ElectroScience Lab student earns 2022 IEEE APS summer research scholarship

A Buckeye engineer earned support for his radar remote sensing research at the ElectroScience Laboratory at the Ohio State University this summer.

Electrical and computer engineering student Dinan Bai, advised by Professor Joel Johnson, won the 2022 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Undergraduate Summer Research scholarship for his work in remote sensing at The Ohio State University. It provides $3,000 in funding for the semester.

Engineers are often known for their childhood fascination with the mysteries of technologies. As a boy, Bai said radio was like magic. He became captivated with his grandfather’s work fixing communication systems as an engineer for the Shanghai Railroad Station.

“He always took me to the station and showed me the antenna and communication devices and explained how they work,” Bai said. “I was always wondering how a voice in the broadcast room can be transmitted to the whole building and trains wirelessly. My curiosity in these questions led me to want to pursue electrical engineering after I grew up.”

Bai is now working with satellite and airborne technologies at Ohio State to discern information on the Earth’s geophysical properties. He finished the first stage of his research during the spring semester. Ultimately, he will submit his results for publication in IEEE.

“My work specifically focuses on the modeling of ocean surface delay doppler maps,” he said.

The ESL team created a predictive software to model the ocean-reflected delay doppler maps measured in airborne S-Band signal of opportunity reflectometry, to see the utility of non-specular part of the delay doppler maps for ocean surface windspeed retrieval. The end result helps advance the windspeed retrieval method and reveals the impact of antenna pattern on delay doppler maps and polarizations of received signals in both airborne and satellite platforms.

Bai said the goal of his work is to further understand remote sensing of ocean surface roughness and windspeed as it relates to weather prediction.

“I expect that the model will help the development of next generation reflectometry equipped with dual-polarization channels,” he said.

With the help of the IEEE scholarship, Bai plans to pursue his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan.

“I want to be a researcher in microwave remote sensing and get involved in more satellite remote sensing missions for Earth and planetary science,” Bai said.

During his time at Ohio State, he said earning research experience as an undergraduate helped him gain more skills outside of the classroom. His advice to new ECE engineering students is to be vocal with the professors about their academic and career goals.

“Our ECE department is a very large one where you can find opportunities and resources,” Bai said. “There are always professors and researchers working in this field. Do not hesitate to express your interest to them.”

Bai said he finds professors appreciate hardworking and passionate students.

“They will provide you helpful and valuable advice and instructions to guide you toward your success,” he said.