President’s Message

This is the final President’s Message I will be writing as my two-year term is imminent. Serving as President of the IEEE EMC Society (EMC-S) for the calendar years 2010 and 2011 has been a great honor and a very exciting and challenging experience. I have appreciated the many opportunities that have come my way and it has been great to meet so many of our members all over the world at conferences and other social and technical occasions.
     On January 1, 2012 Ghery Pettit will take over the duties of President. Many of you may know Ghery for his dedication and long experienced service to the EMC Society as Vice President for Conferences (2009–2010) and Vice President for Communication Services (2005–2008). I ask each of you to give him your full support and encouragement just as you have done so for me. I certainly will be there to help and support him as Immediate Past President. That will be my commitment for the next two years. As Past President, one of my duties will be to encourage many of you to run for the EMC Society Board of Directors (BoD). If you have ever thought you might be interested in running for the BoD please, do not hesitate to contact me. I am looking forward assisting those interested in being nominated to run for the Board of Directors as a Director-at-Large.

 

Accomplishments and New Directions
As my term as President is winding down, I would like to take this opportunity to summarize some of the important accomplishments of our Society over the past two years, as well as new initiatives.
Despite the economic slump and the global recession, our Society has managed to remain strong and focused on our primary objectives. The membership has remained stable (slightly above 4,000) and about a half of our members reside outside the U.S.

 

Important Accomplishments Include:

  • Development and Approval of the Five-Year EMC-S Strategic Plan – After a three year effort, the EMC-S completed and approved the Strategic Plan (SP). The SP was developed in line with the principles of the IEEE Technical Activities (TA) Strategic Plan. It outlines the EMC-S mission, vision and strategic goals for the coming 5 years.

The mission of the EMC-S was defined as follows:


“To foster the development and facilitate the exchange of scientific and technological knowledge in the discipline of electromagnetic environmental effects and electromagnetic compatibility, as detailed in the EMCS’s field of interest (FOI), and promote literary, educational and professional aspects thereof, that benefit members, the profession and humanity.”


The vision of the EMC-S was stated as follows:

 

“… to be the recognized and respected global organization and leading provider of scientific and engineering information and services in the field of electromagnetic environmental effects and electromagnetic compatibility engineering, technology, and innovation for the betterment of society and the preferred professional development source for our members.”

 

Subsequently, the five strategic goals of the EMC-S are:

  1. Provide Products of Value to EMC Researchers and ­Practitioners
  2. Enhance Global Technology Presence, Visibility and Excellence
  3. Engage Young Professionals in the EMC Society
  4. Improve EMC Society Membership Development and Retention
  5. Enhance Community Collaboration
  • Technical co-sponsorship – Recognizing the importance of collaboration with other IEEE and non-IEEE entities in symposia activities, a new process has been approved for providing EMC-S technical co-sponsorship to symposia (https://ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/technicalsponsorship.html). This process provides balance between the desire to collaborate with other symposia and conferences (primarily, enhanced visibility and presence globally) and the need to ensure the quality of those events with which the EMC-S is engaged. This process involves an evaluation by the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) providing the technical point of view, and the entire BoD who approves (or disapproves) the request, while considering additional aspects as well.
  • Institution of an EMC Standards Travel Grant – The EMC-S Board of Directors has unanimously approved the implementation of a special grant that was received from a donor. The purpose of the grant is to partially offset travel costs for those EMC-S members who actively participate in EMC-S standards development and attend regular meetings of the EMC-S Standards Development Committee (SDCom), the Standards Advisory and Coordination Committee (SACCom) and the Standards Education and Training Committee (SETCom). The EMC-S appreciates the opportunity to assist those members advancing the standards activity of the Society via the implementation of the travel grant. The EMC-S will administer the grant by providing proper oversight of delegated duties to a Standards Travel Grant Committee.
  • Five-Year Society Review – The EMC Society successfully completed the periodic five-year Society review administered by the TAB Society Review Committee (SRC). This review focuses on the extent to which the Society is maintaining its vitality and technical leadership in its field of interest and the ways in which it is cooperating with other entities.
  • Review of the EMC Transactions – Our flagship periodical has successfully passed the traditional five-year review by the IEEE. The review process went well and the overall feedback received from the Periodicals Review and Advisory Committee (PRAC) was positive.
  • EMC Magazine – The IEEE has approved the transition of our newsletter to a magazine that will be launched in the first quarter of 2012.

In my first President’s Message that appeared in the Winter 2010 issue, I mentioned new technologies and globalization as the two keywords associated with my term’s challenges. Well, over the last two years we have made significant progress in each of these fields as well.

 

The Society’s Technical Involvement in
New Technologies has been Significant as Demonstrated by:

  • The upcoming Special Issue of the IEEE Transactions on EMC that addresses “Applications of Nanotechnology in Electromagnetic Compatibility (nano-EMC)”, which is the result of the activity of the recently established technical committee TC-11 on Nanotechnology;
  • The intense and successful activity of the special committees SC1 – Smart Grid and SC2 – Low Frequency EMC whose sponsored workshops at the Long Beach EMC Symposium were filled to capacity;
  • The establishment of the new technical committee TC-7 – Low Frequency EMC, based on the successful and consolidated activity of special committee SC2.

Further Growth at an International Level has been Achieved as Evidenced by:
Internationalization of the EMC-S Board of Directors – The “international” representation (i.e., non-US residents) on the BoD has significantly increased over the last couple of years, moving from three international members in 2009 to the current seven international members.

  • Expanding EMC Symposia worldwide – For the first time in many years, the 2015 IEEE International EMC Symposium will be held outside the United States. The EMC-S Board Directors has approved to hold two EMC Symposia in 2015, one International that will be held in Dresden (Germany), and one in Santa Clara (CA, USA). The last time the EMC-S held a Symposium outside the US was in Istanbul in 2003! The 2015 IEEE International Symposium on EMC in Dresden is expected to be a memorable event as it will be held in conjunction with the EMC EUROPE conference.
  • Increased cooperation with EMC related conferences worldwide – In the past two years, the EMC Society has approved cooperation with the following international conferences:
    •  2010 Asia Pacific EMC Symposium, April 12–16 2010, Beijing, China
    •  EMC Europe 2010, September 13–17, 2010, Wroclaw, Poland
    •  SPI 2011 – 15th IEEE Workshop on Signal Propagation on Interconnects, May 8–11, 2011, Naples, Italy
    •  2011 Asia Pacific EMC Symposium, May 16–19 2011, Jeju Island, Korea
    •  EEMC 2011, September 15–17, 2011, Split-Hvar-Bubrovnik, Croatia
    •  EMC Europe 2011, September 26–30, 2011, York, UK
    •  APL 2011, November 1–4, 2011, Chendu, China
      EMC COMPO 2011, November 6–9, 2011, Dubrovnik, Croatia
    •  IEEE COMCAS 2011, November 7–9, 2011, Tel Aviv, Israel
    •  The 10th EMC Society of Australia Symposium, Nov. 9–11, 2011, Perth, Australia
    •  SPI 2012 – 16th IEEE Workshop on Signal Propagation on Interconnects, May 13-14, 2012, Sorrento, Italy
    •  2012 Asia Pacific EMC Symposium, May 21–24, 2012, Singapore
    •  2012 ESA Workshop on Aerospace, May 21–23, 2012, Venice, Italy
    •  EUROEM 2012, July 2–6, 2012, Toulouse, France
    •  EMC Europe 2012, September 17–21, 2012, Rome, Italy
    •  CEEM 2012, November 6–9, 2012, Shanghai, China
  • Increased chapter development worldwide – In the last two years we have welcomed seven new chapters worldwide: Syracuse, Pikes Peak and South Michigan in IEEE Regions 1–7; Nigeria, Serbia and Montenegro in IEEE Region 8; and Shanghai and Chengdu in IEEE Region 10.

New chapters formed over the last two years (2010 and 2011)

IEEE Region 1–7 Syracuse, Pikes Peak, South Michigan
IEEE Region 8 Nigeria, Serbia and Montenegro
IEEE Region 10 Shanghai, Chengdu

 

Francesca Maradei greets the Welcome Reception attendees from the 350,000 gallon tropical reef habitat at the Aquarium of the Pacific.

Another Memorable Symposium
I am pleased to report that the Long Beach Symposium was a huge success. As usual, the Annual EMC Symposium was the most productive, exciting, and extremely busy week of the year. The full week Symposium has provided a wide range of activities including workshops, tutorials, technical sessions, meetings, experiments, demonstrations, a technical exhibition, and the Global EMC University Program. I want to take this opportunity to thank Ray Adams, the 2011 EMC Symposium General Chair, and his dedicated symposium committee for their efforts in running such a high-quality and extremely enjoyable event.
     Although several technical and social events deserve to be acknowledged, I wish to point out just a few personally relevant moments as you will find a detailed report and photos of the annual Symposium in the following pages of this Fall 2011 Newsletter.
     The Monday workshops on low frequency EMC, power quality, and EMC aspects of smart grid were a true success. I was impressed to see such a huge participation and so much interest in these topics. I wish to acknowledge the outstanding activity of the Special Committees SC1 – Smart Grid and SC2 – Low Frequency EMC.
     Regarding the social program, the Welcome Reception held at the Aquarium of the Pacific was for sure the most memorable in the history of the IEEE EMC Symposia. The Symposium Chair Ray Adams and I welcomed the participants to the 2011 EMC Symposium from the Blue Cavern tank of the aquarium with a really unusual dive/speech. I was delighted to jump into the 350,000 gallon tropical reef habitat with more than 1,000 tropical fish to deliver a welcome message. It was very exciting to surprise the symposium participants, and really fun to see the astonished faces of people looking at the tank and trying to figure out which diver was Ray and which was me!
     I look forward to enjoying the 2012 EMC Symposium in Pittsburgh; I know that Mike Oliver and his committee are working hard to make this another successful and memorable event.

 

 

 

 

Francesca Maradei of the University of Rome, “La Sapienza”
with Board members Janet O’Neil of ETS-Lindgren and
Todd Hubing of Clemson University at the 2011 EMC
Symposium’s Awards Luncheon.
Francesca Maradei with Professor Wu Qun of the
Harbin Institute of Technology and founder of the
Harbin, China joint MTT/AP/EMC Chapter.
One of many interesting creatures at the Aquarium
of the Pacific.

Global Outreach
As part of the traditional global outreach focused on strengthening the relationship with EMC communities around the world, I attended the EMC EUROPE 2011 Symposium, held at the University of York, United Kingdom, on September 26–30. This high quality Symposium was attended by more than 300 delegates from all over the world. Over 200 contributions were submitted for presentation; of these, 158 papers were accepted for presentation and organized in 35 oral sessions and two poster sessions.
     In addition to the high quality technical program, I was pleased to be involved in the nice celebration that Symposium chair Andy Marvin organized for our European colleagues Christos Christopoulos and Vesna Roje to celebrate their forthcoming retirements. I had the pleasure to acknowledge our colleagues’ most significant achievements during the Welcome Reception at the National Railway Museum, in York, UK.
     I would also like to acknowledge the memorable dinner organized for the EMC EUROPE International Steering Committee at a gorgeous mansion built in an early Georgian style. The Mansion House is the home of the Lord Mayors of York during their term in office and we had the honor of having the presence of the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress at the dinner.
     The IEEE EMC Society has endorsed the EMC EUROPE conferences for many years, and it has been a great pleasure for me to help in strengthening this cooperation. As already mentioned elsewhere in this message, in 2015 the EMC Society will hold the 2015 IEEE International Symposium on EMC in Dresden in conjunction with EMC EUROPE.

The exhibition center at the University of York. The EMC EUROPE Welcome Reception was held at the fascinating Railway Museum. Francesca Maradei (center) with Vesna Roje of the University of Split (Croatia) and Christos Christopoulos of the University of Nottingham (UK) after celebrating their retirement during the EMC EUROPE conference.

 

The EMC Society delegation attending the EMC EUROPE International Steering Committee dinner with
the Lord Major of York (center left) included Perry Wilson, Ghery Pettit, Andy Marvin (who chaired the
EMC EUROPE Conference), Francesca Maradei and Vesna Roje (from left).
Francesca Maradei passes the gavel to the upcoming EMC-S President Ghery Pettit of Intel at the November Board meeting.

 

Welcome Newly Elected Board Members!
I would like to congratulate the newly elected members of the Board as they look forward to their three-year terms of serving the Society in their special roles. Congratulations to Amy Pinchuk and Frank Sabath who are both elected to the Board for the first time, and to past Board members Colin Brench, Fred Heather, Mark Montrose and Dave Staggs for joining us on the Board again.

IEEE EMC Society Newsletter Goodbye!
By coincidence, my final President’s message appears in the final issue of this venerable Newsletter. I wish to acknowledge the extensive service to our members that the IEEE EMC Society Newsletter has provided over the years. It has become a respected source of technical information related to EMC with improved quality technical papers and expanded coverage of EMC technical meetings and events. The success and popularity of the EMC Newsletter can be credited to the tireless work, dedication and skillful leadership of Editor-in-Chief Janet O’Neil and her team of Associate Editors.
     As already announced, at the beginning of 2012 this Newsletter will be replaced by the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Magazine and will be included in the IEEE Xplore digital library. Therefore, the technical papers appearing in the EMC Magazine will have much wider exposure. I solicit authors to submit the outcomes of their practical research and design tips for publication in the forthcoming EMC Magazine.

Board of Directors Meetings
The next EMC Society Board of Directors (BoD) meeting is scheduled for March 16–18, in Scottsdale (AZ). All meetings of the EMC Society BoD are open. Any members who want to attend will be most welcome. The schedule of the BoD meetings is posted on the website at https://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/conferences.html.


Stepping Down
In closing, I would like to thank the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors for all their tremendous support over the past two years and for making my job go very smoothly. I would also like to thank the Board members who served with me in 2010 and 2011. I appreciated their time and efforts to continue to make the EMC Society successful. Special thanks to Janet O’Neil for her tremendous support and for her patience in waiting for my President’s Message!
     My thanks go also to the committee chairs for their initiatives in accomplishing their specific responsibilities; the chapter chairs for maintaining a global Society influence, and last but not the least, the regular members of the Society for their support and dedication. Without the cooperation and hard work of the many members who serve the Society in a volunteer position, the success of the Society wouldn’t be possible.
     All in all, it has been an enjoyable and productive two years and I believe that the EMC Society will accomplish even greater things in the coming years. As for me, I am looking forward to continuing my commitment and active involvement in the EMC Society.
          EMC



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