Interest and areas of expertise
Circuits, Electromagnetics, Linear Systems, RF/Microwave Applications
Education
- B.A. Engineering (Wheaton College)
- B.S., M.S., Ph.D. Electrical Engineering (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Classes I teach
- ENGR 215 Circuits 1
- ENGR 362 Analog Electronics
- ENGR 367 Electromagnetics
- ENGR 461 Communications Systems
- ENGR 462 Power Electronics
Bio
Dr. Underwood joined the Engineering Department at Messiah College in the fall of 1992, after teaching for three years in the Physics Department at Wheaton College in Illinois, where he also served briefly as Liberal Arts/Engineering program coordinator. During his graduate work, he served as both a teaching and research assistant, which helped inspire the current practice of his profession. His research thesis involved the design and biomedical application of a microwave microstrip antenna array applicator to non-invasively induce localized hyperthermia therapy (fever temperature heating) for cancer treatment, sponsored in part by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
With his wife Beth, who speaks fluent Italian, Dr. Underwood participated on a cross-cultural trip with Messiah students to Italy (1994) and a missions-service trip to Kunming, Yunnan Province in China (1998). During 2000-01, he was selected as a NASA Summer Faculty Fellow at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), where he did research on design and modeling of microstrip antenna structures for spacecraft applications. In January 2005, he partnered with PACTEC to learn and apply Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) technology, with commercial-sized satellite dishes for Internet connectivity in remote locations; in Kabul, Afghanistan he observed and assisted PACTEC with VSAT in the field. He has also served as a guest lecturer at Chiang Mai University (CMU) in Thailand (summer/fall 2005) and at Mekelle Institute of Technology (MIT) in Ethiopia (summer 2008).
Dr. Underwood currently serves as a Collaboratory Faculty Project Manager for a Fluency Assistance Device (FAD) project to help alleviate stuttering, and a Solar Power team that designs and implements solar photovoltaic (PV) solutions to provide electric power in various remote locations. His primary technical interest and expertise is in the areas of analog/audio circuits, electromagnetics applications, microwave microstrip antennas and wireless communication systems. Since August 2007, he has held an Amateur Radio Extra Class license, with call sign KB3OOM.
Harold and his wife Beth, married since 1992, have one son, Ben. They are actively involved members at the West Shore Evangelical Free Church of Mechanicsburg, PA.