Cynthia M. Furse (née Mahoney,[1] born 1963) is an American electrical engineer, the director of graduate studies and a distinguished professor in the University of Utah Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering.[2] Her research involves the use of finite-difference time-domain methods in computational simulations of the absorption and reflection of radio waves by other materials,[3] with applications including the use of spread-spectrum time-domain reflectometry to diagnose aircraft wiring systems, the design of antennae in medical implants, and the effects of cell phone emissions on the human body.[4] Her publications also include works on engineering education.

Education and career

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Furse was born in 1963[5] in Hartford, Maine.[6] After her father, food scientist Arthur W. Mahoney,[7] took a professorship at Utah State University in 1969,[8] she grew up in Logan, Utah.[6] After beginning her studies in mechanical engineering,[3] she became a student of electrical engineering at the University of Utah, where she earned a bachelor's degree in 1985, a master's degree in 1988, and a Ph.D. in 1994.[9] Her master's work was mentored by Magdy Iskander; Om P. Gandhi became her doctoral supervisor.[3]

Before returning to the University of Utah as a faculty member, she was a professor at Utah State University for five years, beginning in 1997.[8] After moving to the University of Utah in 2002,[1] she co-founded in 2003 and became chief scientist of Livewire Test Labs, a spinoff of the University of Utah that later became LiveWire Innovation.[4][10] From 2009 to 2019, she served as Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Utah.[4][6]

Books

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Furse is the author or coauthor of technical books including:

  • Basic Introduction to Bioelectromagnetics (with Douglas A. Christensen and Carl H. Durney; 2nd ed., 2009, and 3rd ed., 2018)
  • Circuit Analysis and Design (with Fawwaz Tayssir Ulaby and Michel M. Maharbiz, 2018)

She is also a coauthor of a local history book:

  • History Of Emigration Canyon: Gateway to Salt Lake Valley (with Jeffrey Carlstrom, 2003; 2nd ed., 2019)[11]

Recognition

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Furse was named an IEEE Fellow in 2008, "for leadership in electromagnetics education".[12] She was named a Fellow the National Academy of Inventors in 2014.[13] She was named a Fellow of the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society in 2023, "for exceptional achievements and outstanding contributions in applied computational electromagnetics".[14]

She was named Professor of the Year in the Utah State University College of Engineering in 2000.[15] At the University of Utah, she was named the 2008 College of Engineering Distinguished Professor.[15] She was a 2016 recipient of the Utah Governor's Medal for Science and Technology.[8]

She was the 2009 recipient of the Hewlett-Packard Harriett B. Rigas Award of the IEEE Education Society,[15] and the 2020 recipient of the Chen-To Tai Distinguished Educator Award of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society, given to her "for motivating, challenging, educating, and inspiring the next generation of EM engineers through innovative teaching, hands-on experiences, current research, and lively participation".[16]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Cynthia Furse", ORCiD, retrieved 2024-07-06
  2. ^ ECE Faculty Directory, University of Utah Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, retrieved 2024-07-06
  3. ^ a b c Noghanian, Sima (March 2023), "Women's History Month Special Article: Interview with "Professor Cynthia Furse"", ACES Journal, 38 (3): 162–169, retrieved 2024-07-06
  4. ^ a b c "Cynthia Furse", Women of Note, University of Utah Presidential Commission on the Status of Women, retrieved 2024-07-06
  5. ^ Furse, Cynthia, 1963–, Library of Congress, retrieved 2024-07-06
  6. ^ a b c Furse, Cynthia M., Biography, University of Utah, archived from the original on 2024-02-23
  7. ^ Memorial Plaques, Utah State University, retrieved 2024-07-06
  8. ^ a b c Opsahl, Kevin (January 18, 2017), "Logan High grad, former USU professor gets Governor's Medal", The Herald Journal (Logan, Utah), retrieved 2024-07-06
  9. ^ "Cynthia Furse", IEEE Xplore, IEEE, May 7, 2020, retrieved 2024-07-06
  10. ^ Livewire Test Labs Inc, Bloomberg, retrieved 2024-07-06
  11. ^ Smith, Linda H. (July 2004), "The History of Emigration Canyon Gateway to Salt Lake Valley", Utah Historical Quarterly (book review), 72 (3): 280–282, doi:10.2307/45062877, JSTOR 45062877
  12. ^ IEEE Fellows directory, IEEE, retrieved 2024-07-06
  13. ^ Cynthia Furse Named National Academy of Inventors Fellow, University of Utah Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, December 23, 2014, retrieved 2024-07-06
  14. ^ ACES Awards, Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society, retrieved 2024-07-06
  15. ^ a b c Balanis, Constantine A. (August 2009), "Cynthia Furse to Receive the Hewlett-Packard Harriett B. Rigas Award [Report of Awards and Fellow Committee]", IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, 51 (4): 170, Bibcode:2009IAPM...51d.170B, doi:10.1109/map.2009.5338719
  16. ^ "2020 Chen-To Tai Distinguished Educator Award", IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 68 (12): 7743, December 2020, Bibcode:2020ITAP...68.7743., doi:10.1109/tap.2020.3039071

Further reading

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