Dr Mahmoud Wagih
- Lecturer in Implantable Electronics (Electronic & Nanoscale Engineering)
telephone:
0141 330 3601
email:
Mahmoud.Wagih@glasgow.ac.uk
Rankine 731. Mail: James Watt South, , University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom, G12 8QQ
Biography
My interests are in applied Antenna and RF/EM Engineering. In research, I address electronic sustainability challenges through the combination of "RF-enabled" technologies and materials. I am also passionate about RF engineering education and research communication, for attracting more students to bridge the skills gap in the RF industry
Mahmoud received his EEE BEng (First Class Hons.) in September 2018, and his award-winning PhD in Rectenna Design (submitted in 26 months) in April 2021, from the University of Southampton.
Dr. Wagih joined the University of Glasgow in June 2022 as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor eq.), leading research on Green/Sustainable RF-enabled electronics, where he holds a UK Intelligence Community (IC) Research Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is a member of the Centre for Advanced Electronics (CAE) Management Team and a theme co-lead for Antennas & Wireless RF Systems.
He has been PI/Co-I on research projects over £1.1M/£4M, published over 100 journal and conference papers, and has delivered 20+ invited talks. He is keen on public engagement and outreach, with several award-winning presentations.
Prior, 2017-2021, he was an undergraduate and postgraduate Research Assistant, at the University of Southampton (UK and Malaysia), and an EU H2020 EnABLES-funded PhD student from 2018 to 2020. He was a Hardware Verification Engineering Intern, in 2018, and a Research Intern on Secondment, in 2020, at Arm Ltd., UK. He was a post-doctoral research fellow, in 2021, and promoted to senior research fellow in the same year, at the University of Southampton.
Selected Awards and Honours
- Forbes 30 Under 30 - Science & Healthcare, Europe (2024)
- International Union of Radio Science (URSI) Young Scientist Award, 2024.
- ARMMS Conference Steve Evans-Pughe prize, Best Paper Award Runner-up. Oxford, April 2023, for work on Conformable mmWave single-wire transmission lines.
- Best PhD in Antennas and Propagation [in Europe] "Per-Simon Kildal Award", European Association on Antennas and Propagation (EurAAP), for a PhD awarded in 2020 and 2021, presented at the flagship European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP).
- Winner of the IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation Video Contest, 2022, for the best video based on a published IEEE OJAP article (out of >110 papers accepted/published in 2021).
- International Union of Radio Science (URSI) Young Scientist Award, 2022. Awarded at the URSI Atlantic / Asia-Pacific Radio Science Meeting for the work on Phase-Accurate Analytical Modelling of mmWave Single-Wire Transmission Lines.
- Best Poster Presentation (2nd Place) at the eFutures Electronics for Sustainable Societies conference, 2022, for "Green RF-Enabled Sustainable Electronics".
- Best Paper Award (1st Place), at PowerMEMS 2021 international conference. Received for the paper "Textile-Based Radio Frequency Energy Harvesting and Storage using Ultra-Compact Rectennas with High Effective-to-Physical Area Ratio".
- Young Engineer of the Year Finalist, TechWorks, 2021, the award publicly celebrates and promotes the efforts of young professionals at the early stages of their careers.
- Dean's Award, Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences 2021, recognizing an Early Career Researcher who has demonstrated excellent performance and an exceptional contribution beyond expectations.
- Doctoral College Best of Faculty Research Award, selected from all the School Award winners and finalists across the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences (FEPS: >1,000 PhD students). Received for "Establishing a track record in a new field of research through an exceptional number of high-quality publications from a PhD"
- Doctoral College Research Award, School Winner for Electronics and Computer Science, 2021 Festival of Doctoral Research.
- IEEE Microwave Week 2020 3MT® Best Presentation (2nd Prize): selected from 24 finalists from worldwide top institutions for the presentation "Collecting Radio Rain". Featured in the IEEE Microwave Magazine and several workshop invitations.
- Best Student Paper Award at the IEEE MTT-S Wireless Power Transfer Conference, Wireless Power Week 2019, London, U.K. for the paper "Millimeter-Wave Textile Antenna for On-Body RF Energy Harvesting in Future 5G Networks"; from >100 WPTC2019 papers.
- Best Oral Paper Award at PowerMEMS 2019, Krakow, Poland, for the paper "Position-Independent Wearable 6.78 MHz Near-Field Radiative Wireless Power Transfer using Electrically-Small Embroidered Textile Coils", sponsored by MDPI Energies.
- Selected for the IEEE MTT-S Project Connect 2019: bringing an exceptional group of undergraduate and first-year graduate students to the International Microwave Symposium.
- University of Southampton 3MT®: Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences Runner Up, SEMS Group first place winner.
- Andy Cranny Memorial Prize (2017/18), for the Best Undergraduate Project from 300 projects for the Project: "Flexible Wireless Sensor Node for Foot-Plantar Pressure Sensing".
Professional Roles
Dr. Wagih holds multiple external roles including:
- Elected as a Full/Affiliate Member for two IEEE Microwave Theory & Techniques Technical Committees (TC-25 and TC-26): Wireless Power Transfer and Energy Conversion Committee, and RFID, Wireless Sensors and IoT Committee.
- A member of the inaugural IEEE UK and Ireland Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Committee.
- Associate Editor for Royal Society Open Science, Lead Guest Editor for an IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation Special Section, and lead/co-guest editor for a further 3 special issues.
- TPC member and reviewer for several conferences including the flagship IEEE International Microwave Symposium (IMS) and IEEE Antennas & Propagation Symposium (APS), Wireless Power Week, and others.
- A reviewer for EPSRC grants and 20+ Journals including IEEE Antennas & Propagation and Microwave Theory & Techniques Letters, Journals, and Transactions, the IEEE Internet of Things Journal, IEEE Sensors Journal, Sensors & Actuators A, etc.
- Senior Member of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI), Member of the IET, and Member of the IEEE.
Research interests
My interests are in "Green" RF-enabled electronics broadly covering:
- RF Energy Harvesting and wireless power transfer (WPT), including higher TRL activities:
- Rectenna development from sub-1 GHz to mmWave bands for low-power, long-range applications.
- Near-field high-power resonant WPT including novel range-improvement mechanisms
- Experimental Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer (SWIPT) and practical signal design for WPT.
- Fully-integrated (CMOS) and discrete (COTS) circuit-antenna co-design
- Body-centric antennas and propagation.
- Flexible mmWave components and antennas.
- Surface wave body-area networks and metamaterials.
- Low-absorption WPT for wearables and implants.
- New materials including e-textiles, printed electronics, and flexible devices.
- Energy Harvesting Systems:
- Circuits & systems to interface with and extract uW-level power for sustainable and pervasive electronic devices.
- Low-power communication, e.g. passive backscattering.
- Multi-source energy harvesting systems, such as triboelectric and RF, solar cells with antennas, and multi-mode energy harvesting and power conditioning circuits.
- Additively manufactured electronics: interested in the co-design of electronic circuits and their packaging and manufacturing methods to realize high-performance devices while minimizing the overheads of the electronics manufacturing industry.
- Green and sustainable electronics: identifying novel applications of green (biodegradable, biocompatible, and low-carbon footprint) materials in the electronics industry, focusing on the realization of near-zero-footprint wireless systems.
More information on our homepage: www.greenelectronicslab.org
Publications
Selected publications
Wagih, M. , Shi, J., Li, M., Komolafe, A., Whittaker, T., Schneider, J. , Kumar, S. , Whittow, W. and Beeby, S. (2024) Wide-range soft anisotropic thermistor with a direct wireless radio frequency interface. Nature Communications, 15, 452. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-44735-z) (PMID:38199999)
Wagih, M. et al. (2023) Microwave-enabled wearables: Underpinning technologies, integration platforms, and next-generation roadmap. IEEE Journal of Microwaves, 3(1), pp. 193-226. (doi: 10.1109/JMW.2022.3223254)
Wagih, M. and Beeby, S. (2022) Thin flexible RF energy harvesting rectenna surface with a large effective aperture for sub µW/cm2 powering of wireless sensor nodes. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 70(9), pp. 4328-4338. (doi: 10.1109/TMTT.2022.3192532)
Wagih, M. (2022) Broadband low-loss on-body UHF to millimeter-wave surface wave links using flexible textile single wire transmission lines. IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation, 3, pp. 101-111. (doi: 10.1109/OJAP.2021.3136654)
Wagih, M. , Komolafe, A., Ullah, I., Weddell, A. S. and Beeby, S. (2024) A wearable all-printed textile-based 6.78 MHz 15 W-output wireless power transfer system and its screen-printed Joule heater application. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 71(4), pp. 3741-3750. (doi: 10.1109/TIE.2023.3277112)
All publications
Grants
Current Grants (chronological order):
- PI: “UPGRADE: UPskilling for bridging the skills Gap in RF/microwAve inDustries through Engagement & Education” EPSRC IAA (£5k, 2024; Co-I: Rami Ghannam).
- PI: "Mass-Manufacturable Biodegradable Microwave Systems for Next-Generation Sustainable Wireless PCBs (BioWaveS)" EPSRC IAA (£45k, 03/2024-02/2025, Co-I: Jeff Kettle)
- PI: "A Student-Centred Approach to Independent Hands-On ElectRomagnetics Education using Equivalent Circuits (SCORE)" IEEE Educational Initiatives (Antennas & Propagation Society - $5k), 2024 (Co-I: Rami Ghannam).
- Co-I: "Automated Nano AnaLysing, characterisatiOn and additive packaGing sUitE (ANALOGUE)" EPSRC Strategic Equipment (£3.07M, EP/Y015215/1, 2024-2027, PI: Hadi Heidari, Co-I: Jeff Kettle, David Flynn et al.)
- PI: "EDIBLES: Environmentally Driven Body-Scale Electromagnetic Co-Sensing" EPSRC ECR International Collaboration Call (£164k EP/Y002008/1, 2023-2025).
- PI: "ACC2039985: Functional natively stretchAble Materials for body-centric cOmmUnication, Sensing, and powering (FAMOUS)" DSTL (Co-I: S. Kumar; £227k, 2023-2025).
- Co-I: "ACC2037863: READ: Reconfigurable IntElligent surfAces for Deployable orthogonal N-LOS communication" DSTL (£100k, 2023-2024)
- Co-I: "Dielectrophoretic roll system for high performance electronics using contactless selective assembly of nanostructures on large areas (DIELECT)" EPSRC (PI: Hadi Heidari, Co-Is: Jeff Kettle, David Cumming, Mahmoud Wagih, Morteza Amjadi). (£1.08M, 2023-2026; EP/W025752/1)
- PI: "Sustainable Sensing and Transduction using Microwave Scattering (STEMS)" Royal Society Research Grants. (£70k, 2023-2024; RGS/R1/ 231028).
- PI: "RF-Powered Sensing in Energy-Deprived Environments (REMINDER)" EPSRC IAA. (£38k, 2023-2024).
- Co-I: "Showcase of the 6G test capabilities at the University of Glasgow (SOUL)" EPSRC IAA. (PI: Chong Li, Co-Is: Qammer Abbasi, Hasan Abbas, Abdullah Al-Khalidi, Mahmoud Wagih, Edward Wasige); £34k, 2023-2024)
- PI: "Radio Frequency-Enabled Multi-Source Energy Harvesting in Inaccessible Locations" UK Intelligence Community Research Fellowship, Royal Academy of Engineering | Government Office for Science. (£249k FEC, 2021-2023).
Past grants:
- PI: "Environmentally-Driven Electromagnetic Co-Sensing" CoSE Rewards for Excellence, UofG College of Science & Engineering (£10k, 2023)
- PI: "6G Power Amplifiers for Wireless Power Transfer" James Watt School of Engineering ECR Small Equipment Fund (£10k).
- PI: "Green RF-Enabled On-Demand Sensing", Flexible Innovation Fund (FIF) project funded under EPSRC Platform Grant EP/P010164/1 (£77k, 2021)
- Researcher Co-I: "Safe-Guard", a SPRINT-UK (Research England) industry collaboration with MAFIC Ltd. (£49k, 2020-2021)
Supervision
If you are interested in RF/wireless electronics and want to explore how to make impactful research in a PhD and what a PhD could add to you, please get in touch!
A non-exhaustive list of potential projects includes:
- Radio Frequency (RF), microwave, and mmWave components and systems, including antennas.
- Wearables, including e-textiles and printed electronics.
- Biomedical (RF) sensors and systems, including implantable devices, antennas, and circuits.
- Wireless sensors, including backscattering, RFID, and Internet of Things (IoT) nodes and networks.
- Energy harvesting and low-power sensing technologies, including both power harvesting and management.
Current team:
1 x Post-Doctoral Researcher Vacancy Upcoming - get in touch if you have skills in RF systems, antennas and embedded electronics.
- Andrzej Dudek (Visiting PhD Researcher)
- Nikolas Bruce (PhD Researcher)
- Sitong Mu (PhD Researcher)
- Johannes Schneider (Research Assistant)
- Dr Benjamin King (Research Associate)
- Dr Manoj Kumar (Research Associate)
- Dr Xiaochuan Fang (Research Associate)
Vacancies for short-term/part-time research assistant roles (from undergraduate to senior PhD candidate level) are available - get in touch for info!
Team Awards:
- EuMA Internship Award, 2023 (Andrzej)
- IEEE Antennas & Propagation Research Scholarship, 2023 (James)
- Electronics Weekly (EW) BrightSparks Award, 2023 (James)
- Nesbitt, Rory
RFID System for Localisation and Tracking
Teaching
- Lecturer for ENG5056: Microwave and Millimetre Wave Circuit Design.
- Project Supervision: I regularly have BEng, MEng, and MSc project proposals related to all things RF/wireless, sustainable, and/or flexible/printed electronics. If you're keen on proposing your own project topic, please get in touch!
Professional activities & recognition
Prizes, awards & distinctions
- 2024: Forbes 30 Under 30, Science & Healthcare (Forbes)
- 2024: Young Scientist Award (International Union of Radio Science (URSI))
- 2023: Steve-Evans Pughe Memorial Prize (Best Presentation Award) (ARRMS Society / Cadence)
- 2022: "Per-Simon Kildal Award" Best PhD in Antennas and Propagation [awarded at a European Institution in 2020 and 2021] (European Association on Antennas and Propagation (EurAAP))
- 2022: Winner of the IEEE OJAP Video Contest, 2022, for the best video based on a published IEEE OJAP article (IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation)
- 2022: Young Scientist Award (International Union of Radio Science (URSI))
- 2022: Best Poster Award (2nd place) (eFutures Electronics for Sustainable Futures Conference)
- 2021: Best Paper Award (1st Place) (PowerMEMS 2021 international conference)
- 2021: Young Engineer of the Year Finalist (UK TechWorks)
- 2021: Best of Faculty Research Award (University of Southampton Doctoral College)
- 2021: School Winner for Electronics and Computer Science (University of Southampton Doctoral College)
- 2021: Dean's Award, Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences 2021, recognizing an Early Career Researcher who has demonstrated excellent performance and an exceptional contribution beyond expectations (University of Southampton)
- 2020: IEEE Microwave Week 2020 3MT® Best Presentation (2nd Prize): selected from 24 finalists from worldwide top institutions for the presentation "Collecting Radio Rain". Featured in the IEEE Microwave Magazine and several workshop invitations. (IEEE Microwave Theory & Techniques Society)
- 2019: Best Student Paper Award (IEEE MTT-S Wireless Power Transfer Conference)
- 2019: Best Oral Paper Award (PowerMEMS 2019 International Conference)
- 2019: Selected for the IEEE MTT-S Project Connect 2019: bringing an exceptional group of undergraduate and first-year graduate students to the International Microwave Symposium. (IEEE Microwave Theory & Techniques Society)
- 2019: 3MT®: Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences Runner Up, SEMS Group first place winner (University of Southampton)
- 2018: Andy Cranny Memorial Prize (for the Best Undergraduate Project from 300 projects) (School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton)
Research fellowships
- 2021 - 2023: Royal Academy of Engineering, UK Intelligence Community Research Fellowship
Grant committees & research advisory boards
- 2022: EPSRC, Member of the EPSRC Peer Review College
- 2023: UKRI, UKRI Talent Peer Review College (PRC)
Editorial boards
- 2024: Royal Society Open Science: Associate Editor
- 2023: IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation - Guest Editor
Professional & learned societies
- 2021: Senior Member, International Union of Radio Science (URSI)
- 2021: Member, IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Technical Committee-26: RFID, Wireless Sensors and IoT Committee
- 2021: Affiliate Member, IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Technical Committee-25: Wireless Power Transfer and Energy Conversion Committee
- 2022: Member, IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS)
- 2022: Member, IEEE UK and Ireland Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Committee
- 2019: Member (MIET), IET
Selected international presentations
- 2024: IEEE IoT Vertical Summit "Microwave-Enabled Sustainable Wearables" Invited Talk (San Antonio, USA)
- 2023: IEEE/MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS) "Sustainable Antenna-Based and RF-Sensing Systems" Invited Workshop (San Diego, USA)
- 2023: 1st IEEE International Microwaves and Antennas Symposium (IMAS) in Africa:, Invited Technical Lecture "MHz to mm-Wave Wireless Power Transmission and Harvesting in Electromagnetically Harsh Environments using Large-Area Electronics" (Cairo, Egypt)
- 2022: IoT Keynote, IEEE Real Time Communication Conference "Sustainable Next-Geneneration IoT: RF-Enabled Sensing, Powering, and Communication"" (Illinois, Chicago, USA)
- 2022: IEEE SENSORS invited speaker, "Wireless Ice Sensing using RFID" (Dallas, Texas, USA)
- 2022: Invited Talk, Exeter Microwave Metamaterials Meeting "RF Energy Harvesting and Wireless Power, Where to (Not) Use a Metamaterial?" (Exeter, UK)
Supplementary
- Visiting Appointment: Visiting Fellow at the University of Southampton
Research datasets
"My research focuses on how different wireless RF (MHz to sub-THz) technologies can collaboratively contribute to making electronics more sustainable, in areas where RF engineering would not normally apply"
Find out more at GREENElectronicsLab.org