Biographical Sketch
Carlos E. Saavedra received the Ph.D. and M.Sc. degrees from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York and the B.Sc. degree from the University of Virginia*, all in electrical engineering. From 1998 to 2000, he was with the Advanced Technology Group at Millitech Corporation in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, where he designed front-end transceiver modules for 28 GHz and 38 GHz broadband communications systems. Since the year 2000 he has been with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Queen's University where he is currently an Associate Professor. He served as the department's Graduate Chair from 2007 to 2010.
Dr. Saavedra is a Co-Chair of NSERC Evaluation Group 1510 for Electrical and Computer Engineering for 2012-2014 and is the Chair of the IEEE MTT-S Technical Coordinating Committee on Signal Generation and Frequency Conversion. He served on the 2012 IEEE International Microwave Symposium's Steering and Technical Program Comittees and he was a member the Technical Program Committee of the IEEE RFIC Symposium from 2008-2011. He is a reviewer for the IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, IEEE Microwave and Wireless Components Letters, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems (Parts I and II), and Electronics Letters. Dr. Saavedra is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and he is a registered professional engineer (P. Eng.) in the province of Ontario, Canada. For a full curriculum vitae, click here. (PDF format)
Recent Awards:
- NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement Award, 2011 to 2014.
- Third-year ECE undergraduate teaching award, 2012-2013.
- Third-year ECE undergraduate teaching award, 2011-2012.
Research Interests
- Gigahertz-range integrated circuits
- Mixers and frequency multipliers
- Distortion cancellation and linearization techniques
- Microwave operational transconductance amplifiers
- Harmonic oscillators and self-oscillating mixers
- UWB circuits for communications and radar applications
- Microwave digital radio
An important research thrust in my research group is in the area of broadband, low-noise, frequency mixers. These are non-linear circuits that perform the critical role of modulating a carrier frequency with either digital or analog information and furthermore they can be used to move spectral energy content from one frequency band to another to enable very long-distance information transfer between a transmitter and a receiver. Mixers are also found extensively in scientific instrumentation. We also have significant activities in gigahertz-range operational transconductance amplifiers (OTA's). Using OTA's as circuit building blocks we have demonstrated novel phase shifters, active circulators and attenuators that have low dc power consumption and are exceptionally compact in size. For ultra wideband radar systems we are investigating new pulse generation and amplification circuits. Further information about our research work can be found at my research website:
Gigahertz Integrated Circuits Group
Publications
Office: Walter Light Hall, Room 406
E-mail: saavedra {at} queensu.ca | Tel: +1 (613) 533-2807 | Cell: +1 (613) 453-8719
* Founded in the year 1819 by President Thomas Jefferson.