Research and Technology | NASA Glenn Research Center

Dr. George E. Ponchak was nominated and approved to be the next Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques at the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society’s October 2009 Administrative Committee meeting in Rome, Italy.

His term starts June 1, 2010 and will run for four years. Dr. Ponchak has served as the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters over the past four years, and his term as editor of that journal ends on January 1, 2010. Dr. Ponchak will be only the third person to have served as editor of both journals.

Dr. Ponchak was also nominated and elected to serve a three term on the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Administrative Committee. The IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society is one of the largest IEEE societies with approximately 13,000 members.

It sponsors over 200 technical conferences per year, including the largest and most important conference related to the field of circuits and systems in the frequency range of few mega-hertz to terra-hertz, throughout the world, publishes two technical journals and one magazine, and awards grants to students. As one of the 21 elected members on the Administrative Committee, Dr. Ponchak will responsible for these technical activities.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent entitled, “MEMS Switches Having Non-Metallic Crossbeams,” on September 1, 2009 to Maximillian C. Scardelletti  of the Electron & Opto-Electronic Devices Branch. The patent is for a RF MEMS switch, which comprises of a crossbeam of silicon carbide (SiC) supported at two ends to form a bridge or at one end to form a cantilever over a microwave transmission line.

SiC is attractive because of its high Young Modulus-to-density ratio. When used as a structural material in micromachined bridges/cantilever, the inherent stiffness and tensile strength result in beams that are completely resistant to sagging and failure.

The switch can be economically fabricated with conventional silicon integrated circuit processing techniques. In addition, the design is very versatile and can be implemented in many different transmission line mediums including coplanar waveguides.

The K-Band Traveling-Wave Tube Amplifier (TWTA) for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Team has been nominated for the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement (RNASA) Foundation’s prestigious Stellar Award. This nomination is in recognition of the respect that we have earned for our hard work and exceptional accomplishments. The twenty-third Stellar annual RNASA Awards ceremony will be held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston, Texas, on May 8, 2009.

A paper entitled "Temperature Dependency (25 to 400 C) of a Planar Folded Slot Antenna on Alumina Substrate," authored by Mr. Maximilian C. Scardelletti, Ms. Jennifer L. Jordan, and Dr. George E. Ponchak was published in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, Vol. 7, pp. 489-492, 2008.

This paper demonstrates that the radiation pattern and frequency of optimum impedance match do not vary with temperature, but there is a decrease in antenna gain due to higher resistive losses as temperature increases. This information is important for the design of high-temperature, wireless sensors for the Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) Project.