Founder
James C. Rautio, Our Founder
James C. Rautio (S’77–M’78–SM’91–F’00) received the B.S.E.E. degree from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, in 1978, the M.S. degree in systems engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in 1982, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, in 1986.
From 1978 to 1986, he was with General Electric, initially with the Valley Forge Space Division, then with the Syracuse Electronics Laboratory. During this time, he developed microwave design and measurement software and designed microwave circuits on alumina and on GaAs. From 1986 to 1988, he was a Visiting Professor with Syracuse University and Cornell University. In 1988, he joined Sonnet Software, Liverpool, NY, full time, a company he had founded in 1983. In 1995, Sonnet Software was listed on the Inc. 500 list of the fastest growing privately held U.S. companies, the first microwave software company ever to be so listed. Today, Sonnet Software is the leading vendor of high accuracy three-dimensional planar high-frequency electromagnetic analysis software.
In 2019, Dr. Rautio was awarded the MTT Career Award, the most prestigious award given at the Microwave Theory and Techniques Society Awards Banquet. Dr. Rautio was the recipient of the 2001 IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (IEEE MTT-S) Microwave Application Award and the 2014 IEEE MTT Distinguished Service Award. He was appointed MTT Distinguished Microwave Lecturer for 2005 – 2007 lecturing on the life of James Clerk Maxwell. His efforts have also resulted in the preservation and restoration of Glenlair, Maxwell’s home.
FRSE Induction
We are pleased to announce that our founder, Dr. James C. Rautio, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE.) This honor acknowledges his four decades of contributions to the field of electromagnetics as well as his extensive efforts promoting and preserving the history of James Clerk Maxwell. This includes preservation of Maxwell’s home, Glenlair, which was near collapse, as well as giving over 150 presentations and publishing numerous papers on the life of Maxwell. Dr. Rautio’s contributions to electromagnetics are summarized in over 100 peer-reviewed papers as well as his recent book, Method of Moments Analysis of Structures Embedded in Shielded Layered Media.
Dr. Rautio comments, “My professional life’s work is in the field of electromagnetics, an area of physics that was first enabled by Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory in the late 1800’s. I came to realize that Maxwell’s theory, which consists of a small set of mathematical equations, provides a window into the incredible universe of interacting electric and magnetic fields. This window has allowed me, together with the many other researchers working in this field, to enable much of today’s technology. The technological miracle of cell phones is just one example. Because of my decades of working with Maxwell’s theory, my work in preserving Maxwell’s history has been an inspired labor of love. It is a huge personal honor to now share with Maxwell membership in this exclusive community.”
The full press release may be viewed at The RSE announces 2021 Fellows - The RSE announces 2021 Fellows - The Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh