Dr. Eric Mokole, head of the Surveillance Technology branch of the Radar Division at the Naval Research Laboratory, has been elevated to Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The IEEE recognized Mokole for leadership and contributions to ultra-wideband radar, waveform diversity, and transionospheric space radar.
The nomination prepared by Dr. Shannon D. Blunt, of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at the University of Kansas, emphasized Mokole's leadership as a program manager and principal investigator who directed a team of researchers investigating the radiation physics of ultra-wideband (UWB) antennas, which helped characterize the mechanisms of radiation and provided insight into UWB antenna design. In addition, the research team made significant contributions to the characterization and physics of UWB clutter and the development of viable UWB signal processing methods. His leadership role greatly strengthened the theoretical foundation for UWB radar through the numerous conference talks, workshops, reviews, reports, conference papers, and peer-reviewed journal articles, resulting from this work.
One of the many major products under his stewardship was the development of a state-of-the-art, low-power, UWB, ultra-high resolution, experimental radar system, called the Microwave Microscope (MWM). The MWM is a field-deployable, dual-polarized, short-pulse system that has been used to conduct seminal research on characterizing sea spikes, the target-like artifacts in radar returns induced by ocean scatter, to mitigate incorrect identification of low-elevation objects by ship-based radars. In addition, the research conducted in this program has led to the development of technologies related to UWB synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for use in mine detection, suicide bomber detection, IED detection, and detecting humans in urban settings, which are very important problems in expeditionary/urban warfare and humanitarian demining for defense and homeland security.
Mokole is an expert and leading proponent of waveform diversity (WD). In this capacity, he co-founded the US Tri-Service WD Working Group that has organized numerous events, generated numerous publications, and created radar technology for adaptive pulse compression and spectrally clean waveform generation. Within NRL, he has directed four WD efforts: spectrally clean waveforms, dynamic waveform diversity, radar spectrum allocation, and adaptive pulse compression.
He received his bachelor's degree in applied mathematics from New York University in 1971, his master's degree in mathematics from Northern Illinois University in 1973, two master's degrees, one in physics and the other in applied mathematics, and his doctorate in mathematics from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1976, 1978 and 1982 respectively.
Mokole served as an assistant professor of mathematics at Kennesaw College in 1982-1983 and a mathematician in electronic warfare at the Naval Intelligence Support Center in 1983 to 1986. He came to NRL in 1986 as a mathematician in the Space Technology Section of the Radar Division. He has held a number of positions during his career at NRL, all in the Radar Division, and was selected to his present position in 2001. Mokole is a member of the IEEE AES Radar System's Panel, the Navy lead of the Tri-Service Radar Symposia, a government liaison of USNC URSI, and Chair-elect of NATO's Sensors and Electronic Technology Panel.
His awards include: election to Sigma Xi in 1982; a U.S. Navy Team Award for Excellence for his participation in the LPD-17 Combat Systems Alternatives Analysis Team in 1999; two NRL Alan Berman Publications awards in 1993 and 1999, respectively; and an NRL Technology Transfer Award in 2001. He has over 70 scientific publications and is co-editor/co-author of four books (Ultra-Wideband, Short-Pulse Electromagnetics 6,7; Physics of Multiantenna Systems and Broadband Processing; and Principles of Waveform Diversity and Design).
The IEEE Grade of Fellow is conferred by the Board of Directors upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest. The total number selected in any one year does not exceed one-tenth of one percent of the total voting Institute membership. Each new Fellow receives a beautifully matted and framed certificate with the name of the Fellow and a brief citation describing the accomplishment, a congratulatory letter from the incoming IEEE President, and a gold sterling silver Fellow lapel pin with antique finish.
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