(Photo by Ajon Brodie)A team led by three Drexel electrical engineering professors has developed transparent antennas made of polymers and are working on commercializing the invention.
The project is led by electrical engineering professors Kapil Dandekar, Adam Fontecchio and Timothy Kurzweg.
The project team created the polymer antennas through an inkjet-like printer they put together. The printer prints polymers on different materials, rather than ink on paper, according to Dandekar.
Dandekar's expertise in the project is in wireless communications systems and antenna design. Fontecchio focuses on conductive polymers, while Kurzweg focuses on the printing process the project uses.
Dandekar said he and Fontecchio began discussing potential uses of conductive polymers for wireless communications in 2004. They first tried replacing and modifying an inkjet printer so it could print polymers, but eventually realized they would need more specialized technology.
According to Dandekar, the transparent antennas have a wide variety of potential applications.
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