Overview
Dr. Steven Cummer received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 1997 and prior to joining Duke University in 1999 he spent two years at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as an NRC postdoctoral research associate. Awards he has received include a National Science Foundation CAREER award and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2001. His current work is in a variety of theoretical and experimental electromagnetic problems related to geophysical remote sensing and engineered electromagnetic materials.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
William H. Younger Distinguished Professor of Engineering
·
2019 - Present
Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
·
2012 - Present
Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
Associate Chair of Faculty Affairs in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
·
2024 - Present
Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
Bass Fellow
·
2012 - Present
Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
Recent Publications
Synthesis of broadband multilayer metamaterial absorbers based on spatially variable 3D-printed structures and MXenes
Journal Article Physical Review Applied · December 1, 2025 We introduce a systematic approach for enhancing the absorbance of multilayer metamaterial absorbers (MMA) by combining deep-subwavelength spatially variable dielectric substrates with the increased Ohmic losses of MXene resonators. We choose MXenes to for ... Full text CiteDiurnal Variations of the Electron Density in the Nighttime Lower Ionosphere Derived From a Massive Data Set of Tweek Atmospherics
Journal Article Earth and Space Science · November 1, 2025 Tweek atmospherics are ELF/VLF pulse signals with frequency dispersion characteristics that originate from lightning discharges. Previous research has employed tweek atmospherics to examine long-term trends in the lower ionosphere; however, their utility i ... Full text CiteMeasuring location and properties of very high frequency sources emitted from an aircraft flying through high clouds.
Journal Article Nature communications · November 2025 While broadband short-duration radio pulses from airplanes are commonly detected and used for calibration or as background in astrophysical observations, the precise locations of the emission regions cannot be determined in these studies. We show that it i ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
MRI: Track 1 Development of a Multi-Band Radio and Optical Lightning Imager
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2024 - 2027CEDAR: Large-scale detection of cloud-to-ionosphere electrical discharges and quantifying their effect on the ionosphere
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2022 - 2026Continent-scale low frequency lightning remote sensing
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2020 - 2025View All Grants
Education, Training & Certifications
Stanford University ·
1997
Ph.D.
Stanford University ·
1993
M.S.E.E.
Stanford University ·
1991
B.S.E.E.