Sensing Without Seeing: EM Approaches to High-resolution Non-contact Detection

Table of Contents

Seminars-1-2025 - This article is part of a series.

Part 1: Internet Architecture Evolution: Found in Translation

Part 2: Cloud Gaming (CG) & Extended Reality (XR/AR): Network Traffic Patterns & challenges in Network Management

Part 3: Quantum Algorithms: Computational Foundations and Engineering Challenge

Part 4: Challenges in Deploying a High-Performance SDN Network to Support the World’s Largest Optical Telescope

Part 5: Towards an AI-native 6G system architecture

Part 6: How Computer Vision At The Edge Is Changing The Way Products Are Made

Part 7: This Article

Part 8: Fast, Flexible, and Intelligent Next-Generation Networks and Systems

Abstract #

Electromagnetic (EM) sensing is rapidly emerging as a compelling alternative to traditional visual and optical methods in real-time detection, offering advantages in sensitivity, selectivity, and resilience in harsh environments or complex sensing medium. In this talk, I will present our research at the Calgary Sensor Lab, where we design novel RF and microwave circuits for smart, application-specific sensors that push beyond conventional sensing paradigms. Our work spans transdisciplinary collaborations in healthcare, agriculture, and environmental monitoring. I will highlight recent advances in passive and battery-less microwave sensors for real-time nutrient monitoring, implant surface characterization, and microplastic contamination detection. These systems are designed to operate without direct contact or visual access, leveraging resonant electromagnetic structures to probe material properties with high fidelity. To address real-world deployment constraints, we integrate machine learning, embedded systems, and edge computing into our hardware platforms, enabling robust, multivariable sensing in compact, cost-effective formats. The result is a new class of EM-based sensors that are not only sensitive and selective, but also adaptive and field-deployable. This talk will reflect on the broader vision: to reimagine how we detect, monitor, and understand physical and biological phenomena without always needing to see them.

Bio #

Zahra Abbasi (Member, IEEE) is an Assistant Professor and a Schulich Research Chair at the Department of Electrical and Software Engineering at the University of Calgary and the Principal Investigator at Calgary Sensor Lab. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Alberta in 2020 and her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) in 2016 and 2014. Her research expertise is in designing passive and active RF/microwave sensors for noncontact real-time detection and monitoring. She has been focused on developing flexible chipless microstrip structures for non-invasive medical applications, environmental contamination, and sustainable agriculture. Dr. Abbasi received a 2023 and 2024 Early Career Research Excellence Award and 2023 Fostering Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility in Engineering Award at the Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary. She is also recipient of the 2023 Immigrant Impact Award by the government of Alberta, Canada, for her scientific and academic contributions to the field of microwave sensing technologies. Dr. Abbasi is the Chair of the IEEE Joint APS/MTTS/ComSoc Southern Alberta Chapter.