This paper presents the investigation results on the reconfigurableproperties of a monopole antenna array. The antenna array comprises of four feedelements and four parasitic elements on a finite ground plane. This antenna isintended to improve the diversity gain for a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO)communication system. We intend to combat the problem of signal deterioration inhandheld devices by the use of reconfigurable antenna. A common communicationproblem seen in the handheld devices is the change in strength of radio signal whenthe orientation of the device is changed. Reconfigurable antennas can be used get ridof this nuisance so that what ever be the orientation, the handheld device still gets thebest possible signal level. With our presented antenna, we can achieve up to sixteendifferent configurations depending upon the requirement. The differentconfigurations are controlled with the help of RF switches which are implementedusing micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). The reconfigurable antenna wasfabricated and tested for its impedance and radiation characteristics and the resultswere found to be in reasonable agreement with the simulations.