IMS 24: Capitalizing Across The Spectrum In D.C.

By John Oncea, Editor

IMS 24 takes place June 16-21 in Washington, D.C., featuring innovative research, industry exhibitions, and networking opportunities with distinguished speakers from industry, academia, and government agencies. The event promises an exciting blend of technical presentations, workshops, and social events celebrating the diversity of the microwave community.

The IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS 2024) takes place June 16-21 in Washington, DC at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The last time IMS was held in D.C. was 1980 and a lot has changed since then – both for IMS and our Nation’s Capital. For instance, 44 years ago about 1,500 people attended IMS and there were 160 papers presented and 123 exhibitors. Today, attendance at IMS hovers around 10,000 with more than 350 papers presented and 550 exhibitors.

This year’s event promises an exciting blend of innovative research presentations, industry exhibitions, and networking opportunities featuring distinguished speakers from industry, academia, and government agencies. The following is just a small sampling of featured speakers:

1. Veena Rawat, Senior Spectrum Advisor at GSMA, will speak on “Spectrum Coexistence activities for ITU's WRC agenda for Future G” as part of the Future G Summit.
2. Edward Tiedemann, Qualcomm Fellow and SVP of Engineering at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., also will present at the Future G Smitt, speaking on “Overcoming the 6G Spectrum Challenge.”
3. A third Future G Summit speaker – Gary Xu, VP of Research at Samsung Research America – will discuss “6G Vision, Key Enablers, and Timeline.”
4. DARPA’s Paul Jaffe will deliver a keynote address on Tuesday, June 17th, in the POWER session.

A Look At The Event

This year’s theme is “Capitalizing Across the Spectrum” with organizers using the event to celebrate the diversity of contributions, talents, and accomplishments across the community’s human spectrum. IMS 24’s major technical themes will emphasize D.C.’s role D.C. in supporting the use and management of the RF-to-THz spectrum, including systems and applications, aerospace and security, and spectrum coexistence.

The Future Directions theme is Wireless Power Transfer with a boot camp, workshops, and a collection of special, focus, and panel sessions on this emerging topic area. Additional emphasis will be placed on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, cutting across all symposium aspects.

As usual, there’s much, much more including:

• IMS2024 Tutorial Preview Series: This series will showcase key topics that will be highlighted during the Symposium. For instance, there will be a tutorial on “Radar Communications Coexistence and Millimeter Wave Spectrum Sharing” by Prof. Danijela Cabric from the University of California, Los Angeles, and another on “Wireless Power Transfer” by Prof. Nuno Carvalho from the University of Aveiro and Prof. Jasmin Grosinger from Graz University of Technology.
• Future G Summit: The day-long Future G Summit on Wednesday will feature four sessions throughout the day, each focusing on a different theme: Spectrum Co-Existence and Sustainability, Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs), Metaverse Technologies, and 6G Technologies. Each session will have speakers from the industry describing interdisciplinary concepts enabling these Future G systems, followed by expert panels discussing challenges and taking audience questions.
• StartUp Program: Another new initiative at IMS 24 is the StartUp Program, which will foster an environment where innovative ideas meet opportunities for collaboration and investment. Visionary entrepreneurs will have the chance to showcase their groundbreaking solutions and connect with industry giants and potential investors.
• I AM IMS Series: This new series will highlight the volunteers, authors, attendees, and exhibitors who make IMS special.
• Exhibition and Networking: The IMS Exhibition, taking place from Tuesday to Thursday, will allow attendees to explore the latest products, technologies, and services from leading companies in the microwave and RF industry. This is an excellent platform for networking, forging new partnerships, and staying up to date with the latest industry trends.

The RFIC Symposium

The 2024 IEEE Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFIC’24) Symposium is part of Microwave Week and promises to present the latest breakthroughs and research related to RF, mmWave, and wireless ICs. The event begins on Sunday with 13 RFIC-focused workshops covering a wide range of advanced topics in RFIC technology. There is also a technical lecture, “Noise in Oscillators: From Understanding to Design,” that will be delivered by Prof. Ali Hajimiri of Caltech.

The RFIC Plenary Session will take place in the evening, commencing with conference highlights, followed by the presentation of the Student Paper Awards and the Industry Best Paper Awards.

Two plenary talks are scheduled, one by Nokie Bell Labs’ President Peter Vetter (The 6G Network at the Center) and the other by Prof. Tsu-Jae King Liu Dean of the College of Engineering of UC Berkeley (CMOS Technology Evolution for Revolutionary Impact).

RFIC will offer multiple tracks of technical paper presentations on Monday and Tuesday, as well as panel sessions during the lunch breaks. The panel on Monday – “RF and Microwave League of Champions” –will take the form of a quiz show pitting a team of academics against a team of industry veterans to answer technical riddles from RF and microwave history.

The conference scope encompasses IC and system innovations, usage models, calibration techniques, and integration approaches, promoting collaboration between researchers and engineers at the forefront of RFICs and systems for the benefit of all.

A Quick Look At The Host City

The Washington, D.C. region is home to numerous high-tech companies, major aerospace and defense firms, and national laboratories, such as the U.S. Army and Navy Research Labs and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology.

The area around the Walter E. Washington Convention Center – including Penn Quarter, Chinatown, and the Shaw district – is one of the most vibrant parts of the city with an excellent restaurant and bar scene. It is located within 10 blocks of the White House and the National Mall.

D.C. is home to over 40 museums and attractions that can be visited free of charge, including the 17 museums and galleries that make up the Smithsonian Institution. Getting around the city and the region is convenient using D.C.’s extensive Metro system, which also provides direct connections to Reagan National Airport and Dulles International Airport.