Ahmed Allam

Ahmed Allam

Asst Professor

Rhodes 685
Email ahmed.allam@uc.edu

Professional Summary

Ahmed Allam is an Assistant Professor at the Mechanical and Materials Engineering Department. He heads the UC Metasonics Lab, and his research interests include acoustics and ultrasonics, 3D-printed materials, underwater communications, IoT, in-body sensing, and industrial monitoring. He is the author of over 20 journal and conference publications in acoustics, communications, applied physics, and non-destructive testing.

The Metasonics lab specializes in acoustic materials, transducers, and systems for emerging domains such as the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0. We use sound and ultrasound for sensing, communication, and power transfer in challenging environments such as deep in the ocean, in the human body, and in nuclear waste containers. Our group designs and builds the circuits, acoustic devices, and signal processing software to generate acoustic and ultrasonic waves, control their propagation, and convert them back to useful electrical signals. We use 3D printing to design metamaterials that control acoustic wave propagation. Then, use these metamaterials to build acoustic devices such as lenses, matching layers, and collimators. We also combine 3D printing and metamaterials to design novel piezoelectric (ultrasonic) transducers for novel applications.

Education

PhD: Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 2021 (Mechanical Engineering)

MSc: Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, 2017 (Mechanical Engineering)

BSc: Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, 2012 (Mechatronics Engineering)

Research and Practice Interests

Acoustics; Vibrations; Additive Manufacturing; Metamaterials; Underwater Communications; Internet of Things; Wireless Sensing; Non-destructive Testing

Positions and Work Experience

2022 -2023 Postdoctoral Associate, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

2021 -2022 Postdoctoral Fellow, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

Research Support

Grant: #2565451 (DOE) Investigators:Allam, Ahmed 02-15-2024 -09-30-2024 Department of Energy Evaluation of the Thermal Performance of Through-Metal Power Transfer Role:PI 79979.00 Hold Level:Federal

Investigators:Allam, Ahmed 06-15-2024 -06-14-2025 L3Harris Technologies Audible Noise Characterization of a Sensor Role:PI 6305.00 Hold Level:Industry

Investigators:Allam, Ahmed 07-15-2024 -07-14-2025 L3Harris Technologies Infrared Camera Acoustic Noise Testing (Test Plan 1 and 2) Role:PI 0.00 Hold Level:Industry

Publications

Peer Reviewed Publications

Eid A.; Rademacher J.; Akbar W.; Wang P.; Allam A.; Adib F. (09-10-2023. ) Enabling Long-Range Underwater Backscatter via Van Atta Acoustic Networks.SIGCOMM 2023 - Proceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM 2023 Conference, , 1-19 More Information

Allam A.; Akbar W.; Adib F. (09-10-2023. ) Demo: Underwater Backscatter Link Budget Tool.SIGCOMM 2023 - Proceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM 2023 Conference, , 1191-1192 More Information

Allam A.; Arrington C.L.; St. John C.; Steinfeldt J.; Erturk A.; El-Kady I. (02-01-2023. ) System-Level DC-to-DC Analysis and Experiments of Ultrasonic Power Transfer Through Metallic Barrier.IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, , 28 (1 ) ,15-25 More Information

Allam A.; Sabra K.; Erturk A. (09-01-2022. ) Piezoelectric transducer design for simultaneous ultrasonic power transfer and backscatter communica.Smart Materials and Structures, , 31 (9 ) , More Information

Allam A.; Alfahmi O.; Patel H.; Sugino C.; Harding M.; Ruzzene M.; Erturk A. (09-01-2022. ) Ultrasonic testing of thick and thin Inconel 625 alloys manufactured by laser powder bed fusion.Ultrasonics, , 125 , More Information

Allam A.; Bhardwaj A.; Sabra K.; Erturk A. (01-01-2022. ) Piezoelectric Transducer Design and Impedance Tuning for Concurrent Ultrasonic Power and Data Transfer.Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, , 12043 , More Information

Allam A.; Alfahmi O.; Patel H.; Sugino C.; Harding M.; Ruzzene M.; Erturk A. (01-01-2022. ) Ultrasonic Inspection of Additively Manufactured Metallic Components Using Bulk and Guided Waves.Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, , 12048 , More Information

Allam A.; Sugino C.; Harding M.; Bishop D.P.; Erturk A.; Ruzzene M. (11-01-2021. ) Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing of Inconel 625 Produced by Selective Laser Melting.Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation, Diagnostics and Prognostics of Engineering Systems, , 4 (4 ) , More Information

Allam A.; Sabra K.; Erturk A. (03-08-2021. ) Sound energy harvesting by leveraging a 3D-printed phononic crystal lens.Applied Physics Letters, , 118 (10 ) , More Information

Kohtanen E.; Sugino C.; Allam A.; Erturk A.; El-Kady I. (01-01-2021. ) Computational Optimization of Mechanical Energy Transduction (COMET) Toolkit.IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, IUS, , More Information

Allam A.; Patel H.; Sugino C.; Arrington C.; John C.S.; Steinfeldt J.; Erturk A.; Elkady I. (01-01-2021. ) Detachable Dry-Coupled Ultrasonic Power Transfer Through Metallic Enclosures.IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, IUS, , More Information

Sugino C.; Oxandale S.; Allam A.; Arrington C.; John C.S.; Baca E.; Steinfeldt J.; Swift S.H.; Reinke C.; Erturk A.; El-Kady I. (01-01-2021. ) Experimental Validation of Crosstalk Minimization in Metallic Barriers with Simultaneous Ultrasonic Power and Data Transfer.IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposium, IUS, , More Information

Allam A.; Sabra K.; Erturk A. (06-01-2020. ) 3D-printed gradient-index phononic crystal lens for underwater acoustic wave focusing.Physical Review Applied, , 13 (6 ) , More Information

Allam A.; Sabra K.G.; Erturk A. (05-01-2020. ) Aspect Ratio-Dependent Dynamics of Piezoelectric Transducers in Wireless Acoustic Power Transfer.IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control, , 67 (5 ) ,984-996 More Information

Allam A.; Sabra K.; Erturk A. (01-01-2020. ) Enhanced sound energy harvesting by leveraging gradient-index phononic crystals.ASME 2020 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems, SMASIS 2020, , More Information

Alan S.; Allam A.; Erturk A. (08-26-2019. ) Programmable mode conversion and bandgap formation for surface acoustic waves using piezoelectric metamaterials.Applied Physics Letters, , 115 (9 ) , More Information

Allam A.; Sabra K.; Erturk A. (01-01-2019. ) Comparison of various models for piezoelectric receivers in wireless acoustic power transfer.Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, , 10967 , More Information

Allam A.; Elsabbagh A.; Akl W. (03-28-2017. ) Experimental demonstration of one-dimensional active plate-type acoustic metamaterial with adaptive programmable density.Journal of Applied Physics, , 121 (12 ) , More Information

Allam A.; Elsabbagh A.; Akl W. (11-01-2016. ) Modeling and design of two-dimensional membrane-type active acoustic metamaterials with tunable anisotropic density.Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, , 140 (5 ) ,3607-3618 More Information

Contact Information

Academic - Rhodes 685
ahmed.allam@uc.edu