Chair in Electronic Defence Research (CEDR)

The Chair in Electronic Defence Research (CEDR) was established in collaboration with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The mission statement of the CEDR was agreed to be:
“The mission of the CEDR is to perform research and innovate at the forefront in the field of ED, to source and supervise postgraduate students in this research field, to produce research papers for international journals and conference proceedings, to create IP to the benefit of the people of South Africa.”
While this mission is written with South Africa in mind, the global nature of modern research means that it is impossible to achieve the stated objectives without strong international relationships and collaborations.

For the purposes of the CEDR, electronic warfare (EW) – and equivalently ED – is defined as:
“EW deals with the exploitation of the EMS to the maximum benefit of oneself and ones allies, and to the maximum detriment of ones adversaries.”
While short, this definition highlights the following issues:

• EW deals predominantly with actions in the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS).
• This definition highlights the fact that EW is relevant to other fields such as radar, communications, optics, cyber, etc..
• Possible non-military applications are included by avoiding the use of the term “enemies.”

Almost every technology which falls within the fields of “Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering” is relevant to EW, so EW offers an extremely broad range of research opportunities. Furthermore, the way in which widely-differing technologies are integrated in EW makes it an ideal basis for learning more about the engineering fields listed above. Even students with no fundamental interest in EW are thus encouraged to consider postgraduate studies in EW as a way to access a unique opportunity to strengthen their skills as engineers.