In an interview at the IGARSS 2024 Symposium in Athens, Greece last month, Professor Kamal Sarabandi explained his blueprint to save planet Earth.
Professor Sarabandi is an Iranian-American scientist who currently holds the Fawwaz T. Ulaby Distinguished University Professor of EECS, as well as the Rufus S. Teesdale endowed Professor of Engineering position at the University of Michigan.
Over his forty years of research in applied electromagnetics, Sarabandi has become one of the leading researchers in the field.
Even though his research covers many topics in applied electromagnetics, his expertise is in microwave and millimeter wave radar wireless technology.
How applied electromagnetics can help fight global warming
Sarabandi explains that there are, first of all, many applications of applied electromagnetics, ranging from communications to defense and remote sensing.
However, Sarabandi’s main interest was using radar systems to understand how radar signals would interact with natural terrain.
In 1984, Professor Kamal Sarabandi used this interest to create a thesis on the modeling of vegetation, which at the time was one of the first theses on the subject.
He explains that he studied vegetation, “be it a forest canopy or cropland, and the goal was to mathematically model these to be able to predict what a radar would see from targets like that.”
At the time, radars were only used to find other types of targets such as aircraft and other military equipment.
In revolutionary fashion, Sarabandi used radars to look at the ground and evaluate the data collected from the unconventional target.
He quickly discovered that the signal was quite sensitive because most vegetation was filled with water, and water prompted huge electromagnetic responses.
Professor Sarabandi was quite ambitious, wanting to save the planet
Sarabandi went on to explain that as he started modeling vegetation, he “wanted to dedicate [his] life to something that would matter to humanity as a whole.”
He didn’t want to use his skills to fix cell phone towers. Instead, Sarabandi wished to “save this paradise.” According to the professor, this should be the motto of our society.
He was quite clear in saying that this “paradise” is not only for us. Instead, it was left to us by previous generations, and we should be able to pass it on to the next generation.
Unfortunately, however, his research has shown that human activity has thus far contributed to the Earth’s destruction rather than its salvation.
Sarabandi remains convinced that once we fully understand the consequences of our actions, we will be able to correct our course and save planet Earth.
