2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Recently, radio frequency research has received increased attention from the cyber security community, identifying significant issues that compromise confidentiality and integrity of various wireless systems. Most cyber security researchers do not have vast and requisite expertise in antenna design and commonly use commercially purchased antennas as an alternative. Custom antennas are useful for proving that certain cyber security attacks are possible over long distances, compared to short range proof of concept approaches. This paper presents an open-source calculator for patch antenna designs and several common manufacturing methods as well as relevance of patch antennas to radio frequency research in the field of cyber security. Results of antennas created with the tool under discussion are presented and compared with simulation data. Applications for cybersecurity utilization are then discussed.

Abstracts must include the following information:
a. plan of submission for full paper - the calculator discussed in the abstract is finished and several manufacturing methods were used to create patch antennas. First draft of the full paper is complete.
b. a description of any assessment methods used to evaluate the effectiveness of the contribution - From educational perspective, the assessment method is to provide the calculator to undergraduate ECE students or non-engineering students and ensure that they can build patch antennas using outlined methods. This tool was developed during specific curriculum activities, but success is gauged by increasing the accessibility of this topic in ways that encourage further exploration without being limited by the need for specialized tools or software.
c. a statement of results - This calculator has been successfully used on its own and integrated into other projects; demonstrating the flexibility of the tool. However, the primary results have come from its implementation by students to create effective patch antennas for a custom frequency using the calculator while not relying on specialized knowledge only available in special topic courses. Further included in the paper are detailed descriptions of accessible manufacturing methods that have been utilized by students either as part of assignments in class, or during hands-on research in a structured environment.
d. topic that your submission will address - curriculum course improvement, curriculum ECE for non-engineers, curriculum current topics cyber, workforce development. This is also applicable to student retention, as undergraduate courses teaching EMF and basic RF concepts can utilize basic tools like the calculator for demonstration purposes to supplement courses that do not have a structured lab.