Teams from the MWT and ESS chairs win the EuMW2026 Student Design Competition

A team from the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) has won this year’s EuRAD Student Design Competition, held as part of European Microwave Week (EuMW 2026) in London. With their project ‘RAGE-AF: Reference-Anchored Gated Equalisation for PA-Distorted OFDM Radar’, the students impressed the jury with their comprehensive data analysis and an innovative, application-oriented approach to real-time radar systems.

The competition centred on a demanding challenge in radar signal processing: how can the performance of a radar system be maintained when non-linear distortions in the power amplifier (PA) affect the transmitted signal? Based on real measurement data, the participating teams developed signal processing methods that compensate for such distortions whilst ensuring reliable radar performance across different bandwidths and operating conditions.

The BTU impressed with an approach based on reference-assisted, adaptive equalisation, specifically tailored to the requirements of distorted OFDM radar signals. Particular praise was given to the thorough analysis of the measurement data and the practical orientation of the developed solution for use in real-time receivers.

The successful team comprises Jonathan Okocha, Yuyao Jiang and Prabhav Manchanda, as well as Prof. Matthias Rudolph and Prof. Markus Gardill.

This success in the competition underlines the BTU’s research and development expertise in the fields of high-frequency technology, radar systems and digital signal processing, and impressively demonstrates how students and researchers work together to develop innovative solutions to current technical challenges.

Special thanks go to the competition sponsors, NI (National Instruments) and Emerson, whose measurement platform and the measurement data they provided made it possible to carry out this year’s competition task.