Georges Armand Deschamps[1] (October 18, 1911 — June 20, 1998) was a French American engineer and Professor Emeritus at the Department of Electrical Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is best known for his contributions to electromagnetic theory, microwave engineering and antenna theory. He is also regarded as an early pioneer of microstrip and patch antennas, which he proposed in 1953.

Georges Armand Deschamps
Born(1911-10-18)October 18, 1911
Vendôme, France
DiedJune 20, 1998(1998-06-20) (aged 86)
Alma materÉcole normale supérieure
University of Paris
Princeton University
Scientific career
FieldsElectrical engineering
Applied electromagnetics
InstitutionsLycée Français de New York
ITT
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Doctoral studentsRichard W. Ziolkowski[1]

Biography

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Born on October 18, 1911, in Vendôme, France, Deschamps was raised in Normandy.[1][2] He was admitted to École normale supérieure in Paris in 1931, where he studied mathematics and was a classmate of Georges Pompidou, former President of France.[1] He further received advanced degrees in physics and mathematics from University of Paris, Sorbonne. Initially planning to study topology with Eduard Čech at Masaryk University, he eventually went to Princeton University as a research associate for a year in 1937. Following this, he taught mathematics and physics at Lycée Français de New York. In the meantime, with the advent of World War II, he was enlisted to French Army and worked as an engineer for Maginot Line. Following the Battle of France in 1940, he escaped through North Africa and returned to the United States in 1941 to resume his teaching duties.[1]

In 1947, Deschamps joined Federal Telecommunications Laboratories of ITT Inc. as a project engineer, where he worked on radio navigation and antenna design.[3] In 1958, he joined University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as the director of the Antenna Laboratory, following the departure of the previous director, Victor H. Rumsey. The research work of the laboratory during this period focused on frequency independent antennas.[1] In 1978, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for "his contributions to electromagnetic scattering, microwave engineering, and laser beam propagation."[4][2] Being a Life Fellow of IEEE, he was a recipient of IEEE Centennial Medal (1984) and IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Distinguished Achievement Award (1987). He retired from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1982.[2][3]

Deschamps died on June 20, 1998; he was survived by his wife Bunty, three children and five grandchildren.[2]

Research

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Deschamps's research focused on electromagnetic theory and its applications in antenna and microwave engineering. In 1953, he proposed the concept of patch antenna concept at a United States Air Force Antenna Symposium;[1][5] these antennas were eventually popularized and realized in the 1970s.[6] His main research work at his tenure at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign included ray theory of electromagnetics, high-frequency asymptotics and complex point source representations of Gaussian beams, last of which he introduced.[1][2] He also worked on the applications of differential forms to electromagnetics and focused primarily on the subject following his retirement.[2]

Selected publications

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Journal articles
  • Deschamps, G. A. (1951). "Geometrical representation of the polarization of a plane electromagnetic wave". Proceedings of the IRE. 39 (5): 540–544. doi:10.1109/JRPROC.1951.233136. S2CID 51662985.
  • Deschamps, G. (1959). "Impedance properties of complementary multiterminal planar structures". IRE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 7 (5): 371–378. Bibcode:1959ITAP....7..371D. doi:10.1109/TAP.1959.1144717. hdl:2027/uiuo.ark:/13960/t79s33k0f.
  • Deschamps, G. A. (1971). "Gaussian beam as a bundle of complex rays". Electronics Letters. 7 (23): 684–685. Bibcode:1971ElL.....7..684D. doi:10.1049/el:19710467.
  • Deschamps, G. A. (1972). "Ray techniques in electromagnetics". Proceedings of the IEEE. 60 (9): 1022-1035. doi:10.1109/PROC.1972.8850.
  • Deschamps, G.; Cabayan, H. (1972). "Antenna synthesis and solution of inverse problems by regularization methods". IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 20 (3): 268–274. Bibcode:1972ITAP...20..268D. doi:10.1109/TAP.1972.1140197.
  • Lee, Shung-Wu; Deschamps, G. (1976). "A uniform asymptotic theory of electromagnetic diffraction by a curved wedge". IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 24 (1): 25–34. Bibcode:1976ITAP...24...25L. doi:10.1109/TAP.1976.1141283.
  • Deschamps, G. A. (1981). "Electromagnetics and differential forms". Proceedings of the IEEE. 69 (6): 676-696. doi:10.1109/PROC.1981.12048. S2CID 24321634.
  • Ziolkowski, Richard W.; Deschamps, Georges A. (1984). "Asymptotic evaluation of high-frequency fields near a caustic: An introduction to Maslov's method". Radio Science. 19 (4): 1001–1025. Bibcode:1984RaSc...19.1001Z. doi:10.1029/RS019i004p01001.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Ziolkowski, Richard (2017). "1987 IEEE AP Distinguished Achievement awardee, Prof. Georges A. Deschamps, a true gentleman and distinguished scholar". 2017 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation & USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting. pp. 653–654. doi:10.1109/APUSNCURSINRSM.2017.8072369. hdl:10453/129693. ISBN 978-1-5386-3284-0. S2CID 10186437.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lo, Yuen Tze; Lee, Shung-Wu; Chew, Weng Cho. "Professor Georges A. Deschamps". National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Georges Deschamps Retires". IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Newsletter. 24 (3). June 1982. doi:10.1109/MAP.1982.27611. S2CID 45086593.
  4. ^ "Engineers' Academy Picks New Members". The New York Times. April 2, 1978.
  5. ^ Carver, K.; Mink, J. (1981). "Microstrip antenna technology". IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 29 (1): 2–24. Bibcode:1981ITAP...29....2C. doi:10.1109/TAP.1981.1142523.
  6. ^ Pozar, D. M. (January 1991). "Microstrip antennas". Proceedings of the IEEE. 80 (1): 79–91. doi:10.1109/5.119568.