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 Duke Appointments & Affiliations
William H. Younger Distinguished Professor of Engineering
·
2019 - Present
Pierre R. Lamond Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
·
2012 - Present
Pierre R. Lamond Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
Associate Chair of Faculty Affairs in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
·
2024 - Present
Pierre R. Lamond Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
Bass Fellow
·
2012 - Present
Pierre R. Lamond Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Pratt School of Engineering
Recent Scholarly Works
Backward Darts and the Subsequent Scattered Discharges Occurring Along Lightning Positive Leader Branches
Journal article Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres · May 28, 2026 We used the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR) to identify two new types of lightning discharges occurring along the tracks of earlier positive leaders. The first is a kind of intracloud dart leader that we call a “backward dart” whose behavior appears counterint ... Full text CiteA transfer matrix approach for characterizing spherically symmetric acoustic metamaterials and structures.
Journal article The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · May 2026 The plane wave transfer matrix method is a robust process for acquiring the acoustic properties of an arbitrary material. To achieve this, the specimen being tested is inserted in a waveguide and subjected to the four-microphone method to capture the press ... Full text CiteSynthesis 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 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
Stanford University ·
1997
Ph.D.
Stanford University ·
1993
M.S.E.E.
Stanford University ·
1991
B.S.E.E.