Board of Directors Activities


Washington, DC
Sunday, August 20, 2000

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Gene Cory (L), past president of the EMC Society, welcomes EMCS Board member Henry Ott to his booth during the symposium.
Photo by Janet O'Neil.

Call to Order

President Butler called the August 20, 2000 meeting of the EMC Society Board of Directors to order at 9:00 am. A round of introductions was made. Board members present included H. Benitez, D. Bush, J. Butler, L. Carlson, T. Chesworth, L. Cohen, A. Drozd, F. Heather, D. Heirman, D. Hoolihan, T. Hubing, E. Joffe, W. Kesselman, D. Millard, M. Montrose, J. O'Neil, H. Ott, J. Perini, G. Pettit, C. Sartori, D. Smith, D. Sweeney, K. Williams and T. Yoshino. Board members absent included A. Podgorski and Ferdy Mayer. Guests present included M. D'Amore, R. Brook, E. Bronaugh, R. Carstensen, D. Clark, W. Duff, D. Ford, H. Garbe, W. Gjertson, M. Heidermann, H. R. Hofmann, J. Muccioli, B. Nadeau and B. Wallen.

President Butler asked for a moment of silence for Board member Moto Kanda who passed away in June. President Butler noted that In Focus Corporation had been approached for a donation of an LCD projector for Board activities. He was pleased to advise that the donation request was approved and the LCD projector was available for use at this meeting. The agenda was then approved as presented.

Treasurer's Report

Treasurer Warren Kesselman advised that the total EMCS surplus as of June 30 was $405,000. Cash reserves as of June 30 were $684,000 and the investment value was $803,880. Mr. Kesselman discussed the IEEE budget process and presented a financial comparison table of the budget. This showed "actuals" for the various income and expense line items of 1999, the 2000 budget for these line items and June 2000 YTD totals for these line items. Mr. Kesselman then presented a travel assistance policy for Board members who require financial assistance to attend meetings.

Secretary's Report

Secretary Janet O'Neil presented the minutes from the previous Board meeting on June 9, 2000 for review. Changes were required. The Board approved the minutes as amended.

2000 Washington, DC Symposium Chairman's Report

Chairman Bill Duff reported on the activities of the symposium. He advised that there were no problems foreseen and the committee has been working very hard to ensure things run smoothly. The budgeted surplus is expected to be $180K. 2,200 people are registered to date (of this some 800 are full registrations to the exhibits and technical program). 500 people are expected to register on site. 260 exhibit booths were sold.

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Several past presidents of the IEEE EMC Society convened following the Awards Luncheon in Washington, DC. Standing (L-R) are Warren Kesselman (1994-95), Dan Hoolihan (1998-99), Bob Hofmann (1992-93), Don Heirman (1980-81), Gene Cory (1974-75), and Bill Duff (1982-83). Seated (L-R) are Ralph Showers (1960-61), Don Clark (1988-89), Len Carlson (1986-87), Ed Bronaugh (1990-91) and Joe Butler (2000-01).
Photo by Dick Ford.

Member Services Report

Todd Hubing, Vice-President for Membership Services, presented his report. Henry Benitez reported on Awards. The awards nomination process needs to be revised. Those interested in assisting with the revision process should contact Mr. Benitez. There are several awards which will be given at the awards luncheon this year, including the IEEE Millenium Medals and the President's Memorial Award. Regarding Chapter Activities, Ghery Pettit advised that he will chair the chapter chairmen's luncheon on Tuesday. Some 45 people are expected to attend. He used the form originated by Henry Ott to solicit nominations from the chapter chairmen for the Chapter of the Year award. This will be presented at the Awards Luncheon. Elya Joffe reported as the Region 8 Membership chair. He attended the Wroclaw EMC Symposium along with Board members Andy Drozd, Andrew Podgorski, and Takeo Yoshino. Mr. Joffe thanked Mr. Drozd for his assistance in staffing the IEEE EMC Society membership booth. No new members were signed up, but interest was indicated. Mr. Joffe feels that the price of IEEE membership is a deterrent to recruiting new members. Many engineers in Poland do not have an international credit card, for example. This fall he will take the booth to the EMC Millenium Workshop in Greece and to Turino, Italy for their respective EMC conferences. Next year, he plans to take the booth to the Zurich EMC symposium. Mr. Joffe will attend the IEEE Region 8 Section meeting in Paris in October to represent the EMC Society. Jose Perini reported on EMC activities in Region 9. He has sent e-mails to various professors in Region 9 to offer his services in promoting the EMC Society. He has also contacted industry representatives. Carlos Sartori presented a report on EMC activity in Brazil. He outlined the main EMC groups in Brazil, including companies and commercial laboratories, among others. He recommended that the EMC Society build a relationship with the automotive and telecommunications groups as these are the two top industries which are active in EMC in Brazil. He outlined the top EMC groups in South America, including Uruguay, Argentina, and Venezuela. There are 54 total members of the EMC Society in Region 9. Takeo Yoshino reported on EMC activity in Region 10. Again, with Region 10, Mr. Yoshino noted that the price of IEEE membership is very high relative to the average annual income for an engineer in Region 10. Mr. Butler advised that they will have an IEEE representative present at the November Board meeting who will discuss what the IEEE is doing to address this problem. Regarding the symposium survey, Dick Ford distributed a copy of the IEEE EMC Society 2000 survey which will be distributed on Thursday during the symposium week. The survey is virtually identical to those that have been distributed at the last eight symposia. The results will be provided at the November Board meeting. Membership Committee chair Andy Drozd reported that he has ordered all the IEEE materials necessary for the EMCS booth in Washington, DC. Mr. Drozd advised that the booth was in need of repair. He addressed this. Membership exhibit costs came in under budget at some $1,500. As of June 30, we have 5,067 active members of the EMC Society, with an additional 892 members in arrears. Todd Hubing reported for Lee Hill, chair of the Distinguished Lecturer (DL) program. DL activity is at an all-time high and the budget for this year in August is close to being fully allocated. Dan Hoolihan presented his report as chair of the Nominations and Bylaws Committee. The ballots for candidates for the EMC Society Board of Directors were printed by July 24 and received in the mail by members some two weeks later. There were 11 names on the ballot; including two candidates from Region 10. Election results will be available in early October. Tom Chesworth advised that Elya Joffe and Michel Mardiguian will present "War Stories" during the symposium special workshop. Some four to five war stories total were submitted. Mr. Chesworth would like to see this set up as a special session in the future. Todd Hubing reported for Bill McGinnis, PACE chair who advised he attempted to contact the US EMC Chapter chairs to promote the IEEE's PACE program, but the results were not encouraging. Mr. McGinnis will attend the PACE conference in September and work with the Southeastern Michigan EMC Chapter who would like to implement the PACE program.

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(L-R) Ernie Freeman and Bill Duff, Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the symposium steering committee respectively, delivered the registration packets to the Board during a break in their meeting. Board member Don Bush of dBi Corporation thanked Bill and Ernie for the personal service.
Photo by Janet O'Neil.

Technical Services

Kimball Williams, Vice-President for Technical Services, presented his report. He noted the vision of Technical Services is to promote the growth of the worldwide EMC technical community for the benefit of all man kind. Mr. Williams reported for Maqsood Mohd, Chairman of the Education and Student Activities Committee. The committee received a good response to the Student Paper Contest to be held during the Washington DC symposium. There will be over 20 experiments this year at the symposium over Tuesday-Thursday of the symposium week. Regarding the eight-minute Clayton Paul experiment video, Dick Ford advised that the DC Symposium committee contacted several local universities to ask professors to show this video to their students. The committee also promoted student attendance at the EMC Symposium. As a result, a few universities agreed to show the Clayton Paul video and several students registered for the symposium. ITCMS advised that student registrations are at an all time high this year. The Student Design Contest received four entries. Mr. Mohd traveled to North Dakota State University to perform demonstrations of the entries in order to determine the winner. The University Grant committee received three requests from various universities. The $10,000 Grant will be awarded at the Washington DC symposium to L'Aquila University in Italy. The tutorials will again be held on Monday of the symposium week. The NARTE workshop and exam will again be held at this year's symposium in Washington DC. Mr. Mohd's report concluded with a summary of the committee's current tasks. Mr. Williams reported in the absence of TAC Chairman Andrew Podgorski. There is a revised charter for TC-1. The activities of TC-8 will be discussed at the November Board meeting. Mr. Williams advised that Dave Case, chair of the Representative Advisory Committee (RAC), organized a special RAC session, entitled "Testing and RF Hazards" for the Washington DC symposium. Note-worthy RAC activities include the addition of representatives from four new committees, including one European group, the appointment of Steve Berger as Vice-Chair, and the update of the RAC website. Bob Brook reported on the activities of the Society for the Social Implications of Technology (SSIT). SSIT has received various awards for its magazine "Technology and Society." Russ Carstensen, Executive Director of NARTE, discussed the MOU between his organization and the EMCS. Basically, NARTE wishes to formalize its relationship with the IEEE EMCS such that the EMCS is the official "body of knowledge" for technical matters relating to EMC. Mr. Carstensen advised that he has revised the document to take into account the proposed revisions requested by the Board at the June Board meeting. Mr. Williams concluded his report by noting that the effort with the NANO Technology Council is evolving slowly, but progress will continue to be monitored.

Standards Services

Don Heirman, Vice-President of Standards, presented his report. It was noted that the webpage for EMC Standards is now operational ( https://grouper.ieee.org ). Standards activity covers three major areas: The Standards Education and Training Committee (SETCom) chaired by Hugh Denny, the Standards Advisory Committee (SACCom) chaired by Mr. Joffe and the Standards Development Committee (SDCom) chaired by Steve Berger.

Regarding the SDCom, all standards are currently active. However, Standard 140 must be reaffirmed by October of this year. A PAR for the update of 187 has been submitted to IEEE REVCOM. The revision will expand the standard to address digital television systems as well as analog systems.

Regarding SETCom, a workshop has been scheduled for Monday afternoon, August 21 during the DC EMC Symposium. Speakers include Don Heirman, Sue Vogel of the IEEE, and Hugh Denny. Articles on standards will be a regular feature of the EMCS Newsletter.

Regarding SACCom, there are several opportunities for further representation. Please contact Elya Joffe at eb.joffe@ieee.org  for more information.

Communications Services

Len Carlson, Vice-President for Communication Services, presented his report. Professor Marcello D'Amore, Transactions Editor-in-Chief, presented his report. He discussed issues involving the Associate Editors and the length of time currently taken to review the papers. His goals with the Transactions on EMC include expediting the review process, preserving and increasing the technical scientific level of the journal, and increasing the number of submitted abstracts per year. He is also looking at possibly forming a new Editorial Board and/or Advisory Board; in any case, the current structure of Associate Editors will be revised. The proposed Editorial and/or Advisory Board were discussed. A balance was requested of Board members who represented the various IEEE regions as well as members who represent a balance between academia and industry. The Board approved overrunning the Publications budget to cover the Transactions expenses by $5,600. Newsletter Editor Janet O'Neil advised that Bob Rothenberg has retired as Associate Editor for Practical Papers. He will be replaced by Bob Olsen of Washington State University. Feedback from readers on the all-color newsletter has been very favorable. Mark Montrose presented his report as IEEE Press Liaison. He wrote an article for the Summer Newsletter about the IEEE Press which encouraged members to become authors. Henry Benitez reported for Public Relations that they are planning a chapter information packet that would help to promote chapter development and the formation of new chapters. It was clarified that the material that was once included in the chapter chairman handbook is now included on the Society's website. Thus, Mr. Benitez and his committee will develop a new product for chapters. EMCS Webmaster Andy Drozd reported on his recent activity with the EMCS website. Changes are underway to update the TC web pages. The Education and Standards Committee web pages have been updated. Mr. Drozd is working with the Atlanta EMC Chapter to assist them with their website. Some 20 chapters are listed on the site and will be linked to the Society's website. The hosting of the website has been transferred from the University of Missouri, Rolla to the IEEE. The IEEE hosting of the website is provided at no charge. He has worked with the IEEE to develop a website advertising policy and this is posted on the website. A counter on the website to determine the number of "hits" received daily has been established. Regarding the individual TC websites, Mr. Drozd is continuing his work to review and evaluate the sites to ensure that they present a consistent look and information.

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Already busy planning for the 2005 IEEE International Symposium on EMC in Chicago are (L-R) Henry Ott of Henry Ott Consultants, Derek Walton of LF Research Company, Tom Braxton and Bob Hofmann of Lucent Technologies, Barry Wallen of TUV Product Service and Bill Bumbliss of Siemens Building Technologies.
Photo by Janet O'Neil.

Conference Services

Henry Ott, Vice President for Conference Services, presented his report. Dick Ford volunteered to work with Mr. Ott in updating the EMC Society Symposia Manual. For next year's symposium in Montreal, Canada, Benoît Nadeau, Symposium Chairman, advised the "Call for Papers" has been distributed. Their committee will have a table-top display during the DC symposium to promote Montreal. There will be considerable promotion for the symposium, including a slide show presentation on Montreal, prizes and give-aways. The exhibitor liaison from their show management company will be present at the exhibitor's breakfast to assist vendors with signing up for next year. The symposium website address is www.2001emcmtl.org . Mr. Ott then called upon Barry Wallen, EMCS Symposia Committee Chair, to present his report. He reported on the following symposia: 1998 Denver: the symposium books were closed at the June 2000 Board meeting; 1999 Seattle: Books are closed, audit is underway, net surplus is $283K; 2000 Washington DC: Bill Duff presented his report earlier in the day; 2001 Montreal: The revised budget was presented. Revenues are shown at US $1,158,392, expenses are US $855,000, with a net surplus of US $198,035. This represents a 17% surplus. The Board approved this budget. Regarding 2002 Minneapolis: The preliminary budget was presented showing revenues of $1,269,750, expenses of $961,249, and a net surplus of $308,502 representing 24%. The Board approved this budget. The Board approved the 2002 symposium steering committee loan request of $10,000. For 2003 Boston: The preliminary budget was presented showing revenues of $1,109,250, expenses of $849,081, and a net surplus of $260,170 representing 23%. The Board approved this budget. The Board approved the 2003 symposium steering committee loan request of $10,000. Lastly, concerning 2003 Israel: Elya Joffe distributed the preliminary announcement for the symposium. A conservative budget has been set with expenses of $240,000, income of $280,000, thus a net of $32,000 or a 15% surplus. The Board approved this budget. The call for papers is being prepared and will be circulated to the entire Region 8 membership in addition to being distributed during the Montreal symposium. Mr. Wallen advised that both the German and Eastern North Carolina (Research Triangle Park) chapters have indicated an interest in hosting the 2006 IEEE International Symposium on EMC. Janet O'Neil reported as chair of the Regional EMC conferences committee. These regional conferences will be discussed at the Chapter Chairmen's luncheon in Washington DC. A presentation will be made to share information on how to organize one of these conferences. Global EMC Symposia Coordinator Chairman Elya Joffe advised the status of MOUs which have been signed by the various global EMC conferences. The membership booth will be present at these conferences. He will attend the IEEE Region 8 and Division I and IV Chapter Chairs meeting in Paris, France on October 1, 2000. Mr. Joffe discussed the request of the St. Petersburg, Russia EMC conference committee for the IEEE EMC Society to be a technical co-sponsor of their EMC conference on June 19-22, 2001. Elena Gerstman of the IEEE presented the results of the 2000 IEEE scientific survey of the EMC Society. 1,100 members received the survey of which 48% responded. Overall, the survey documented that the Society is providing benefits to its members. It showed areas for growth and new services/products the Society can provide in the future.

Old Business

2007 will be the 50th anniversary of the IEEE EMC Society. President Butler asked that an ad hoc committee be formed to address how to recognize the anniversary. Dan Hoolihan agreed to chair this ad hoc committee. The committee will present recommendations in the future.

New Business

The proposed new EMC Society magazine was discussed. The Board approved moving forward with plans to publish an EMC Society magazine.

The meeting was recessed at 5:15 pm.

The meeting reconvened on Thursday evening, August 24 at 6:00 pm.

President Butler called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. He introduced the guests present, including Bill Duff, 2000 Symposium Chair, Maqsood Mohd, Education Committee Chairman, Bob Hofmann, Dick Clark, Ed Bronaugh, Russ Carstensen NARTE, Bob Smrek IEEE, Susan Schneiderman IEEE, Jim Muccioli, and Larry Cohen. The following topics were addressed before returning to the agenda items:

A. PRESENTATION BY IEEE TAB MEMBERSHIP CHAIR – Michael Garretson

Mr. Garretson discussed some new ideas proposed by the IEEE regarding membership dues for those in less developed countries. Lifetime memberships, group memberships, and reduced membership fees were discussed. Barriers to developing programs include how to handle individual Society dues. It was noted that while IEEE membership numbers have stayed steady, the number of memberships in individual Societies has been steadily declining at a rate of 1% per year. Dick Ford suggested that the IEEE send letters now to non-members who attended the EMC Symposium this year and encourage them to join so they can register at the member fee for the symposium next year. This could be an on-going standard procedure following every symposium to increase IEEE membership.

B. PRESENTATION BY IEEE PUBLICATIONS – Susan Schneiderman and Bob Smrek

Ms. Schneiderman showed the IEEE survey results which documented that the majority of EMC Society members want to have a magazine and are willing to pay a minimum of $10 more annually for this. They wish to have tutorial material, practical papers, and general interest stories included in the magazine. She visited the vendors during the symposium and received favorable support for advertising in the new magazine. Bob Smrek talked about the MTT Society's magazine and its transition from newsletter to magazine as an example of how the EMC Society can move forward with its plans to create magazine.

C. VICE-PRESIDENT FOR STANDARDS – Don Heirman

Mr. Heirman discussed the meetings that were held during the symposium. Standards activity can be viewed on line at https://grouper.ieee.org.

D. VICE-PRESIDENT FOR TECHNICAL SERVICES – Kimball Williams

Mr. Williams reported that the RAC, TAC, and SAC committees met during the symposium. Maqsood Mohd reported that the tutorial on Monday was well attended with some 450 people. It was well received by the audience. The demonstrations were successful as well. The demonstrations process is being formalized and will be in place by the next symposium. The feedback from the three universities present who had received EMC Society grants was very positive. The website university survey hits have increased. Andy Drozd will help improve the look of the website. They are trying to consolidate their outreach efforts into three areas: 1) grades K-12, 2) college and post graduates, and 3) working professionals. Regarding the TCs, Mr. Williams reported that all committees are active. There are four new TAC chairs. TC-1 will now be chaired by Dan Hoolihan. Bill Straus is the new chair for TC-3. Bob Scully is the new chair of TC-4. Jack Burns is the new chair of TC-8. The TCs would like to require full paper review of the papers reviewed for the symposium. If a paper wishes to be considered for best paper consideration, for example, the full paper needs to be submitted. The committee is looking at the Zurich symposium committee's in place process for the electronic review of technical papers. The committee would like to see more of the TC chairmen appointed as session chairmen for the papers reviewed by their respective committees.

E. WASHINGTON SYMPOSIUM REPORT – Bill Duff

Mr. Duff reported that the symposium went well. The papers were of good quality and were well attended. The vendors were pleased with the booth traffic and there were few complaints at the exhibitor's breakfast. Vendors appreciated the table top display option. Total numbers included:

1,564 paid full registrations
260 exhibit booths sold
706 free exhibitor passes issued
773 free exhibit hall passes issued
174 complimentary registrations
3469 total registrations

F. NARTE MOU – Russ Carstensen

Mr. Carstensen discussed the draft MOU presented during the Sunday Board meeting. Mr. Williams advised that the TCs were approached about this MOU and they saw no problems with being involved with the question review, etc. The Board approved the NARTE MOU as amended during discussion. The document will be sent to the IEEE for review by legal counsel.

G. ZURICH TECHNICAL SESSION DECISION – Elya Joffe

There will be a special EMCS technical session at the Zurich symposium. For this session, Mr. Joffe advised that the "hot" topics include measurements above 1 GHz (but no emphasis on SAR measurements). Ed Bronaugh and Don Heirman volunteered to be co-chairs of this special session. They would like a session with 3-4 speakers on this topic and others.

H. REGION 9 EMCS MEMBERSHIP OFFER

In order to increase membership in Region 9, the Board approved offering new IEEE memberships in Region 9 a free 16-month maximum EMC Society membership.

I. BY-LAWS CHANGE FOR ELECTION SCHEDULE

As chair of the By-laws committee, Dan Hoolihan would like to change the by-laws in order to formalize the recently adopted Board motion to extend the deadline for receiving ballots for the Board of Directors elections. The purpose of extending the deadline is to avoid having ballots returned in August, which is typically a vacation month for most of our international members. It is hoped that this extension will result in an increase in returned ballots. The Board approved this plan.

J. MISSED MEETINGS BY BOARD MEMBERS

Don Sweeney discussed the problem of Board members not attending meetings. He feels if elected, Board members should be committed to attending at least two Board meetings a year. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, he suggested that Board members be dismissed if they miss two meetings in any given year. Mr. Kesselman noted that the current bylaws state that members will be dismissed if they miss three Board meetings in a given year. President Butler asked that Mr. Sweeney draft a motion on this for the Board to review.

K. C0-SPONSORSHIP OF SHANGHAI EMC SYMPOSIUM 2002

Elya Joffe advised that he has received a letter from Prof. Gao Yougang requesting that the IEEE EMCS be a technical co-sponsor for their Shanghai symposium in 2002. The Board approved this request.

Action Item Review

President Butler reviewed the action items assigned during the meeting and those open from previous meetings. Arising from an open action item, the Board discussed the surplus/distribution of the 1999 Seattle EMC Symposium print copies and five year CD-ROMs currently in storage at Applied MicroImage. The Board approved shipping a supply of the Seattle EMC Symposium records to the Millenium Workshop in Greece in order to be distributed free of charge from the IEEE EMCS membership booth manned by Elya Joffe. The Board would like to supply these records at the global EMC conferences where the EMC Society is a technical co-sponsor in order to further outreach efforts.

There being no further business, the meeting then adjourned at 9:00 pm.

Janet O'Neil
Secretary
EMC Society Board of Directors
EMC

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