Jeff Frolik is a Professor in Electrical Engineering and whose research focuses on wireless communications in complex environments, wireless sensing, and distributed control. This work has resulted in over 150 peer-reviewed publications, 12 patents, and has involved over 30 graduate students. The work has been supported by industry and by NSF, DOE, NASA, DOT and USDA/NIFA.
He has spent sabbaticals as a research scientist at UC Santa Barbara’s Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Lab (SNARL) and the University of Oxford (UK). In Spring of 2017 held the Fulbright Distinguished Chair position at the Czech Technical University (CTU) in Prague, and returned to CTU in Fall 2022 as a Fulbright Scholar. He is co-founder of the cleantech startup company, Packetized Energy, that was acquired by EnergyHub in 2021.
Contact Info
Office: VOTEY 355
Phone: 802.656.0732
Email: JFROLIK@UVM.EDU
Education
Ph.D. E.E. – Systems: UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, MI (1995)
MSEE: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, Los Angeles, CA (1988)
BSEE: UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA, Mobile, AL (1986)
Experience
UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT, Burlington, VT (2002-date)
TENNESSEE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, Cookeville, TN (1998-2002)
INDEPENDENT SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT (1995 – 1998)
HUGHES AIRCRAFT COMPANY, Los Angeles, CA. (1986 – 1995)
Publications
Publications 2025
J. Frolik, Ascertaining channel frequency response using in situ harmonic transponders, IEEE International Conference on RFID Technology and Applications, Valence FR, October 2025, in review.
D. Yireny-Tawiah, R. Fought, E. Anthonio, T. Weller and J. Frolik, Modeling the response of a wireless harmonic sensor in a multi-layer environment for landslide monitoring, IEEE Wireless and Microwave Technology Conference, Cocoa Beach FL, April 2025.
J. Frolik, Spatial multipath characterization via in situ harmonic transponders, IEEE European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, Stockholm SE, April 2025.
E. Anthonio, R. Fought and J. Frolik, Backscatter communications using harmonic transponders, IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference, Milan IT, March 2025.
R. Fought, E. Anthonio and J. Frolik, SDR-based location and interrogation of harmonic transponders, IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference, Milan IT, March 2025.
Publications 2024
J. Frolik, E. Anthonio, R. Fought, and T. Harte, Ascertaining the operating point of harmonic transponders using intermodulation response, IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 5, No. 5, October 2024.
J. Anderson, J. Frolik, M. Gallagher and R. Headrick, WIP: An experiential undergraduate certificate in semiconductor engineering and physics, IEEE Frontiers in Education, Washington DC, October 2024.
G. Aptsiauri, M. Svanda, J. Frolik and M. Polivka, Harmonic transponder concept with chipless RF identification capability, European Microwave Conference, Paris FR, September 2024.
I. Uluer, J. Frolik, and T. Weller, Interferometric approaches for accurate location and displacement measurement using passive frequency-doubling reflectennas, IEEE International Microwave Symposium, Washington DC, June 2024.
R. Fought, E. Anthonio, T. Harte, P. Bastola, R. Petzoldt, H. Jaffe, M. Dewoolkar and J. Frolik, Measuring media absorption loss using embedded harmonic transponders, IEEE International Microwave Symposium, Washington DC, June 2024.
M. Polivka and J. Frolik, On performance characterization of harmonic transponders, IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 5, No. 1, February 2024.
Publications 2023
M. Polivka and J. Frolik, Characterizing harmonic transponder performance jointly over frequency and power, European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, Florence IT, March 2023.
J. Frolik, AM interrogation of harmonic transponders for measuring channel loss, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium, Portland OR, June 2023.
M. Polivka and J. Frolik, Impact of bodies on harmonic transponder conversion loss and radiation patterns, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium, Portland OR, June 2023.
Publications 2022
M. Almassalkhi, J. Frolik, and P. Hines, Packetizing the Power Grid, invited article to IEEE Spectrum, February 2022. Online: https://spectrum.ieee.org/packetized-power-grid
S. Chowdhury, J. Frolik and A. Benslimane, Switching-based Selection Techniques for Tripolar Antennas in Multi-hop IoT Networks, IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 9, no. 17, September 2022.
M. Polivka and J. Frolik, On performance metrics for harmonic transponders, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, in review, submitted: December 2022.
I. Uluer, J. Frolik and T. Weller, Battery-free mechanically-tunable wireless sensors for railroad track ballast monitoring, IEEE Symposium on Antennas and Propagation, Denver CO, July 2022.
Research Highlights and News
Our work has demonstrated that channel fading characteristics can be worse than previous considered for wireless systems; fading we have deemed to be hyper-Rayleigh.
Algorithms, originally designed to coordinate the communications of wireless sensors, have been applied to coordinating electric loads through a patented technique referred to as packetized energy management.
Our ongoing work with harmonic transponders has shown that these passive, wireless devices can be used to separately identify channel losses from an interrogator to the device and from the device back to the interrogators. This has applicability for monitoring soil moisture and wireless channel characterization in harsh and/or hazardous environments.
