The 23rd European Microwave Week was planned to take place in Utrecht, the Netherlands and due to the coronavirus disease (COVID) pandemic was held online from January 10–15, 2021. This very exceptional edition of the European Microwave Week, organized by the European Microwave Association (EuMA), and chaired by Professor Frank van Vliet, hosted the jubilee 50th European Microwave Conference (EuMC), the 15th European Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference (EuMIC), and the 17th European Radar Conference (EuRAD). The online event was complemented with 20 workshops and six short courses, covering the most significant and emerging topics in microwave engineering, and with the online industrial exhibition with over 100 exhibitors receiving in total over 3000 visitors. Furthermore, the program was enriched by the philosophical lectures, Tom Brazil Doctoral School of Microwaves and three fora: The Defense, Security and Space Forum, The Automotive Forum, and the newly established 5 G Forum which all were very well attended.
This Special Issue of the International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technology (IJMWT) gathers most of the best technical contributions from the 2020 European Microwave Week. The authors of the top-rated conference contributions have been invited to submit an extended manuscript to the IJMWT journal. All manuscripts received went through an additional review and editorial process. Twenty-one finally accepted papers have formed this Special Issue of the IJMWT, which is physically spread over two issues of the journal. These papers reflect the most relevant topics and recent challenges in the area of microwave devices including antennas, integrated microwave circuits, microwave wireless front-ends as well as radar signal processing algorithms.
As associate editors of this EuMW 2020 special issue, we would like to warmly thank all authors for accepting our invitation to submit their works, and prepare their valuable contributions. Of course, this Special Issue would not have been possible without the involved reviewers, whom we recognize and sincerely thank for their efforts, wise advices, exhaustive criticisms, and time dedication during the very challenging COVID lockdown period. Furthermore, we sincerely acknowledge our two editors-in-chief: Professor Francisco Medina who provided us constant support and advice during the review and editing process, and Professor Francisco Mesa who has helped us during the paper selection phase and start the Special Issue preparation process. Last but not least, we would like to thank the entire EuMW 2020 organizing team for their extraordinary work to shape the European Microwave Week as a physical event which later turned into the first ever online edition of the EuMW.
To conclude, we would like to wish you a pleasant reading of this special issue and invite you to submit your recent research results to the International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies.
Alexander G. Yarovoy received the Candidate Phys. & Math. Sci. (PhD) and Doctor Phys. & Math. Sci. (DSc) degrees from Kharkov State University, Ukraine, in 1987 and 1994, respectively. Since 1999 he is with Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, where he leads since 2009 a chair of Microwave Sensing, Systems and Signals. His main research interests are in high-resolution radar, microwave imaging, and applied electromagnetics (in particular, UWB antennas). He has authored and co-authored more than 450 scientific or technical papers, six patents and 14 book chapters. Professor Yarovoy served as the General TPC chair of the 2020 European Microwave Week, as the chair and TPC chair of the 2008 European Radar Conference, as well as the Secretary of the 2004 European Radar Conference. He also served as the co-chair and TPC chair of the 2004 International Conference on GPR. In the period 2008−2017 Professor Yarovoy served as director of the European Microwave Association (EuMA).
Dominique M. M.-P. Schreurs received the M.Sc. degree in electronic engineering and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Leuven, Belgium. She has been a visiting scientist with Agilent Technologies, Santa Rosa, CA, USA, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO, USA. She is currently a full professor with KU Leuven, where she is also the chair of the Leuven ICT (the Leuven Centre on Information and Communication Technology). Her current research interests include the microwave and millimeter-wave characterization and modelling of bioliquids, transistors, and nonlinear circuits, and system design for wireless communications and biomedical applications. Professor Schreurs served as the president of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society from 2018 to 2019. She was the editor-in-chief of the IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques and also IEEE MTT-S Distinguished Microwave Lecturer. She has served as the general chair for the Spring Automatic RF Techniques Group (ARFTG) conferences in 2007, 2012, and 2018, and as the President of the ARFTG organization from 2018 to 2019. She served as the TPC chair for the 2020 European Microwave Conference.
Domine M. W. Leenaerts received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Starting with Philips research he is now within NXP Semiconductors, as a Fellow, next to holding chair as professor at the TU/e. He has published over 250 papers in scientific and technical journals and conference proceedings and holds several US patents. He served as the TPC chair for the 2020 European Microwave Integrated Circuits Conference 2020.
Jacco J.M. de Wit received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands, in 2000 and 2005, respectively. Since 2005 he is employed at TNO, Department of Radar Technology, The Hague, The Netherlands, as radar systems engineer. His main research interests include radar micro-Doppler signature characterization, radar target classification, innovative radar system concepts and radar performance characterization.
Dr. De Wit serves as reviewer for several academic journals and scientific conferences. He served as the TPC chair for the 2020 European Radar Conference 2020.
