Eric Michielssen receives ACES Computational Electromagnetics Award

Eric Michielssen received the 2020  Computational Electromagnetics Award, awarded by the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society (ACES), “For contributions to genetic algorithm-based electromagnetic optimizers, fast time-domain integral equation solver, and fast direct solvers for complex problems in computational electromagnetics.”

Michielssen, the Louise Ganiard Johnson Professor of Engineering, specializes in the development of fast and efficient algorithms for solving Maxwell’s equations, and their implementation on powerful parallel computers. He has applied his techniques to the characterization of semiconductor and microelectronic devices, photonic crystals and optical phenomena, aircraft scattering, antennas and wireless propagation, and more.

Among his contributions to the field of computational electromagnetics, he developed the first genetic algorithm-based electromagnetic optimization schemes, which have been incorporated into several academic and industry-strength electromagnetic optimization engines. He also developed the first “fast” time domain integral equation (TDIE) solvers which were fast enough to be applied to the analysis of real-world problems.

Earlier this year, Michielssen received the IEEE AP-S Harrington-Mittra Award in Computational Electromagnetics. Some of his other awards include the 2014 IEEE AP-S Chen-To Tai Distinguished Educator Award, and the 2018 IEEE AP-S Sergei A. Schelkunoff Transactions Prize Paper Award for the paper, “A Butterfly-Based Direct Integral-Equation Solver Using Hierarchical LU Factorization for Analyzing Scattering From Electrically Large Conducting Objects” [read more].

Michielssen has published over 200 journal papers and over 500 conference papers. Sixteen of his former students and postdocs now hold faculty positions in the U.S. and abroad.

Michielssen served as founding Director of the Michigan Institute for Computational Discovery and Engineering. Later, as Associate Vice President for Advanced Research Computing from 2013-2018, he helped develop several new degree programs in computational and data science, and brought together faculty from disparate disciplines to tackle interdisciplinary problems using advanced computational methods.

The award, announced during the 2020 ACES virtual conference, honors career achievements and substantial, major contributions in the field of computational electromagnetics. It is the highest honor bestowed by the Society.