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Steve Holland, Ph.D. - Milwaukee School of Engineering. Milwaukee, WI, US

Steve Holland, Ph.D.

Professor, Program Director | Milwaukee School of Engineering

Milwaukee, WI, UNITED STATES

Dr. Steve Holland's areas of expertise include electromagnetics, antennas, and microwave/radio frequency circuits.

Spotlight

Education, Licensure and Certification (3)

Ph.D.: Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst 2011

M.S.: Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst 2008

B.S.: Electrical Engineering, Milwaukee School of Engineering 2006

Biography

Dr. Steve Holland is a professor in MSOE's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. He serves as program director for the Electrical Engineering program. His specialties include RF/microwave engineering, antennas, electromagnetics, analog circuit design, and engineering education. Before joining the faculty at MSOE in 2013, Holland worked as a senior sensors engineer for MITRE Corp. and as a microwave engineer for the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Areas of Expertise (5)

Antennas

Electromagnetics

RF/Microwave Engineering

Analog Electronics

Engineering Education

Accomplishments (5)

MSOE Falk Engineering Educator Award Finalist

2015, 2016, and 2017

Honorable Mention Award in Student Paper Contest

Awarded for the Paper S. S. Holland and M. N. Vouvakis, “Design and Fabrication of low-cost PUMA arrays," IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, pp. 1976-1979, 4-8 July 2011

Student Paper Contest Winner

Awarded for the presentation and content of the paper, “A Fully Planar Ultrawideband Array", Antenna Applications Symposium, Monticello, IL, 2010

Alumni Association Student Achievement Award

MSOE, 2006

Best Paper Award (Third Place) for the New Engineering Educator (NEE) Division of the American Society for Engineering Education Society

Awarded for the Paper "Using Shadowing to Improve New Faculty Acclimation", ASEE 2014 Annual Conference and Exposition, Indianapolis, IN, June 16-18, 2014

Affiliations (2)

  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) : Senior Member
  • American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) : Member

Social

Event and Speaking Appearances (6)

An Interactive Workshop: Using the Digilent Analog Discovery Board in upper-division electrical engineering courses

American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition  Salt Lake City, UT

2018-06-24

HF Antennas and Propagation

Microwave Seminar Series  Marquette University

2017-11-10

An Interactive Workshop: Using the Digilent Analog Discovery Board in upper-division electrical engineering courses

American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition  Columbus, OH

2017-06-28

Control of scanblindnesses in printed dipole antenna arrays using PBG structures

Microwave Seminar Series  Marquette University

2017-04-07

Radar Fundamentals and Emerging Applications

EECE Graduate Colloquium  Marquette University

2015-11-10

Coffee Can FMCW Radar System

Microwave Seminar Series  Marquette University

2015-09-18

Research Interests (2)

Engineering Education

Investigating approaches to incorporate mobile studio learning to electrical engineering classes.

Antennas

Interests include electrically small antennas, UWB antenna arrays, and HF antennas.

Patents (2)

Modular wideband antenna array

US9000996B2

2015 A modular wideband antenna element for connection to a feed network. There is a ground plane, and first and second flared fins above the ground plane. The fins each define a connection location that is relatively close to the ground plane and tapering to a free end located farther from the ground plane. The connection location of the first fin is electrically coupled to the feed network and the connection location of the second fin is electrically coupled to the ground plane. There are one or more additional first traces electrically connecting the first fin to the ground plane and one or more additional second traces electrically connecting the second fin to the ground plane.

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Planar ultrawideband modular antenna array

US8325093B2

2012 A planar ultrawideband modular antenna for connection to a feed network. The antenna has a ground plane, and an array of antenna elements spaced from the ground plane, each antenna element comprising a pair of arms. A first fed arm is electrically coupled to the feed network. The grounded arm is directly electrically coupled to the ground plane. There are one or more conductors such as conductive vias electrically connecting the fed arm to the ground plane, and optionally there are one or more additional conductors electrically connecting the grounded arm to the ground plane.

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Selected Publications (8)

Electromagnetics and Transmission Lines: Essentials for Electrical Engineering, 2nd Edition

Wiley

R.A. Strangeway, S.S. Holland, J.E. Richie

2022 Electromagnetics and Transmission Lines provides coverage of what every electrical engineer (not just the electromagnetic specialist) should know about electromagnetic fields and transmission lines. This work examines several fundamental electrical engineering concepts and components from an electromagnetic fields viewpoint, such as electric circuit laws, resistance, capacitance, and self and mutual inductances. The approach to transmission lines (T-lines), Smith charts, and scattering parameters establishes the underlying concepts of vector network analyzer (VNA) measurements. System-level antenna parameters, basic wireless links, and signal integrity are examined in the final chapters.

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An Effective Sequence of VNA Experiments for a Junior-Level Electromagnetics Course

IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation

S. S. Holland, D. E. Brocker, R. A. Strangeway

2022 There is a need for incorporating practical high-frequency measurement experiences into an undergraduate electrical engineering (EE) program. This paper presents a sequence of experiments that develops student capabilities in vector network analyzer (VNA) measurements and component specifications formation. Students have demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach by constructing a datasheet for an unspecified RF/microwave filter as a summative experience.

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Investigation of Multiperiodic Dielectric PBGs for Scan Blindness Mitigation in Printed Antenna Arrays

Proceedings of the Allerton Antenna Applications Symposium

Kipfer, L.J., Holland, S.S.

2019

Modeling of photonic bandgap effects on scan blindnesses in printed dipole arrays

2017 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation & USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting

Holland, S.S.

2017 An analysis of scanblindness onset angles in printed dipole arrays with perforated dielectric substrates is presented. The periodic grid of air holes in these arrays is shown to produce a photonic bandgap (PBG), which is identified as the root cause of previously observed anomalous behavior in H-plane scans. A basic transmission line unit cell model is developed that incorporates PBG effects, and this updated model is shown to accurately predict scanblindnesseses even in cases where traditional analysis fails. This new model lays the groundwork for investigations into E-plane blindness mitigation using the PBG behavior of perforated dielectric substrates.

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A review of Planar Ultrawideband Modular Antenna (PUMA) Arrays

International Symposium on Electromagnetic Theory

Logan, J.T., Holland, S.S., Schaubert, D.H., Kindt, R.W., Vouvakis, M.N.

2013 Planar Ultrawideband Modular Antenna (PUMA) arrays are low-cost, wide-scan, and low-cross polarization dual-polarized UWB arrays that combine excellent electrical performance with convenient and practical feeding/fabrication processes. Each member of the PUMA array family consists of tightly coupled horizontal dipoles over a ground plane with novel feeding schemes that enable simple PCB fabrication. This feeding eliminates the need for baluns, “cable organizers,” and other external support mechanisms to produce stand-alone, high-efficiency radiators. Additionally, all PUMA arrays consist of dual-offset dual-polarized lattice arrangements for modular, tile-based assembly. This paper will review the basic operation principles of the PUMA arrays followed by the technological evolution of the PUMA array family. Fabricated PUMA arrays and full-wave simulations of structures that can be manufactured with standard fabrication technologies will be shown along with results.

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A 7–21 GHz Dual-Polarized Planar Ultrawideband Modular Antenna (PUMA) Array

IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation

Holland, S.S., Schaubert, D.H., Vouvakis, M.N.

2012 The design, fabrication, and measurement of a 16 × 16 dual-polarized planar ultrawideband modular antenna (PUMA) array operating over 7-21 GHz (3:1 bandwidth) are presented. The array is comprised of tightly coupled dipoles printed on a grounded dielectric substrate and are excited by an unbalanced feeding scheme that eliminates external wideband baluns and feed organizers. The array can be assembled modularly, where each low-profile, fully planar, low-cost tile is fabricated using standard multilayer microwave PCB techniques. A unique solderless, modular interconnect mates the array to a dilation fixture that facilitates measurements using standard surface-mount assembly (SMA) connectors and terminations. After presenting the most critical design trends, simulation results of the final array in infinite, infinite × finite, and finite × finite models are compared with measurements. This prototype array exhibits a measured active VSWR.

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The Planar Ultrawideband Modular Antenna (PUMA) Array

IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation

S.S. Holland, M.N. Vouvakis

2012 A fully planar ultrawideband phased array with wide scan and low cross-polarization performance is introduced. The array is based on Munk's implementation of the current sheet concept, but it employs a novel feeding scheme for the tightly coupled horizontal dipoles that enables simple PCB fabrication. This feeding eliminates the need for “cable organizers” and external baluns, and when combined with dual-offset dual-polarized lattice arrangements the array can be implemented in a modular, tile-based fashion. Simple physical explanations and circuit models are derived to explain the array's operation and guide the design process. The theory and insights are subsequently used to design an exemplary dual-polarized infinite array with 5:1 bandwidth and VSWR

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The banyan tree antenna array

IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation

Holland, S.S., Vouvakis, M.N.

2011 A new wideband, wide-scan array is introduced, called the Banyan Tree Antenna (BTA) array, that employs modular, low-profile, low-cost elements fed directly from standard unbalanced RF interfaces. The elements consist of vertically-integrated, flared metallic fins over a ground plane that are excited by a vertical two conductor unbalanced transmission line. The antenna resembles the bunny-ear or balanced antipodal Vivaldi antenna (BAVA) designs, but most importantly uses metallic shorting posts between the fins and the ground plane that suppress a mid-band catastrophic common-mode resonance that occurs in 2D arrays of balanced radiators fed with unbalanced feeds. This work introduces simple circuit models that describe key performance attributes of the BTA array, leading to unique physical insights and design guidelines. Simulations of infinite single- and dual-polarized BTA arrays have achieved approximately two octaves of bandwidth for VSWR.

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