Tapan Kumar Sarkar ( bn, তপন কুমার সরকার; August 2, 1948 – March 12, 2021) was an Indian-American

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and Professor Emeritus at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. He was best known for his contributions to

computational electromagnetics Computational electromagnetics (CEM), computational electrodynamics or electromagnetic modeling is the process of modeling the interaction of electromagnetic fields with physical objects and the environment. It typically involves using computer ...

and

antenna theory In radio engineering, an antenna or aerial is the interface between radio waves propagating through space and electric currents moving in metal conductors, used with a transmitter or receiver. In transmission, a radio transmitter supplies a ...

. Sarkar was the recipient of IEEE Electromagnetics Award in 2020.

Biography

Sarkar was born on August 2, 1948, in Kolkata, India. He obtained his

Bachelor of Technology A Bachelor of Technology (Latin ''Baccalaureus Technologiae'', commonly abbreviated as B.Tech. or BTech; with honours as B.Tech. (Hons.)) is an undergraduate academic degree conferred after the completion of a three to five-year program of studi ...

from IIT Kharagpur and Master of Engineering from University of New Brunswick in 1969 and 1971, respectively. He received his Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from

in 1975. Between 1975 and 1976, Sarkar worked for TACO Division of General Instrument. Between 1976 and 1985, he was a faculty member at Rochester Institute of Technology; he also briefly held a research fellowship position at Gordon McKay Laboratory for Applied Sciences in Harvard University in between 1977 and 1978. In 1985, he became a professor at Syracuse University and held the position until his death. He died on March 12, 2021, in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...

. Sarkar acted as an associate editor for the '' IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility'' in between 1986-1989 and for '' IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation'' in between 2004 and 2010. He was the 2014 president of

IEEE Antennas & Propagation Society The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operati ...

and the vice president of the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society (ACES). Sarkar also served as board member for journals such as ''

Digital Signal Processing Digital signal processing (DSP) is the use of digital processing, such as by computers or more specialized digital signal processors, to perform a wide variety of signal processing operations. The digital signals processed in this manner are ...

'', ''

Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications The ''Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Taylor & Francis in 18 issues per year. It covers electromagnetic wave theory and its applications, including but not limited to wave prop ...

'' and ''

Microwave and Optical Technology Letters ''Microwave and Optical Technology Letters'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Wiley-Blackwell. The editor-in-chief is Kai Chang (Texas A&M University). The journal covers technology that operates in wavelengths ranging fr ...

''. Sarkar was the president of OHRN Enterprises, Inc., an incorporated business specializing in computer services and system analysis.

Research and awards

Sarkar's research interests focused on "numerical solutions of

operator Operator may refer to: Mathematics * A symbol indicating a mathematical operation * Logical operator or logical connective in mathematical logic * Operator (mathematics), mapping that acts on elements of a space to produce elements of another ...

equations arising in electromagnetics and signal processing with application to system design." He is the author or co-author of more than 380 journal articles, as well as 16 books and, 32 book chapters. Along with his doctoral student Yingbo Hua, he developed the

generalized pencil-of-function method Generalized pencil-of-function method (GPOF), also known as matrix pencil method, is a signal processing technique for estimating a signal or extracting information with complex exponentials. Being similar to Prony and original pencil-of-function m ...

for

signal estimation In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

with complex exponentials. Based on Sarkar's past work on the original pencil-of-function method, the technique is used in electromagnetic analyses of layered structures, antenna analysis and radar signal processing. He is also the co-author of the general purpose electromagnetic solver, HOBBIES. In 2010, Sarkar was chosen as the IEEE Distinguished Lecturer in Antennas and Propagation Systems. In 2020, he received IEEE Electromagnetics Award "for contributions to the efficient and accurate solution of computational electromagnetic problems in frequency and time domain, and for research in adaptive antennas." He previously was the recipient of Best Paper Awards of the ''IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility'' in 1979 and National Radar Conference in the 1997. Sarkar received honorary doctorate degrees from

Blaise Pascal University Blaise Pascal University (french: Université Blaise-Pascal), also known as Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand II or just Clermont-Ferrand II, was a public university with its main campus on in Clermont-Ferrand, France, with satellite l ...

, Technical University of Madrid and Aalto University, respectively in 1998, 2004 and 2012.

Selected publications

;Journal articles * * * * * * * * * ;Books * * * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarkar, Tapan Kumar 1948 births 2021 deaths People from Kolkata Indian emigrants to the United States American electrical engineers Indian electrical engineers American telecommunications engineers Microwave engineers Electrical engineering academics IIT Kharagpur alumni University of New Brunswick alumni Syracuse University College of Engineering and Computer Science alumni Rochester Institute of Technology faculty Syracuse University faculty People from Syracuse, New York American engineering writers 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers 21st-century Indian non-fiction writers 20th-century Indian engineers 21st-century Indian engineers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American engineers 21st-century American engineers Fellow Members of the IEEE American textbook writers Indian textbook writers