Queen¡¯s researcher first in UK to win international award
A researcher from the Centre for Wireless Innovation (CWI) at Queen¡¯s has become the first scientist from the UK to win a major, international award.
Okan Yurduseven, Professor of Applied Electrodynamics at CWI, has won the 2026 Leopold B Felsen Award for Excellence in Electrodynamics, awarded by the European Association on Antennas and Propagation (EurAAP).
The Award is bestowed on the top researcher under 40 years of age worldwide carrying out fundamental research on electromagnetics and was presented to Prof Yurduseven at the European Conference on Antennas and Propagation in Dublin this week.
Professor Simon Cotton, Director of Research at CWI said of the achievement:
“Prof Yurduseven is an exceptionally brilliant researcher whose work continues to push the boundaries of applied electromagnetics.
“The Leopold B Felsen Award is a benchmark of true excellence and foundational impact. To see Okan’s pioneering contributions recognised at this international level is thoroughly deserved and reflects the world-leading calibre of research being undertaken here at CWI.
“His work is helping to drive our discipline forward, and he remains a profound inspiration to our entire team and the next generation of engineers.”
Prof Yurduseven’s research focuses on antennas and propagation, microwave and millimetre-wave imaging, metasurfaces and reconfigurable apertures and applied electromagnetics.
His research forms the basis of many applications in the modern world, such as electrical engineering, optics, acoustics, and geophysics. He previously worked as a Research Fellow at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at California Institute of Technology as well as Duke University USA and has authored more than 350 peer-reviewed articles.
He said of his award:
“I am deeply honoured to receive this award from EurAAP. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my team, colleagues, and collaborators for their continued support and for the collective achievements that made this recognition possible.
“This award holds particular significance for me, as the work of Prof Leopold Felsen has had a profound influence on my research in applied electromagnetics.
“In a specialist field where reputation is built on originality, depth, and impact, the Felsen Award carries substantial weight. Winning it places my team among a select group of researchers whose work is helping to drive the discipline forward and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.”
Prof Leopold Felsen (1924-2005) was an internationally renowned authority on wave electrodynamics. The main purpose of the EurAAP Felsen Award is to keep alive Prof Felsen’s legacy and encourage excellence in the electromagnetics community, by giving recognition to outstanding fundamental research.
Prof Okan Yurduseven
Media
Media inquiries to Una Bradley u.bradley@qub.ac.uk