Ep 14: The Irish Engineer Who Put UWB Inside Your Smartphone

Ep 14: The Irish Engineer Who Put UWB Inside Your Smartphone

In this episode of The Antenna Podcast, Dermot O’Shea speaks with Michael McLaughlin, co‑founder and former CTO of Decawave, about the engineering journey behind ultra‑wideband (UWB) technology and its path to global adoption.  Michael shares how his career began in Ireland during a tough job market, his early years in the semiconductor industry, and how that experience led to founding Decawave.  The discussion explores the technical breakthroughs that made centimetre‑level positioning possible, why UWB succeeded where other wireless technologies struggled, and how standards work through the IEEE and ITU helped bring UWB into smartphones, cars, and secure access systems.  This episode offers a fascinating and rare behind‑the‑scenes look at the engineering, persistence, and innovation required to turn a niche RF technology into a global standard. Recorded in person at EUCAP (the European Conference on Antennas and Propagation), this conversation offers practical insight into how today’s antenna measurement tools are shaping better design decisions and more reliable real‑world performance. Visit the Website: https://www.theantennapodcast.com [https://www.theantennapodcast.com/] Welcome to The Antenna Podcast with Dermot O’Shea, your go-to source for in-depth discussions, expert insights, and cutting-edge developments in the world of antennas and wireless communication.

Ep 13: From Satellite Antennas to OTA Testing: The Science of Accurate Measurement

In this episode of The Antenna Podcast, host Dermot O’Shea is joined by Lars Jakob Foged, Vice President of R&D at Microwave Vision Group (MVG), for a deep dive into antenna measurement and why it remains critical to real‑world antenna performance. Lars shares insights from his career spanning satellite antenna design, space systems, and advanced measurement technologies. The discussion covers the practical challenges of validating complex antennas, including mechanical constraints, thermal distortion, material variation, and the limits of simulation alone. A key focus is how modern measurement data can be transformed into accurate electromagnetic models using equivalent current techniques, allowing engineers to study antenna interaction, placement, and co‑existence on platforms such as satellites, vehicles, and connected devices. The episode also explores advances in over‑the‑air (OTA) testing, radar cross section (RCS) measurements, and emerging approaches to compact far‑field testing and plane wave generation. Recorded in person at EUCAP (the European Conference on Antennas and Propagation), this conversation offers practical insight into how today’s antenna measurement tools are shaping better design decisions and more reliable real‑world performance. Visit the Website: https://www.theantennapodcast.com [https://www.theantennapodcast.com/] Welcome to The Antenna Podcast with Dermot O’Shea, your go-to source for in-depth discussions, expert insights, and cutting-edge developments in the world of antennas and wireless communication.

Ep 12: How One Lens Antenna Can Replace 400 Dishes and how the Future of Cellular Capacity May Not Be More Towers

In this episode of The Antenna Podcast, Dermot O'Shea speaks with Leo Maddison, co-founder of Matsingh Inc., about the science and real-world impact of lens antennas. Leo Maddison explains how lens-based designs use refraction rather than reflection, enabling multiple independent beams from a single antenna with strong isolation and broad frequency coverage.  The conversation explores how that approach can increase cellular capacity without adding more towers, why it has proven valuable in stadiums, major live events, and disaster-response scenarios, and how Matsingh Inc. built its business around proprietary materials and tightly controlled manufacturing.  The episode also dives into the tradeoffs between lens antennas, dishes, and phased arrays, while offering practical advice for students and engineers who want to build careers in antennas through hands-on experience. Visit the Website: https://www.theantennapodcast.com [https://www.theantennapodcast.com/] Welcome to The Antenna Podcast with Dermot O’Shea, your go-to source for in-depth discussions, expert insights, and cutting-edge developments in the world of antennas and wireless communication.

Ep 11: From Copper Tape to Carrier Cert: Inside Real‑World Antenna Design

In this episode of The Antenna Podcast, host Dermot O’Shea is joined by Tim Kelley, antenna engineer at Amazon and a former long‑time collaborator at Taoglas, for a wide‑ranging and practical conversation on what it really takes to design antennas that work in the real world. Tim walks through his journey into antenna engineering from testing antennas outdoors in upstate New York, to years of hands‑on cellular, GNSS, and Wi‑Fi design work, and now to tackling complex challenges within Amazon’s LEO satellite program. Along the way, he shares what drew him to antennas in the first place, the role great teachers and hands‑on experimentation played in his career, and why antennas remain one of the most misunderstood parts of modern electronics design. The discussion digs deep into why antennas are still treated as an afterthought in many products, how that mindset starts in university, and why it often leads to painful redesigns later. Tim and Dermot explore the growing complexity of modern RF systems from multi‑band LTE and massive MIMO to carrier certification, TRP/TIS targets, and the ever‑shrinking space designers are given to work with. Tim also shares a detailed real‑world case study from a challenging multi‑antenna LTE router project, explaining how simulation, bench‑level experimentation, and intuition all come together to solve problems that datasheets alone never can. The episode closes with a thoughtful technical discussion on receive sensitivity, noise coupling, antenna orientation, and why “hope” is never a strategy when it comes to antenna performance. This episode is packed with practical insight for engineers, product designers, and anyone involved in bringing connected devices to market. Visit the Website: https://www.theantennapodcast.com [https://www.theantennapodcast.com/] Welcome to The Antenna Podcast with Dermot O’Shea, your go-to source for in-depth discussions, expert insights, and cutting-edge developments in the world of antennas and wireless communication.

Ep 10: Self-Interference in IoT Devices: Why Antenna Performance Isn’t the Root Cause

In this episode of The Antenna Podcast, Dermot O’Shea speaks with Dr. Peter Nevermann, a wireless industry veteran with extensive experience in antenna design, RF testing, certification, and system performance. Peter shares his journey from semiconductor physics and RF noise research into senior roles at Siemens Mobile Phones, Vodafone Global, and leading test laboratories in Germany and Silicon Valley. A key focus is self-interference and noise management, which Peter explains is often misattributed to the antenna rather than system-level design, placement, and unshielded electronics. The conversation highlights why early RF decisions are critical to successful testing, certification, and deployment. Visit the Website: https://www.theantennapodcast.com [https://www.theantennapodcast.com/] Welcome to The Antenna Podcast with Dermot O’Shea, your go-to source for in-depth discussions, expert insights, and cutting-edge developments in the world of antennas and wireless communication.