X International conference on antenna theory and techniques (ICATT’2015) is dedicated to the 95 years of Prof. Yakov Shifrin who is an initiator and unchangeable head of ICATTs.
Yakov S. Shifrin is a well-known Ukrainian scientist, specialist in the field of radiophysics and applied radioelectronics; Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine, Doctor of Sciences, Professor, Laureate of both the A.S.Popov Prize AS USSR and the 2014 European Microwave Association “Outstanding Career Award”; Life Fellow IEEE; Academician and Presidium member of the Academy of Sciences of Applied Radio Electronics; Soros’s Professor; Honorary Professor of two Ukrainian and two Russian high schools; Honorary Doctor of the Karazin Kharkiv National University.
Yakov Shifrin was born in Mstislavl (Belorussia) on April 23, 1920; graduated from the Leningrad State University in 1941, and from the S.M.Budenny Military Academy of Communications in 1944. He was a combatant during the Patriotic War.
In 1946-1948, Y.S.Shifrin appeared to be the first teacher in radar at the Zhitomir Anti-Aircraft Artillery School. Since 1951, after a three-year postgraduate course at the L.A.Govorov Military Engineering Radio Technical Academy of Air Defense, he had occupied teaching positions there till 1957, and been a Head of Antennas and Propagation Chair from 1957 to 1980. He has been Doctor of Technical Sciences since 1964, Professor since 1966. After retiring from the Armed Forces, Prof. Shifrin has worked with the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics as Professor, Head of Antenna Chair, Chief researcher.
Yakov Shifrin fundamentally contributed to a number of directions of modern radio physics and radio electronics. He is a founder of the statistical antenna theory. His monograph “Issues of statistical antenna theory” (Moscow: Sovetskoe Radio, 1970) at once was translated in English and published in USA (“Statistical Antenna Theory”, Golem Press, 1971).
In 1983, Prof. Shifrin was awarded the A.S.Popov Prize by Presidium AS USSR. In 1998, he (the first person in Ukraine as well as among antenna specialists in post-USSR countries) was elected Fellow IEEE with citation “For fundamental contribution to antenna theory and technology”, and in 2008 he became Life Fellow IEEE.
Under leadership of Yakov Shifrin, the fundamental investigations of long-distance troposphere radiowave propagation had been carried out, results of which are presented in two monographs (Kharkov: ARTA publ. house,1964; and Moscow: Sovetskoe Radio, 1965), the theory of antennas with nonlinear elements was developed, novel methods of phased antenna arrays diagnostics.
Prof. Shifrin has supervised about 20 Doctors of Sciences and over 50 PhDs, published over 250 open works including 12 monographs. He is a member of eight scientific journals and a number of academic councils.
His active teaching work with MERTA and KhNURE covers over 50 year. He had led Chairs at those high schools for about 30 years.
The scientific-organization work of Yakov Shifrin as an organizer of antenna science in independent Ukraine deserves deep recognition. Immediately after a collapse of the USSR, in 1991, he organized the Ukrainian antenna seminar; and at the beginning of 1993, the Ukraine National Antenna Association (NAA) was created by him. The antenna seminar and NAA contributed a lot to uniting antenna specialists of Ukraine, exchanging their experience, elucidating a scientific potential of Ukraine in the field of antennas. In 1995, he was one of organizers of the East-Ukraine Chapter IEEE, and in 2006, he organized the Kharkov Chapter IEEE. Those Chapters Yakov Shifrin used to led for a long time have contributed to integration of Ukrainian antenna science to the world one. This was favored a lot by active participation of Prof. Shifrin in a great deal of international conferences, by numerous lectures he gave in a number of foreign countries, and by his huge many-year work on organization and holding international conferences in Ukraine. In 1995, he initiated the International conference on antenna theory and techniques (ICATT), and in 2002 – the conference on UltraWideBand and UltraShort Impulse Signals (UWBUSIS). Totally 16 conferences have been held by him. These international conferences’ proceedings have been published in English and distributed around the world.
Highly appreciating Y.S. Shifrin’s academic and organizational merits, the European Microwave Associate has awarded him the 2014 Outstanding Career Award (a medal engraved with his name). For the first time the scientist from post-USSR countries was awarded such a medal.
Beside of the A.S.Popov Prize and EuMA Award, Shifrin‘s merits to motherland and science were awarded with 22 state awards (4 orders and 18 medals), President’s commendations, title of Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine (1991) and a great deal of departmental awards.