Global EMC University

The Global EMC University was held in conjunction with the 2009 IEEE International Symposium on EMC in Austin, Texas. This was the third consecutive year that this popular program targeted toward engineers who are new to the field of EMC has been offered at the symposium. The Global EMC University is 18 hours of instruction on basic EMC-related topics that is run in parallel with the traditional technical sessions at the symposium. Classes are taught by an international panel of educators, who are selected for this program based upon their reputation for excellence in areas of practical importance to EMC engineers and their demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with students who are new to the field. Students receive Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for their participation in the class and are encouraged to attend symposium workshops, exhibits and social activities when they are not in class.
The 2009 instructors were:

Chuck Bunting, Oklahoma State University, “Overview of Numerical Methods”
Flavio Canavero, Politecnico di Torino, “Transmission Lines: Frequency-Domain and Crosstalk”
James Drewniak, Missouri University of Science and Technology, “Transmission Lines: Time-Domain and Signal Integrity”
David Hockanson, Sun Microsystems, “Shielding”
Todd Hubing (Chair), Clemson University, “PCB Layout and System Configuration for EMC”
Andy Marvin (Co-Chair), The University of York, “Antennas and Radiation EMC Standards”
Clayton Paul, Mercer University, “Use of PSPICE in Solving EMC Problems”
Al Ruehli, IBM, “Capacitance and Inductance”
Mark Steffka, The University of Michigan (Dearborn), “Conducted Emission and Power Supply Filters”

PHOTOS BY KEN WYATT

Professor Clayton Paul visits with students during a break in his lecture on PSPICE during the Global EMC University.	Professor Andy Marvin speaks to a full house at the 2009 Global EMC University in Austin.

Instructors at the 2009 Global EMC University included (from left front row) Todd Hubing, Clayton Paul, Andy Marvin, (back row from left) Jim Drewniak, David Hockanson, Mark Steffka, Flavio Canavero, and Al Ruehli. (Not pictured: Chuck Bunting).

Several members of the 2009 Global EMC University graduating class are shown with the instructors following the Awards Luncheon.

A total of 31 participants from eight countries on five continents attended the 2009 GU classes. The pie chart above shows the various industries represented by the GU students. Perhaps due to the economy, the percentage of attendees working in the defense industry was higher this year; while the percentage working in the computer and telecommunications fields was down. Student satisfaction as reported in the course survey was 96% for the third year in a row. Encouraged by this response, we plan to offer the Global University again at the 2010 IEEE International Symposium on EMC in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Professor Andy Marvin, from the University of York, will chair this event. After all, nowhere else may one obtain this quality of EMC education from learned instructors all over the world in one place, at one time! EMC