Dave Kelley

Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering

My passion is ...
to learn how things work and then share that knowledge with other people.

When I was eight years old my parents gave me a crystal radio kit. I was amazed that with only a diode, an earphone, and a lot of wire I could pick up several local AM radio stations. That led to a lifelong curiosity about electronic devices, especially those that generate and detect radio waves. By the time I was in high school I knew I wanted to be an electrical engineer, and I knew that I wanted to work in the area of radio/wireless.

A lot of people can solve problems and design things, but what makes ECEs special is that they know how to get into the details of designing electronic devices and systems that solve problems for the benefit of humanity. They know how to get the voltage levels just right to make an amplifier work, or where to cut the metal to make an antenna, or how to program a microprocessor to control a robot. Not many people can do that!

But engineers don’t work in isolation. They need to understand what the problems are before they can solve them, and that requires a deep human connection. Gaining the skills and knowledge required to solve problems requires a deep human connection as well, so my goal as a professor is to get to know my students and to guide them through the fun and challenge of learning how things work.

Favorite Out of Class Activities/Interests

  • Reading: novels in which the land is a character, travel stories, science fiction, nonfiction
  • Hiking: especially in Maine and to spectacular vistas
  • Bicycling: road, mountain, and rail-trail
  • Flat-water kayaking
  • Old movies: really old, like from the 1930s through the 1960s
  • Amateur radio; my call sign is ND3K

Educational Background

  • B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1986
  • M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Virginia Tech, 1990
  • Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, 1999

Teaching Experience

  • Visiting Assistant Professor, Pennsylvania State University, 1999 - 2001
  • Assistant Professor, Bucknell University, 2001 - 2007
  • Associate Professor, Bucknell University, 2007 - present

Teaching Specialties

  • Electromagnetics (antennas, wave guiding systems, wave propagation)
  • Wireless/RF/microwave system design
  • Electronics
  • Circuit theory
  • Advanced engineering mathematics

Research Interests

  • Reconfigurable antennas
  • Reactance-controlled array antennas
  • Phased array antennas (active and parasitic)
  • General antenna analysis and design
  • Evolutionary optimization methods, esp. particle swarm optimization
  • Computational electromagnetics, esp. the Finite Difference Time Domain method

Industry Experience

  • HY-Tech Research Corp., Radford, VA, 1988-1989
  • Atlantic Aerospace Electronics Corp., Greenbelt, MD, 1989 - 1990
  • Information Systems Laboratories, Vienna, VA, 1991 - 1993
  • Sabbatical research at Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, 2008 - 2009

Selected Publications

D. F. Kelley, "A Circularly Polarized Loop Yagi Array Using a Driven Element with Two Reactive Loads," Proc. 2015 Antenna Applications Symp., Monticello, IL, Sept. 2015, pp. 33-50.

D. M. Bogan and D. F. Kelley, "Discretized Reactive Loading Based on Switched Stubs for Null Steering in Yagi-Uda Arrays," Proc. 2014 IEEE International Symp. on Antennas and Propagation, Memphis, TN, July 2014.

David F. Kelley and Timothy J. Destan, "Investigation of the Null Steering Capability of Yagi-Uda Arrays with Variable Reactive Loads," Proc. 2008 Antenna Applications Symposium, Monticello, IL., Sept. 2008, pp. 306-325.

David F. Kelley, Timothy J. Destan, and Raymond J. Luebbers, "Debye Function Expansions of Complex Permittivity Using a Hybrid Particle Swarm-Least Squares Optimization Approach," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 55, no. 7, pp. 1999-2005, July 2007.

Matthew E. Mims and David F. Kelley, "Application of Particle Swarm Optimization to the Design of Multi-Band Antennas with Lumped Loads," Proc. IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, vol. 4, Albuquerque, NM, July 2006, pp. 3547-3550.

David F. Kelley, "Embedded Element Patterns and Mutual Impedance Matrices in the Terminated Phased Array Environment," Proc. IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, vol. 3A, Washington, DC, July 2005, pp. 659-662.

David F. Kelley and Samuel D. Reier, "Efficient Pattern and Impedance Bandwidth Analysis of Reactively Steered Arrays," Proc. 2004 Antenna Applications Symposium, Monticello, IL, Sept. 2004, pp. 99-116.

David F. Kelley and Raymond J. Luebbers, "Piecewise Linear Recursive Convolution for Dispersive Media Using FDTD," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 44, no. 6, pp. 792-797, June 1996.

David F. Kelley and Warren L. Stutzman, "Array Antenna Pattern Modeling Methods that Include Mutual Coupling Effects," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 41, no. 12, pp. 1625-1632, December 1993.

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