Haihan Sun, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has been selected for the 2026 Donald G. Dudley Jr. Undergraduate Teaching Award by the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, highlighting the growing importance of electromagnetics education in enabling next-generation nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technologies.
Sun’s teaching and mentorship in electromagnetics directly intersect with critical NDE applications, including microwave sensing, ground-penetrating radar, and advanced inspection techniques. Her work reflects the increasing convergence of electromagnetic theory and practical inspection technologies, which are becoming central to modern NDE practices.
The recognition underscores the role of academic institutions in developing a technically skilled workforce capable of supporting evolving inspection demands across infrastructure, energy, and advanced manufacturing sectors. With research interests spanning antennas, sensing systems, and nondestructive testing, Sun’s academic contributions align with the need for deeper domain expertise in physics-driven inspection methodologies.
Sun completed her bachelor’s degree from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications in 2015 and earned her PhD in applied electromagnetics from the University of Technology Sydney in 2019. She later served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, from 2019 to 2023.
Her recent recognitions include being named an IEEE AP-S Young Professional Ambassador in 2024 and receiving Outstanding Associate Editor honours in 2025 for IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters and IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation. In 2026, she was also awarded a National Science Foundation-funded CAREER Award. She currently serves as an associate editor for IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters and IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.
The award will be formally presented at the IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and North American Radio Science Meeting 2026 in Detroit, Michigan, in July 2026.
