1. Detecting and Sizing Cracks in Conductors Utilizing Microwave Sensors

Collaborators: Dr. Nasser Qaddoumi (AUS), Dr. Amer Zakaria (AUS)

Due to their strength, conductors are widely used in infrastructure such as railway tracks. As conductors are exposed to various environmental and usage conditions, such as varying temperature and repeated stress, cracks may start developing on the surfaces of the infrastructure, which can lead to failure and drastic economic losses. In this project, a system is implemented to detect and size cracks in conductors. The system consists of a measurement probe that uses electromagnetic signals at microwave frequencies (X- and K-bands) in conjunction with an artificial neural network. The measurement transducer is mounted on 3D mechanical scanner that moves the probe along the 3D Cartesian coordinates. The system is connected to a workstation that controls and processes the collected data. This project won second place in the 2017 SIB Undergraduate Student Research Competition and received the second position in the 2016 IEEE-UAE Undergraduate Senior Design Project Competition.

2. Development of a Biomedical Microwave Imaging System

Collaborators: Dr. Nasser Qaddoumi (AUS), Dr. Amer Zakaria (AUS)

Microwave imaging (MWI) is an emerging modality that uses safe low-power non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation to estimate the bulk electrical properties of an object-of-interest (OI) along with its location and shape. Due to its advantages, MWI is investigated as a diagnostic tool in the detection and monitoring of breast cancer. In this project, a novel MWI system that uses beamforming is designed and implemented. The system’s different components include the imaging chamber, the measurement transducers, the microwave electronic components, and the data acquisition and control unit. The transmitters of the system, which are a two four-element antenna array, interrogate the OI with electromagnetic radiation. The scattered signal is measured by receiver antennas surrounding the OI. The collected data is further processed using a workstation to produce an image of the OI. This project has won two national awards: second place in the 5th UAE Undergraduate Research Student Competition and second position in the  2017 IEEE-UAE Undergraduate Senior Design Project Competition.