What Is the Antennas and Propagation Society?

The Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) is the IEEE technical society dedicated to advancing the theory, practice, and applications of antennas, electromagnetic propagation, and related areas of electromagnetics. Founded in 1949 as the IRE Professional Group on Antennas and Propagation, it is one of the oldest technical societies within the IEEE family and has maintained the designation AP throughout its history. The society serves engineers, scientists, and students working across the full spectrum of antenna design, propagation channel modeling, computational electromagnetics, and measurement technique.

AP-S occupies a distinctive position within IEEE because antennas and propagation are enabling technologies for nearly every wireless system that IEEE members design or study. Whether the application is mobile communications, radar, satellite links, radio astronomy, or biomedical sensing, the antenna is the point where guided and free-space electromagnetics meet, and propagation determines how the radiated signal behaves between transmitter and receiver. The society's technical scope therefore intersects with many other IEEE societies, including the Microwave Theory and Techniques Society, the Communications Society, and the Vehicular Technology Society.

Technical Scope and Research Areas

The society's technical mandate covers antenna design and analysis across all frequency bands, from very low frequency structures used in submarine communications to millimeter-wave and terahertz apertures for 5G and beyond. Propagation work spans statistical channel models for urban and indoor environments, atmospheric and ionospheric propagation, radio wave scattering, and diffraction around terrain. Computational electromagnetics, including finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) methods, the finite element method, and the method of moments, is a major sub-area supported by the society. A historical account of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society in its 75th year documents how the field has evolved from early wire antenna theory through the computational era and into the current period of software-defined and reconfigurable apertures.

Publications and Conferences

The flagship publication is the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation (TAP), which consistently ranks among the most downloaded IEEE journals and has been published continuously since 1952. The IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters provides a rapid-publication venue for shorter contributions. The society also sponsors IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine, which covers tutorial content, historical perspectives, and industry developments accessible to a broader audience. The primary conference is the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium (AP-S/URSI), held annually in conjunction with the North American Radio Science Meeting of the International Union of Radio Science. Details on the society's current publication portfolio and conference schedule are available through the AP-S official site at ieeeaps.org.

Membership and Community

AP-S operates through geographic chapters distributed across North America, Europe, Asia, and beyond, each hosting local technical meetings and student activities. Distinguished Lecturer programs bring recognized experts to chapter events. The society also administers several prizes and awards recognizing contributions to antenna and propagation research, including the John Kraus Antenna Award and the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Distinguished Achievement Award. An overview of the society's operations and impact describes the breadth of activities that support both professional development and technical dissemination.

Applications

The Antennas and Propagation Society supports work with applications in a wide range of disciplines, including:

• 5G and beyond-5G wireless infrastructure design and deployment
• Radar systems for aerospace, defense, and autonomous vehicle sensing
• Satellite communication system design and link analysis
• Radio astronomy and space exploration
• Biomedical antenna design for implantable and wearable wireless devices