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As part of the academic plan to introduce students to the operation of real-time radar systems, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s School of Engineering (SOE) hosted an information session and demonstration of a mobile radar unit on Thursday, March 17.

The presentation was part of a three-year program with the University of Oklahoma’s Advanced Radar Research Center, during which faculty and scientists from both institutions will collaborate on research projects, grant proposals, and student exchanges.

“The Rapid X-band Polarimetric Radar (RaXPol) is the first rapid-scan, dual-polarization radar system sponsored by the National Science Foundation,” explained Yadong Wang, PhD, assistant professor in the SOE Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who oversees SIUE’s Advanced Radar Research Lab. “Through operating the RaXPol and attending the presentations and short courses from radar experts from the University of Oklahoma, our students are gaining first-hand knowledge of a radar hardware system, signal processing and meteorological applications of the mobile radar system.

Among the participants was graduate student Brianna Witherell, of Mascoutah, who is studying electrical engineering and serves as president of the SIUE Weather Club.

“This is significant for me because we are going to use the data collected today for our radar engineering class,” said Witherell. “Seeing what we learn in class about the transmitter and receiver live and working helps to connect those thoughts.”

Witherell’s biggest takeaways from the event were the future research capabilities and prospective collaborations between universities.

Graduate student Derek Marsch, of Greenville, said, “This brings the physical aspect to my study of the detection of microburst using radar. I work with a lot of data from different sources, but this is the first time I am seeing any radar and that makes it really cool. It is a more specialized radar that rotates very quickly. It was a surprise that springs a sense of admiration!”

Quinton Wilburn, of Bloomington, a senior electrical engineering major, shared, “The radar system is something we do in class right now. We are using some of the data that trucks like this collect to research snowfall. Seeing the truck in person and how it works is cool.”

The lecture portion of the program was delivered by Tian-You Yu, PhD, and David Bodine, PhD, both of the Advanced Radar Research Center at the University of Oklahoma.

Photo: SIUE students and faculty, and collaborators from the University of Oklahoma, gather near a mobile radar unit that was hosted on campus.