Impact of Inkjet and 3D Printing Methods on Low Weight and Complex Structure Antennas

In this paper, impact of the inkjet and 3D printing methods on design and development of the novel antennas and arrays is discussed. Both techniques have got great attention in the recent years and are going to receive further importance as we move towards the 5G technology era. Some examples of inkjet and 3D printed antennas being carried out in the Antenna and Microwave Lab (AML) at San Diego State University will be discussed. The author had an opportunity to learn antennas while working with Prof. Lot Shafai at the University Of Manitoba. This provided the author a very high impact antenna engineering hands-on-training and which has contributed to his profession and in educating several other antenna engineers.