Large corporations are investing billions of dollars building thousands of LEO satellites to offer broadband internet services to rural and under-developed areas. In addition, many countries are jumping onto this wagon to secure their own access to the internet as part of a national security policy. On the other hand, the high satellite launch cost, hardware cost, and high monthly subscription fees do not seem to fit the objective of providing broadband access to the general earth population, many of whom are living in poverty. Come join the panel and find out if this is expensive space junk or a revolution in broadband internet access.

The past few years have arguably seen a decrease in transformational or disruptive discoveries reported in radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFIC) papers and publications. Does this indicate that RFIC design has reached its maturity, or does it instead suggest a shift of innovations in emerging areas across the boundary of RFIC design, such as the heterogeneous integration of silicon, antennas, and processors using advanced packaging? If so, what should our community look for in publications and what would be considered “publishable work”? Are universities and research institutions addressing the most compelling challenges? And what has been the role of the funding agencies in promoting fundamental research? Our panel of experts, with the audience’s participation, will attempt to answer these questions and diagnose the trends seen in RFIC publications and in the field in general.