Shannon Blunt to give distinguished professor lecture on signal processing
LAWRENCE – Shannon Blunt’s expertise in radar and remote sensing is internationally recognized, and he has made contributions that have been used in operational radar and sonar systems.
The Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at the University of Kansas will present his inaugural distinguished professor lecture, “Embracing Uncertainty to Enable Physically Meaningful Signal Processing,” at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 26 in the Beren Petroleum Conference Center in Slawson Hall.
Individuals can register to attend the lecture and reception.
Blunt’s research concentrates on sensor signal processing and system design with an emphasis on waveform diversity and spectrum-sharing techniques. Several federal entities and industry partners have provided more than $20 million in funding to support his work, including the Naval Research Laboratory, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Army Research Office and the Department of Energy. He has 19 approved or pending patents.
After earning his doctorate in 2002, Blunt worked with the radar division of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., for three years, after which he joined KU’s Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. In addition to his professorship, Blunt has served as the director of the KU Radar Systems Lab since 2011 and the Kansas Applied Research Lab since 2018. Both labs are part of the Institute for Information Sciences.
Blunt was named a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 2016 for “contributions to radar waveform diversity and design” and was appointed to the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in 2019.
He has provided expertise on radar spectrum management and sharing to DARPA, the Air Force's Science and Technology 2030 Initiative, the National Spectrum Consortium, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Blunt has chaired the board of governors for the IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society (AESS), IEEE/AESS Radar Systems Panel and a NATO research task group on dynamic waveform diversity and design, among numerous other conferences.
In 2022, Blunt became the first editor of a new academic journal, IEEE Transactions on Radar Systems. He sits on the editorial board for the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Radar, Sonar and Navigation journal, and he has edited for IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.
In addition to more than 200 peer-reviewed journal, conference and book chapter publications under his name, Blunt has co-edited the books “Principles of Waveform Diversity and Design” and “Radar and Communication Spectrum Sharing.”
He has received several awards, including the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award, the IEEE/AESS Nathanson Memorial Radar Award, the 2020 IET Radar, Sonar and Navigation Premium Award and multiple teaching awards.
Blunt earned his doctorate, master’s and bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering, all from the University of Missouri.
The first distinguished professorships were established at KU in 1958. A university distinguished professorship is awarded wholly based on merit, following exacting criteria. A complete list is available on the Distinguished Professor website.