About Dr. Rumpf

Research

The mission of my research is to mentor students through extremely ambitious and high-risk/high-payoff research that is enabled by digital manufacturing (i.e. 3D printing) and to commercialize the technology.  Prior research led to the discovery of several new electromagnetic and optical phenomena, developed new design tools necessary for fully exploiting the third dimension, demonstrated new capabilities in hybrid additive manufacturing, and produced a series of significant breakthroughs, world records, and first-ever achievements.  The research has received many accolades including induction into the Florida Tech Career Hall of Fame, a DARPA Young Faculty Award, the Schellenger Professorship in Electrical Research, the 2019 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, Best Photonics Technology in 2015 by Opli Magazine, multiple news articles, invited talks, and more.  To date, my research has included:

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Teaching

My goal in teaching is to motivate, train and create opportunities for students so they can develop successful and satisfying careers. I work hard to provide them with the skills, resources, and guidance to help them do incredible things and build strong careers

• Atmosphere – I formulate my courses and assignments to encourage questions and interactions. I make every attempt to be open and available to my students – both in-person and online – as much as possible. I keep a “Stump the Rumpf” candy jar on my desk to encourage students to earn a reward for asking me their most challenging questions.
• Resources – Students need and deserve the best resources available to learn efficiently, to practice what is taught, and to apply the information they’ve learned. I’ve developed course websites for nearly all of my in-person university courses, where students can access assignments, lecture notes, videos of recorded lectures and more. I’ve also developed online courses on a variety of topics, accessible to students around the world. I developed a successful YouTube channel with videos explaining and demonstrating a variety of topics in my research fields.
• Mentorship – I strive to not only help students master the academic materials presented in my courses but also to motivate and create opportunities for them. I continually help my university students find internships and job opportunities through my professional networks and continue to help and advise them throughout their careers.

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Biography

Dr.  Raymond C. (Tipper) Rumpf, also known as the EMProfessor, is a pioneer in electromagnetics, photonics and 3D printing. His mission is to develop revolutionary technologies in these areas. He founded the EMLab at the University of Texas at El Paso in 2010 and his team has already delivered an array of significant breakthroughs. These include the first-ever design tool for 3D volumetric circuits, first to automate hybrid 3D printing to build 3D parts with any distribution of metals and plastics, world’s highest power frequency selective surface, world’s most broadband all-dielectric filter, world’s tightest bend of an unguided optical beam, and more. Many other exciting technologies are currently under development in the areas of hybrid 3D printing, 3D circuits, antennas, frequency selective surfaces, metamaterials, metasurfaces, photonic crystals, and computational electromagnetics.

Dr. Rumpf is currently a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), and has a joint appointment in the Computational Science program.  Prior to joining UTEP, Raymond was the Chief Technology Officer for Prime Photonics where he helped transform the company’s technology portfolio from exclusively fiber optic sensors to an array of technologies for extreme applications.  Before Prime Photonics, Raymond was a senior electrical engineer for Harris Corporation (now L3Harris) where he researched and developed a wide range of technologies to radically miniaturize communications systems. Technologies included antennas, power generation, thermal management, circuit design, and advanced packaging. Raymond earned his BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1995 and 1997 respectively.  He earned his Ph.D. in Optics in 2006 from CREOL at the University of Central Florida.  In 2015, Raymond was awarded the highly prestigious University of Texas Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award.  In 2020, he was inducted into the Florida Tech Career Hall of Fame. Raymond has been awarded over a dozen United States patents and has authored dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles.  He is a Fellow of SPIE, an Associate Editor for SPIE Optical Engineering, a Senior Member of IEEE, and a member of the Optical Society (Optica). He is a member of ARRL and an Extra Class amateur radio operator (call sign is AG4YV). He holds five world records in skydiving for largest parachute formation. Raymond is active in outreach including coaching of students in third-world countries. He currently lives with his wife, children and dog in El Paso, TX.

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Major Awards and Recognitions

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