Michael Braasch, Thomas Professor of Engineering in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), joins the 2023 class of Fellows in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization and is dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. While there are 409,000 members in more than 160 countries across the globe, less than 0.1 percent of the total number of voting members are elevated to Fellow each year. Braasch joins an elite group of select IEEE members who trailblazed in their specific field of study.
Becoming a Fellow requires that a member go through a rigorous evaluation process. First, the nominee must be evaluated by their home society — one of the 39 societies within IEEE — and Braasch is a member of the Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society. After being evaluated at the first level, successful nominees are then evaluated at the second level, which assesses nominees across the entirety of IEEE.
“Being elevated means that not only has the nominee made significant and sustained technical contributions in their specific field of study, but also that the contributions have been deemed to be in the top tier of the entire organization,” said Braasch.
A lifelong Bobcat, Braasch has led a storied career in navigation systems research. He has earned his BS, MS and Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Ohio University and has been performing research with the Ohio University Avionics Engineering Center since 1985. He is internationally recognized for his work in characterizing GPS multipath and is one of the originators of the integrated multipath-limiting antenna for GPS. He has given invited lectures in Australia, Canada, China, France, New Zealand, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.
“I had a wonderful opportunity to perform fundamental, ground-breaking research in GPS when the system was being initially developed and fielded. Multipath is a major source of error in the system and my work has helped to understand it and reduce its impact,” said Braasch. “When I started this work over 30 years ago, only two satellite-based navigation systems existed: GPS and the Russian Glonass system. Now there are also satellite systems fielded by Europe, China and India. All of them must contend with multipath error and my work has helped many researchers around the world as they continue to develop techniques to reduce this error source.”
“Dr. Braasch’s research has been critical to the widespread use of GPS-based navigation in civil aviation making his elevation to the IEEE Fellow grade very well deserved. As a three-time Ohio University alumnus and a faculty member in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, Dr. Braasch’s exemplary impact has brought extraordinary visibility to both the Russ College and Ohio University,” said Maj Mirmirani, interim dean of the Russ College of Engineering and Technology.
IEEE publishes nearly one-third of the world’s technical literature in the areas of electrical engineering, electronics and computer science. It is widely recognized to be the premier technical organization for electrical engineers. As a Fellow, Braasch joins an exclusive group including the world’s top researchers in electrical engineering and computer science.
“It is difficult to convey in words how gratified I am to be recognized by IEEE in this elevation to Fellow. It is a recognition of the importance of a career’s worth of research and development. It is an honor not only for me but also for the many students and colleagues who collaborated with me over the decades, as well as the School of EECS, the Russ College and Ohio University. Without the tremendous support of these organizations and the talented individuals who I worked with, this honor would not have been possible,” said Braasch.
