Title :
Walter Rotman and the lost art of antenna design
Author_Institution :
Tel-Aviv Univ., Tel-Aviv
Abstract :
The author\´s father, Walter Rotman, who passed away in May 2007, was well known for the invention called on his name, the Rotman Lens antenna. This type of lens antenna became an integral part of many EW and radar systems in Israel and the world. It allows multi-beam capability for defense systems tracking and investigating multiple targets simultaneously. But my father had equally important inventions that are found in the first "phased array" radars, (radars which employ electronic steering to look in many directions simultaneously without mechanically moving the antenna), many of which continue to be built in Israel and contribute to the defense of the country today. He was also considered a pioneer in the area of "metamaterials". He developed all these ideas in the 50\´s and 60\´s without the help of computers but rather via unique intuition - a rare art today. He managed to do all this and still remained modest and pleasant. He wrote less than 10 articles during his career; not enough today to qualify as an associate professor. But every article was important and special and he won almost every known prize from the US Air Force. In this article the author discussed several of his important inventions.
Keywords :
lens antennas; phased array radar; Rotman lens antenna; Walter Rotman; antenna design; invention; phased array radar; radar system; Antenna arrays; Art; Directive antennas; Engineering profession; Lenses; Metamaterials; Phased arrays; Radar antennas; Radar tracking; Target tracking;
Conference_Titel :
Microwaves, Communications, Antennas and Electronic Systems, 2008. COMCAS 2008. IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Tel-Aviv
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-2097-1
Electronic_ISBN :
978-1-4244-2098-8
DOI :
10.1109/COMCAS.2008.4562823