Sean Hum

PhD Candidate
University of Calgary 

Sean Hum definitely likes a fast pace. While working on his doctorate in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Calgary, he was a race strategist for the UofC’s Soleon Solar Car Team, captained a dragon boat and founded a new student society. 

Mr. Hum’s graduate work has been diverse. While working for TRLabs, he focused his M.Sc. research on an optical modulator for radio-on-fiber applications.  The structure he designed enhances the response of electro-optic modulators and improves the performance of optical radio systems. He received a Governor General’s Gold medal for his thesis, while his design led to a U.S. patent. 

His PhD research took him into an entirely different area – tunable reflectarrays, an architecture used in antenna technology. Until recently, the element phasing of reflectarrays was limited to 180°, but Mr. Hum’s work allowed the elements to be tuned to almost a full 360°, a breakthrough in this technology. His project gained worldwide recognition and won second place in the prestigious 2004 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium (AP-S) student paper competition.

Mr. Hum is now regarded as a pioneer in tunable reflectarrays and a leader in this research internationally. His antenna will likely become an important part of novel airborne, wireless and security applications and systems. 

In 2005, Mr. Hum was recruited as the first member of the University of Calgary’s solar car team. The 4,000-km race started in Austin, Texas and finished, for the first time, at the University of Calgary. The Calgary team had nine months to design, build and prepare the solar car. As Race Engineer Manager, Mr. Hum was responsible for vehicle testing, driver training, safety, and race strategy.