The research provided in this thesis focuses on the development of the novel additively manufactured antennas using the additive 3-D and material inkjet printing fabrication as well as the conventional subtractive manufacturing by using milling machine for the compact Internet of Things (IoT) and wearable applications. The initial part of the work focuses on the different ways of fabrication of the additively manufactured antenna that includes Finite Deposition Method (FDM) and PolyJet 3-D printing technique for the substrate material fabrication. And the material inkjet printing for the conductive radiating antenna element fabrication. The document discusses the unconventional issue of the surface roughness in the 3-D printed substrates materials. The later part focuses on the designing and testing techniques for the compact electrically small antennas (ESA) for the compact IoT applications.

The world is becoming a global place in which science, technology, engineering and mathematics hold a key to a successful future. To help secure this future it is important to engage students early with relevant curriculum that sparks interest and success in STEM fields. However, education reform occurs slowly, so this paper looked at a potential paradigm that can help to bring about change in a middle school environment that harnesses the long standing strengths of learning and education with the integration of technology to create changes in the pedagogy of learners and teachers. The study implemented a transmedia STEM book and evaluated the impact it had on student perceptions of STEM, school attitude, academic achievement, and preferred activity types, providing an example vehicle for change that can be adopted over time. The main findings showed that students who used a 3-Dimensional printer had higher math achievement and a more positive perception of math.