Jihwan Lee, a doctoral student in POSTECH's Department of Electrical Engineering advised by Professor Wonbin Hong, won a Best Paper Award at the 2025 International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation (ISAP) in Fukuoka, Japan, for “Inverse-Designed Holographic Surfaces for Multi-Focus Spatial Beamforming with Flexible Focal Region and Polarization Control.”

ISAP is one of the world's three major international conferences on antennas and propagation and a prestigious conference representing the Asia-Pacific region. Approximately 1,100 papers were submitted worldwide this year, with awards in four categories: Antenna, Propagation, Electromagnetic Wave Theory, and AP-Related Topics. Lee won in the Propagation category.

The award is particularly notable because it is a general Best Paper Award, competed for by researchers worldwide, rather than a Student Paper Award. A student winning it is considered highly unusual. Professor Hong's team has now won a Best Paper Award for two consecutive years, reaffirming its sustained international research competitiveness and capabilities.

The paper introduces a holographic time-reversal mirror concept that uses electromagnetic time-reversal symmetry to reconstruct electromagnetic fields at specific locations. It simultaneously achieves precise, adjustable near-field focusing and interference suppression. By explaining the fundamental principles of near-field focusing and establishing a new theoretical framework for near-field beamforming, the research earned international recognition for its excellence.

November 2025.