Nacer Chahat

Nacer Chahat
Born
Nacer E. Chahat

Angers, France
NationalityFrench
Algerian
American
Alma materUniversity of Rennes 1
Occupation(s)Engineer
researcher
OrganizationNational Aeronautics and Space Administration

Nacer E. Chahat is a French Algerian-American engineer and researcher at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Early life and education

Chahat was born in Angers, France to a family of Algerian descent.[1] He was educated at Palissy High School.[2] He obtained his master's degrees in electrical engineering from Ecole Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Rennes (ESIR) and in telecommunication from the Institute of Electronics and Telecommunications of Rennes (IETR), University of Rennes 1 in 2009.[3][2] He completed his Ph.D. in signal processing and telecommunications at the IETR, University of Rennes 1, in 2012.[3][4]

Career

Chahat has been associated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), since 2013.[3][1] Initially, he joined as a Microwave/Antenna Engineer and later took on the roles of Technical Section Staff and Product Delivery Manager in 2017.[5] He became SWOT Payload System engineer in 2019.[6]

At NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Chahat has contributed to several projects, including the Mars Helicopter, Mars 2020, SWOT, Europa Clipper, Mars Cube One, RaInCube, and others.[6]

On April 19, 2021, Chahat was part of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory team that successfully made Ingenuity, the first powered-controlled aircraft to fly on another planet.[7]

In 2022, Chahat was named an IEEE Fellow, recognized for his contributions to spacecraft antennas and propagation, and became one of the youngest fellows of IEEE.[3]

Research

Chahat specializes in antenna design and electromagnetic interference and compatibility (EMI/EMC) analysis for space missions.[8] He also works across a wide range of frequencies, from UHF to THz, applied in communications, RADAR, imaging systems, satellite communications antennas, wearable and flexible antennas, and antennas for remote sensing and radio astronomy.[8]

Chahat's notable contributions to NASA missions include the design of the Raincube Ka-band deployable mesh reflector, the Mars Cube One X-band antennas, the Europa lander antenna, and communication tools for the Mars Helicopter mission.[8][9]

Awards and recognition

  • 2015: Prix Bretagne Jeune Chercheur[10]
  • 2017: The IEEE Sergei A. Schelkunoff Award[11]
  • 2017: The Lew Allen Award for Excellence[12]
  • 2018: George Herzl Award[6]
  • 2018: The Engineers' Council Future Technology Leader Award[13]
  • 2019: JARS Best Paper Award for Photo-Optical Instrumentation and Design[14]
  • 2021: IET Dr. Sudhalar Rao Award[13]
  • 2022: IEEE Fellow[15]
  • 2022: National Space Society (NSS) Award[6]
  • 2022: IEEE Spectrum Emerging Technology Award[6]
  • 2022: Robert J. Collier Trophy[6]
  • 2022: National Air & Space Museum Collins Award[6]
  • 2022: Rennais of the Year[16]
  • 2023: AIAA Associate Fellow[17]

Selected publications

  • Millimeter-wave interactions with the human body: State of knowledge and recent advances, M Zhadobov, N Chahat, R Sauleau, C Le Quement, Y Le Drean, International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies 3 (2), 237–247. 2011
  • A compact UWB antenna for on-body applications, N Chahat, M Zhadobov, R Sauleau, K Ito, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation 59 (4), 1123–1131, 2011
  • A Deployable High-Gain Antenna Bound for Mars: Developing a new folded-panel reflectarray for the first CubeSat mission to Mars., RE Hodges, N Chahat, DJ Hoppe, JD Vacchione, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine 59 (2), 39–49, 2017
  • CubeSat deployable Ka-band mesh reflector antenna development for earth science missions, N Chahat, RE Hodges, J Sauder, M Thomson, E Peral, Y Rahmat-Samii, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation 64 (6), 2083–2093, 2016
  • Antennas and propagation for body-centric wireless communications at millimeter-wave frequencies: A review [wireless corner], A Pellegrini, A Brizzi, L Zhang, K Ali, Y Hao, X Wu, CC Constantinou, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine 55 (4), 262–287, 2013
  • Wearable endfire textile antenna for on-body communications at 60 GHz, N Chahat, M Zhadobov, L Le Coq, R Sauleau, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters 11, 799–802, 2012
  • Characterization of the interactions between a 60-GHz antenna and the human body in an off-body scenario, N Chahat, M Zhadobov, L Le Coq, SI Alekseev, R Sauleau, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation 60 (12), 5958–5965, 2012
  • 60-GHz textile antenna array for body-centric communications, N Chahat, M Zhadobov, SA Muhammad, L Le Coq, R Sauleau, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation 61 (4), 1816–1824, 2012
  • On-body propagation at 60 GHz, N Chahat, G Valerio, M Zhadobov, R Sauleau, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation 61 (4), 1876–1888, 2013
  • Novel deployable reflectarray antennas for CubeSat communications, RE Hodges, DJ Hoppe, MJ Radway, NE Chahat, 2015 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium, 1–4, 2015

Bibliography

Books

Book chapters

  • G. Chattopadhyay, M. Alonso Del Pino, N. Chahat, D. Gonzalez, and T. Reck, Terahertz antennas and feeds, Chapter 11 in “Aperture antennas for mm and sub-mm wave applications”, Springer, 2017.
  • M. Zhadobov, C. Leduc, A. Guraliuc, N. Chahat, and R. Sauleau, “Body-centric wireless communication and networks,” Chapter 5 in Advances in Body-Centric Wireless Communication: Applications and State-of-the-art, ISBN 978-1-84919-989-6, The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), 2016.
  • N. Chahat, A. Tang, G. Valerio, M. Zhadobov, Anda Guraliuc, and R. Sauleau, Antennas, Phantoms, and Body-centric propagation at millimeter waves, in Electromagnetics of Body-Area Networks: Antennas, Propagation, and RF Circuits, ISBN 978-1-119-02946-5, Wiley/IEEE Press, 2016.
  • N. Chahat, M. Zhadobov, and R. Sauleau, Progress in compact antennas, Chapter 6: Antennas for body-centric wireless communications at millimeter wave frequencies, ISBN 980-953-307-1085-4, Intech 2014.

References

  1. ^ a b VENTOUILLAC, Jean (2022-12-12). "PORTRAIT. Nacer Chahat, ce Rennais qui repousse les frontières de l'humanité avec la Nasa". Ouest-France (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  2. ^ a b "PORTRAIT. Nacer Chahat, un Agenais à la NASA". La Dépêche du Midi (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  3. ^ a b c d "Nacer Chahat". IEEE. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  4. ^ "EN IMAGES – Un ancien élève de l'Université de Rennes 1 dans l'équipe de l'hélicoptère Ingenuity de la Nasa – France Bleu". ici, par France Bleu et France 3 (in French). 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  5. ^ IEEE
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "Nacer Chahat | Science and Technology". scienceandtechnology.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  7. ^ "Season 5, Episode 2: Talking to Ingenuity and Other Space Robots – NASA". Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  8. ^ a b c "Nacer Chahat | Science and Technology". scienceandtechnology.jpl.nasa.gov.
  9. ^ "Interview: Nacer Chahat Designs Antennas For Mars CubeSats". February 22, 2017.
  10. ^ "Des antennes à fleur de peau | Espace des sciences". www.espace-sciences.org. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  11. ^ "Sergei A. Schelkunoff Transactions Prize Paper Award". IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 65 (12): 6810–6812. December 2017. Bibcode:2017ITAP...65.6810.. doi:10.1109/TAP.2017.2770241.
  12. ^ "The Lew Allen Award for Excellence Recipients | Science and Technology". scienceandtechnology.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  13. ^ a b "Areas of Achievement | Science and Technology". scienceandtechnology.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  14. ^ "SPIE Journal of Applied Remote Sensing Honors Best Papers". spie.org. Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  15. ^ IEEE
  16. ^ HUAUMÉ, Jean VENTOUILLAC et Hugo (2022-12-30). "L'ingénieur de la Nasa Nacer Chahat, élu Rennais de l'année par les internautes". Ouest-France.fr (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-07.
  17. ^ "AIAA Announces its Class of 2024 Associate Fellows". www. Retrieved 2023-12-07.