Chahat has been associated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), since 2013. Initially, he joined as a Microwave/Antenna Engineer and later took on the roles of Technical Section Staff and Product Delivery Manager in 2017. He became SWOT Payload System engineer in 2019.
On April 19, 2021, Chahat was part of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory team that successfully made Ingenuity, the first powered-controlled aircraft to fly on another planet.
In 2022, Chahat was named an IEEE Fellow, recognized for his contributions to spacecraft antennas and propagation, and became one of the youngest fellows of IEEE.
Research
Chahat specializes in antenna design and electromagnetic interference and compatibility (EMI/EMC) analysis for space missions. He also works across a wide range of frequencies, from UHF to THz, applied in communications, RADAR, imaging systems, satellite communications antennas, wearable and flexible antennas, and antennas for remote sensing and radio astronomy.
Chahat's notable contributions to NASA missions include the design of the Raincube Ka-band deployable mesh reflector, the Mars Cube One X-band antennas, the Europa lander antenna, and communication tools for the Mars Helicopter mission.
Awards and recognition
2015: Prix Bretagne Jeune Chercheur
2017: The IEEE Sergei A. Schelkunoff Award
2017: The Lew Allen Award for Excellence
2018: George Herzl Award
2018: The Engineers' Council Future Technology Leader Award
2019: JARS Best Paper Award for Photo-Optical Instrumentation and Design
2021: IET Dr. Sudhalar Rao Award
2022: IEEE Fellow
2022: National Space Society (NSS) Award
2022: IEEE Spectrum Emerging Technology Award
2022: Robert J. Collier Trophy
2022: National Air & Space Museum Collins Award
2022: Rennais of the Year
2023: AIAA Associate Fellow
2024: IET Fellow
2024: NASA's Exceptional Public Achievement Medal
2025: Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
Chahat, Nacer; Zhadobov, Maxim; Sauleau, Ronan; Ito, Koichi (April 11, 2011). "A Compact UWB Antenna for On-Body Applications". IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 59 (4): 1123–1131. Bibcode:2011ITAP...59.1123C. doi:10.1109/TAP.2011.2109361.
Hodges, Richard E.; Chahat, Nacer; Hoppe, Daniel J.; Vacchione, Joseph D. (April 11, 2017). "A Deployable High-Gain Antenna Bound for Mars: Developing a new folded-panel reflectarray for the first CubeSat mission to Mars". IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine. 59 (2): 39–49. Bibcode:2017IAPM...59...39H. doi:10.1109/MAP.2017.2655561.
Chahat, Nacer; Hodges, Richard E.; Sauder, Jonathan; Thomson, Mark; Peral, Eva; Rahmat-Samii, Yahya (June 11, 2016). "CubeSat Deployable Ka-Band Mesh Reflector Antenna Development for Earth Science Missions". IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 64 (6): 2083–2093. Bibcode:2016ITAP...64.2083C. doi:10.1109/TAP.2016.2546306.
Pellegrini, A.; Brizzi, A.; Zhang, L.; Ali, K.; Hao, Y.; Wu, X.; Constantinou, C. C.; Nechayev, Y.; Hall, P. S.; Chahat, N.; Zhadobov, M.; Sauleau, R. (August 11, 2013). "Antennas and Propagation for Body-Centric Wireless Communications at Millimeter-Wave Frequencies: A Review [Wireless Corner]". IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magazine. 55 (4): 262–287. doi:10.1109/MAP.2013.6645205.
Chahat, Nacer; Zhadobov, Maxim; Le Coq, Laurent; Sauleau, Ronan (February 11, 2012). "Wearable Endfire Textile Antenna for On-Body Communications at 60 GHz". IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters. 11: 799–802. Bibcode:2012IAWPL..11..799C. doi:10.1109/LAWP.2012.2207698.
Chahat, Nacer; Zhadobov, Maxim; Le Coq, Laurent; Alekseev, Stanislav I.; Sauleau, Ronan (December 11, 2012). "Characterization of the Interactions Between a 60-GHz Antenna and the Human Body in an Off-Body Scenario". IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 60 (12): 5958–5965. Bibcode:2012ITAP...60.5958C. doi:10.1109/TAP.2012.2211326.
Chahat, Nacer; Zhadobov, Maxim; Muhammad, Shoaib Anwar; Le Coq, Laurent; Sauleau, Ronan (April 11, 2013). "60-GHz Textile Antenna Array for Body-Centric Communications". IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 61 (4): 1816–1824. Bibcode:2013ITAP...61.1816C. doi:10.1109/TAP.2012.2232633.
Chahat, Nacer; Valerio, Guido; Zhadobov, Maxim; Sauleau, Ronan (April 11, 2013). "On-Body Propagation at 60 GHz". IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 61 (4): 1876–1888. Bibcode:2013ITAP...61.1876C. doi:10.1109/TAP.2013.2242034.
G. Chattopadhyay, M. Alonso Del Pino, N. Chahat, D. Gonzalez, and T. Reck, Terahertz antennas and feeds, Chapter 11 in “Aperture antennas for mm and sub-mm wave applications”, Springer, 2017.
M. Zhadobov, C. Leduc, A. Guraliuc, N. Chahat, and R. Sauleau, “Body-centric wireless communication and networks,” Chapter 5 in Advances in Body-Centric Wireless Communication: Applications and State-of-the-art, ISBN978-1-84919-989-6, The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), 2016.
N. Chahat, A. Tang, G. Valerio, M. Zhadobov, Anda Guraliuc, and R. Sauleau, Antennas, Phantoms, and Body-centric propagation at millimeter waves, in Electromagnetics of Body-Area Networks: Antennas, Propagation, and RF Circuits, ISBN978-1-119-02946-5, Wiley/IEEE Press, 2016.
N. Chahat, M. Zhadobov, and R. Sauleau, Progress in compact antennas, Chapter 6: Antennas for body-centric wireless communications at millimeter wave frequencies, ISBN978-953-51-1723-0, Intech 2014.