Dr. Felix Vega

Dr. Felix Vega is a technologist and academic leader, currently serving as the Acting Chief Researcher at the Directed Energy Research Center (DERC) within the Technology Innovation Institute (TII), Abu Dhabi. Dr. Vega leads a team of more than 150 scientists and engineers working on pioneering research in high-power electromagnetics, high-energy lasers, and high-power acoustic systems, transforming foundational science into real-world innovation that supports national and global priorities. 

Dr. Vega holds two PhDs in Electrical Engineering one from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL) and another one from the National University of Colombia. His areas of expertise span high-power electromagnetic sources, advanced antenna systems, ground-penetrating radar, and plasma physics.

 An influential figure in the international research community, Dr. Vega serves as Secretary of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society and Chair of Programs for the IEEE Humanitarian Technologies Board. He has contributed as Associate Editor for several key IEEE journals and was formerly a Professor of Electromagnetic Fields and Antennas at the National University of Colombia. 

He is the lead editor of the book Recent Advances on High Power Electromagnetics (IET, 2025), and has been recognized with multiple international awards, including the URSI Young Scientist Award, the RCA Frank Gunther Award, and the IEEE John Howard Memorial Award.