2025 Finalist: Change Maker, Early Career
Sensing without Seeing: Unlocking the Power of Applied Electromagnetics for Advanced Monitoring and Detection
Dr. Zahra Abbasi is an Assistant Professor (Electrical & Software Engineering) at the University of Calgary and Principal Investigator of the Calgary Sensor Lab. She designs passive/active RF–microwave sensors for non-contact, real-time monitoring, including flexible, chipless microstrip devices for non-invasive medical uses, environmental contamination detection, and precision agriculture. A champion for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, she won UCalgary’s 2023 Early Career Research Excellence and EDI&A awards, Alberta’s 2023 Newcomer Recognition Award, and chairs the IEEE AP-S/MTT-S/ComSoc Southern Alberta Chapter.
