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florida.HIGH.TECH 2014 Faces of Technology For military troops in landlocked areas, such as Afghanistan, air drops are critical for delivering supplies and equipment within treacherous terrain. Any inaccuracies in those drops can result in a shortage of essential supplies, such as water, food and fuel, which can not only make it GLIÀFXOWIRUZDUÀJKWHUVWRFDUU\RXWWKHLUPLVVLRQ but also to survive. However, with technology to allow compact, high-performance, textile- based antennas for use on parachutes, sails and other similar objects, those shortages could be reduced, if not eliminated. That is just one of the practical applications of the research University of South Florida graduate student David Zaiden is currently conducting. He is involved in a joint project with the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc., to study wideband antenna array receivers for angle of arrival estimation. Draper Laboratory LVDQRQSURÀWUHVHDUFKDQGGHYHORSPHQW laboratory focused on design, development and deployment of advanced technological solutions for our nation's challenges in security, space exploration, health care and energy. Along with principal investigators Thomas Weller, Ph.D., and Gokhan Mumcu, Ph.D., Zaiden is researching broadband, electronically steerable antenna arrays that can be compactly and easily transported. "Because the military uses this type of antenna array, they have to be small and robust," said Zaiden. "Anyone using one of these can carry it around and unfold it like a Chinese fan for use, then fold it up and put it in a backpack." After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Houston, Zaiden took a position with Motorola DQGZRUNHGRQWKHÀUVW%OXHWRRWKHQDEOHG devices. He then received his advanced degree in electrical engineering from the Pursuing Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering |University of South Florida Education: Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering, University of Houston Masters of Science, Electrical Engineering, University of South Florida Faculty Advisors: Thomas Weller, Ph.D., and Gokhan Mumcu, Ph.D., Electrical Engineering Department Corridor Matching Grants Research Program project conducted with: Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Inc. University of South Florida's Center for Wireless and Microwave Information Systems, where he focused on microwave and radio frequency circuit design. Upon graduation in 2005, he spent two years as a design engineer at Insyte, DQGWKHQÀYH\HDUVDVDVHQLRUGHVLJQHQJLQHHUZKHQ,77DFTXLUHGWKH company in 2007. In 2012, Zaiden decided to follow his passion for research and pursue his life goal of getting his doctorate in engineering. After hearing that Draper Laboratory was looking for a university fellow for research in custom-made designs for military applications, Zaiden pursued the position and was hired. "Often research involves developing new concepts that are good in theory, but their practicality is far-fetched," said Zaiden. "I'm excited that this project is going to be implemented into a real product – something that is going to be used as soon as I'm done with it." Research for the Real World David Zaiden student PLAY