As technologies become more complex and power consumption budgets push limits, one of the key methods for optimizing both is to utilize a core set of circuitry that can be reconfigured for the particular task at hand. This concept of reconfigurability is the theme of this month’s IEEE Microwave Magazine, Reconfigurable RF Frontend Approaches for 5G & Beyond, and is sponsored by the MTT-S’ Technical Committee (TC) TC-15, the RF/Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuits, and Signal Processing Committee. The focus issue is an outgrowth of a workshop the guest editors organized as part of IMS 2024. I would like to thank guest editors Hao Wang and Anis Ben Arfi for organizing this issue and working with the workshop speakers to bring the workshop topical content to a wider audience. There are three technical features in this focus issue, which are outlined in detail by the guest editors in the From the Guest Editor’s Desk article. I encourage you to read the column early in your exploration of the issue to find not only the summaries of the technical features but also the genesis of this issue and a little bit about TC-15. In addition to this set of focused technical features, we also have an article based on the Distinguished Microwave Lecture of Qiaowei Yuan, entitled “A Systematic Design Framework for Multiport Wireless Power Transfer Using the Maximum Efficiency of Multiple Input/Multiple Output (E-MIMO) Approach.” In this feature, Qiaowei shows how the E-MIMO framework enables the maximum achievable transfer efficiency to be evaluated directly from the S-matrix or Z-matrix, both of which contain the complete electromagnetic coupling information associated with arbitrary configurations of multiple transmitting and receiving elements (antennas).
The MTT-S community has a strong and wide network of microwave engineers who volunteer for the greater good of the society and in this month’s President’s Message, MTT President Anding Zhu goes into detail on how these volunteers power the society and guide its future in a wide variety of roles. Next, in his Microbusiness column, Fred Schindler gives us a little history lesson on some of the so-called “user-hostile” systems (as opposed to user-friendly) and how we should always keep in mind that our designs should lean toward the “friendly” side.
One of MTT-S’ most visible committees is the InterSociety Committee, which sponsors InterSociety Technology Panels (ISTP) at many of our international and regional conferences. As the name implies, these panels have experts from beyond just the MTT-S community so that broad viewpoints on the issues can be presented. I have been involved with several of the ISTPs over the years and have found them to be of great interest to the panel attendees since pressing issues such as AI, sustainability, and publications can be discussed with experts in these areas in an informal setting. This month’s MTT-S News column by J.-C. Chiao reports on the two ISTPs held at IMS2026 on AI hardware and the carbon footprint of our technologies.
Speaking of carbon footprint, our Green RF Engineering column this month is an interesting one. The MTT-S early on was primarily focused on components, radar, and communication systems, but through the years as our technology advanced, our technical reach expanded into many other areas such as sensors, health care, and even environmental monitoring. More recently, the use of microwaves in waste conversion has been discussed [1] and this month’s column by Shuntaro Tsubaki looks more closely at how microwaves are being used to help lower the carbon footprint in chemical manufacturing. Our other columns this month include a new problem for you to consider on double resonance from Takashi Ohira in our Enigmas, etc. column, and our New Products column describes new microwave-related products for you to explore. This month’s issue also includes an Around the Globe article on the IEEE Antenna & Microwave Tech Day initiative, a Women in Microwaves column describing the 2025 IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Summit (Kerala, India), and a Young Professionals column describing the special session on Practical Insights into PA Design Automation at NEMO 2026. Finally, be sure to check out the conference calendar for a look ahead at the conferences in the near future.

And finally, check out the Conference Calendar to see the upcoming MTT community meetings.

References
[1] P. -P. Tang et al., “Progress in Microwave Technology for Hydrogen Production From Pollutants and Waste,” in IEEE Microwave Magazine, vol. 26, no. 11, pp. 53-69, Nov. 2025, doi: 10.1109/MMM.2025.3550311

Summary by
Robert Caverly
EIC, Microwave Magazine