Innovations that leverage the interactions of electromagnetic waves with human and plant tissue are at the heart of an array of both diagnostic and therapeutic applications in medicine, and short-range remote sensing applications in agriculture. In this talk, I will highlight the multi-physics wave-matter interactions between electromagnetic – and related thermal and acoustic – energies and biological tissues, along with two recent advances in microwave technologies, namely microwave theranostics for image-guide thermal ablation of tumors and backscatter-based microwave sensing of cranberry crop yield, that have the potential to transform smart medicine and smart agriculture of the future.

Bio

Susan C. Hagness received the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Northwestern University. She is the Philip D. Reed Professor and Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She previously served as the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Engineering and has held a variety of advisory board appointments and leadership roles within the IEEE, the U.S. National Committee of the International Union of Radio Science, the ASEE Engineering Research Council, and ECEDHA. She has co-authored more than 110 journal papers, eight book chapters, and two editions (with Allen Taflove) of a widely adopted textbook on the finite-difference time-domain method in computational electromagnetics. Recognitions for her holistic approach to teaching and mentoring and for her research in computational and experimental applied electromagnetics include the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2000), IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Early Career Achievement Award (2004), URSI Issac Koga Gold Medal (2005), IEEE Trans. Biomedical Engineering Outstanding Paper Award (2007), IEEE Education Society Van Valkenburg Early Career Teaching Award (2007), Physics in Medicine and Biology Citations Prize (2011), UW-Madison Women Faculty Mentoring Program Slesinger Award for Excellence in Mentoring (2017), and College of Engineering awards for excellence in teaching (2014), research (2018), and equity and diversity efforts (2021). She is a Fellow of the IEEE, AAAS, AIMBE, and NAI.