On 18 October, Professor Yuri Mikhailovich Poplavko turned 90! He was born in Saratov to a civil servant's family, but lost his father early in life, who died in 1939. So in the same year, Yurii and his mother were forced to move to relatives in Leningrad. In 1941, with the beginning of the blockade of the city, they were evacuated to the Kirov region. Since 1944, the family has lived in Kyiv. After graduating from high school in 1952, Yurii entered the Radio Engineering Faculty of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, graduating with honours in 1957. While still a student, Yuriy Poplavko became involved in scientific work. As a talented graduate, he was retained at the department as an engineer in the research department. In 1959, Yurii entered postgraduate studies at the Department of Dielectrics and Semiconductors, after which he was appointed as an assistant. In 1963, he defended his PhD thesis in technical sciences, and in 1974, he received his doctorate in physics and mathematics. At Kyiv Polytechnic, Yurii Mykhailovych rose from an engineer to a leading professor at the Department of Microelectronics.
Professor Yurii Poplavko developed several courses in materials science and physics at the department and provided them with methodological and educational literature, publishing 50 textbooks, manuals and monographs. He still lectures on the courses ‘Solid State Physics’, ‘Physics of Dielectrics’, ‘Magneto-electronics’, etc. With his direct participation, more than 20,000 electronics specialists have been trained. For ten years, Yurii Mykhailovych worked in the Methodological Council of the University as the head of the section ‘Active Learning of Students’ and published a number of methodological works.
Yurii Poplavko is a well-known specialist in the physics of ferroelectrics and dielectrics. He pioneered a new scientific research method, microwave dielectric spectroscopy, which allows the study of material properties from infra-low to ultra-high frequencies. Yurii Mykhailovych also created a scientific school of dielectric spectroscopy. More than 30 PhD and doctoral theses have been defended under his scientific supervision. In the scientific circles of dielectric physics, he is called the ‘King of Dielectric Spectroscopy’.
Over the years, Yuriy Mykhailovych has published more than 400 scientific papers and made 18 inventions in the field of microwave applications of dielectrics, and has performed several important developments. Under his leadership, new ferroelectric materials were synthesised, as well as high-grade thermostable dielectrics with increased dielectric constant for microwave special equipment, which were introduced into production.
Yuriy Mykhailovych's scientific and educational works are known not only in Ukraine but also far beyond its borders. In recent years, he has published 3 monographs in the USA and 4 monographs in Germany in English at the request of ELSEVIER Publishing House.
Yuriy Poplavko conducts scientific and organisational work as a member of scientific councils and is active in international activities as the head of the Central Ukrainian Section of the international Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He was also a member of the Expert Council of the Higher Attestation Commission of Ukraine, is a permanent member of 2 specialised doctoral dissertation councils and a member of the editorial boards of 3 international journals. He has acted as an opponent in more than 30 PhD and 20 doctoral dissertations.
Professor Poplavko led a joint research project with South Korea, a Ukraine-USA project under the CRDF programme, and research projects with France. At the invitation of foreign universities and companies, he has delivered presentations and lectures in the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, South Korea, as well as in Japan, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and other countries.
Yuriy Poplavko was awarded the badge ‘Excellence in Education of Ukraine’ (2001). The International Renaissance Foundation awarded him the title of ‘Honorary Professor’. He was awarded 4 times with prizes and diplomas of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute for his textbooks and monographs: ‘Physics of Dielectrics’ (1980), “Physical Materials Science” (2013), “Microwave Dielectric Spectroscopy” (2017) and “Functional Dielectrics in Electronics” (2023).
Yurii Poplavko is always in creative search.
We wish him good health, creative inspiration and well-being!