continuous movement in a freely moving animal. Conventional wireless charging methods, which require close and fixed alignment, are poorly suited to these conditions. This talk presents a wireless power transfer approach that directs electromagnetic energy toward an implant and dynamically adjusts to maintain delivery as the device moves. In contrast to conventional near-field systems, the proposed architecture tracks the implant and continuously realigns the power beam, while the same link simultaneously supports data communication between the implant and external system. The discussion also considers the broader process of advancing such a concept from theoretical formulation to an experimentally validated system, along with its potential applications across medical devices, robotics, and related fields.
Bio: Dr. Ifana Mahbub is an Associate Professor and the Texas Instruments Early Career Chair Awardee in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Texas at Dallas, where she leads the Integrated Biomedical, RF Circuits and Systems Laboratory (iBioRFCASL). Her research spans wireless power transfer for implantable and wearable biomedical devices, IoT systems, UAVs, and long-range power beaming using microwave and millimeter-wave technologies. She is particularly focused on developing scalable, efficient, and safe wireless energy delivery systems that enable untethered operation in dynamic or infrastructure-limited environments. Dr. Mahbub received her B.Sc. degree (2012) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, and her Ph.D. degree (2017) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is the recipient of several prestigious honors, including the NSF CAREER Award (2020), DARPA Young Faculty Award (2021), and the DARPA Director’s Fellowship (2023). She currently serves as Vice-Chair for the USNC-URSI Commission K and as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. She is also a full member of the IEEE MTT-S Technical Committee 25 (Wireless Power Transfer and Energy Conversion) and the IEEE APS Technical Committee on Health and Medicine.
