EMCS Board of Directors Activities

Janet O’Neil

The fourth and final meeting of the EMC Society Board of Directors in 1997 was held on Saturday, November 8 in conjunction with the IEEE TAB/RAB meetings held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia.
Attending the Board meeting were officers President Bill Gjertson, Vice-President Dan Hoolihan, Treasurer Warren Kesselman, Secretary Janet O’Neil, and Board members Don Sweeney, Joe Butler, Andrew Podgorski, Kimball Williams, Len Carlson, Bill Duff, Bob Hofmann, Todd Hubing, Norm Violette, Bill Ritenour, Herb Zajac, Jim Muccioli, Andy Drozd and Dick Ford. Board members absent included Don Heirman, Franz Gisin, and Bill McGinnis. Guests in attendance included Henry Benitez and Mark Montrose (who were recently elected to the Board for three year terms beginning in January 1998), Barry Wallen, Hugh Denny, Bruce Crain, Steve Berger, Dave Traver, and John Osburn.
The meeting was called to order at 8:30 am by Vice President Hoolihan. (President Gjertson was unavailable for the morning of the meeting due to a conflict with a TAB meeting.) A round of introductions was made. Secretary O’Neil presented the minutes of the prior Board meetings in August which were approved as amended. Treasurer Warren Kesselman distributed a report summarizing EMC Society financial activity. The 1997 operating summary (as of September 30, 1997) showed an income of $237K with expenses of $249K. Net worth of the Society as of September 30, 1997 is $568K. The value of the Society’s long term investments has steadily risen since June 1996. The Treasurer’s report was accepted as presented.

Atlanta resident and former EMC Society President Don Clark of the Georgia Tech Research Institute and his wife Edith join the Board at their November dinner.

The Director for Member Services, Todd Hubing, next presented his report. He noted that Ray Adams, Chapters Coordinator, reports that there is a new Central and South Italy Chapter chaired by S. Celozzi with A. Orlandi as Vice-Chairman. Keith Galbraith is attempting to set up a new chapter in the Binghamton, New York area. Scott Roleson, Chairman of the Distinguished Lecturer Program, is working on a proposal to establish a new program in Europe. This proposal will be presented at the next Board meeting. Gene Cory is the new Chairman of the Fellows Search Committee, replacing Bill Duff. Mr. Hubing noted that Steve Mullenix, Membership Committee Chairman, received word from the IEEE that membership in the EMC Society currently totals 5,243. This represents a 4% growth in membership since August 1996. Warren Kesselman, Chairman of the Nominations and Bylaws Committees, announced that a total of 908 ballots were returned to the IEEE for the recent EMC/S Board election (some 20% of the membership voted). The results of the ballot indicated three Board members were re-elected (Hubing, Sweeney, and Wiliams) and the newly elected Board members included Henry Ott, Mark Montrose, and Henry Benitez from the USA. Also elected to represent the international membership per a recent by-laws change were Ferdy Mayer (France) and Takeo Yoshino (Japan).
The Director for Communication Services, Len Carlson, next presented his report. He introduced Ms. Michael Ann Ellis, Ms. Roseann Cary, and Mr. James Howard of IEEE Travel and Conference Management Services. Ms. Ellis was invited to give a 45 minute presentation on her department’s capabilities in handling the annual EMC/S symposia. Concern has been expressed by regional symposia committees that the EMC/S symposia are getting too large to be run effectively entirely with volunteers. The Board is thus exploring options available with having the IEEE handle all or a portion of the administrative functions of the symposia. Following the IEEE presentation, John Osburn, Chairman of the Austin 1997 Symposium, gave a report summarizing activity in Austin. The Board thanked Mr. Osburn and his committee for a job well done in Austin. Barry Wallen, Chairman of the Denver 1998 Symposium, followed with a report on activity to date for the upcoming symposium. Mr. Carlson reported that Chet Smith continues his efforts with the CD ROM program. Sales of the CD ROMs were strong at the Austin Symposium and the non-member pricing was effective in recruiting new members. Regarding the EMC/S Newsletter, editor Janet O’Neil distributed a report indicating that more practical papers will be solicited for publishing in 1998. The Board approved the distribution of the Newsletter electronically in 1998. The Newsletter will be available in the html format on the EMC Society Web Page starting with the first issue in 1998. Moto Kanda, Transactions Editor, reports that the publication is budgeted for four regular issues and one special issue in 1998. Some fifteen authors have been secured for a special issue on lightning for publication in the summer/fall of 1998. Mr. Carlson presented a proposal to publish an EMC Society magazine similar to that published by the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. The Board supported this proposal and encouraged Mr. Carlson to proceed with this effort.
Following the lunch break, Warren Kesselman, Nominations Chairman, presented the nominations slate for the 1998 Board of Directors officers. Those elected included: Dan Hoolihan, President, Don Heirman, Vice-President Standards, Todd Hubing, Vice-President Member Services, Kimball Williams, Vice-President Technical Services, Len Carlson, Vice-President Communication Services, Janet O’Neil, Secretary, and Warren Kesselman, Treasurer.
Joe Butler chaired an ad hoc committee which studied the reorganization of the Board and the creation of the new Vice-President positions. He presented his committee report which recommended that the Survey, International Committee and PACE Coordinator committees be placed under the Vice-President of Member Services. The Public Relations committee will be placed under the Vice-President Communication Services. The committees to be placed under the Vice-President Standards include a new committee entitled Standards Advisory Committee (SAC) consisting of the following RAC committees: CISPR A, CISPR B, CISPR E, CISPR G, ANSI C63, SAE Automotive EMI and EMR, SAE AE-4, ESD Association, EIA G-46&Commercial, RTCA, ASTM D09.12.14, ASTM E06.53, ESTI TC ERM, CENELEC WG1 SC 110 & 210A, IEC TC 77 WG3, IEEE Metric Policy, and ISO TC 22 SC3 WG3. The SSIT committee will be placed under Vice-President Technical Services as part of the RAC. The Board accepted the recommendations of the ad-hoc committee. Further, the Board requested that Mr. Butler continue to study the need for committee reorganization as part of the long range planning process. Mr. Butler agreed to chair an ad hoc committee formed for this purpose.
The Director for Professional Services, Norm Violette, next presented his report. Ferdy Mayer, International Activities Chairman, has possession of the EMC Society table top display and will use this to promote IEEE membership at two international EMC conferences in 1998. PACE chairman Al Mills proposed having a special PACE session at the national EMC/S symposia with invited speakers. The Board requested that Mr. Mills formalize this proposal for presentation at the next Board meeting. Lastly, Public Relations chairman Herb Zajac advised that the new EMC/S promotional video is now available in VHS, PAL and SECAM formats.
The Director for Technical Services, Joe Butler, next presented his report. Mr. Butler reported for Don Heirman, chairman of the Standards Committee, who was unable to attend the Board meeting. At the Standards Committee meetings held in August during the Austin symposium, 27 people attended the first meeting devoted to organization, policy and procedures and general Standards Committee operations. 18 people attended the second meeting which concentrated on the current status of standards. Mr. Heirman is encouraged by this interest in the Standards Committee. Kimball Williams reported as Chairman of the Education Committee. Notable activities involved the NARTE, Tutorials, and Demonstrations committees; each committee prepared a program for the 1997 EMC Symposium in Austin and is planning a program for the 1998 EMC Symposium in Denver. Due to the growth in attendance at the tutorials, there are plans to allow for 300 to 400 participants at the tutorials held in conjunction with the Denver 1998 Symposium. Chicago Chapter member Don Sweeney will present the 1997 University Grant Award at the November chapter meeting to Dr. Vincent P. McGinn of the Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. The Standards Education Committee is considering organizing a workshop for the Seattle 1999 Symposium which will provide an introduction to standards with an overview of the standards community, an introduction to the standards process and updates on where the major standards are moving.
Mr. Williams summarized his report by noting that the Education Committee is committed to implementing a program of planned officer progression throughout all the Education Committee subcommittees. A re-write of the committee policy and procedures in now in progress. In the review of the Technical Activities Committee (TAC), the Board agreed to expand the focus of TC-7 (Nonsinusoidal Fields) to include materials. Lastly, in RAC Chairman Leo Makowski’s absence, Mr. Butler distributed the RAC report which included subcommittee reports by COMAR (Committee on Man and Radiation), ANSI C63, CISPR A & G & E, and NARTE.
As the EMC/S representative to COMAR, Dan Hoolihan requested that the EMC/S agree to be a reviewing source for the National Science Foundation’s reports on non-iodizing radiation. The Board agreed to assist as necessary.
Dan Hoolihan, Vice President and custodian of the EMC/S Long Range Plan, reviewed each Service Directors’ progress in addressing the plan. First, he distributed copies of the 1996-2000 EMC Society Plan (Revision dated November 4, 1997). He requested that the newly elected Vice Presidents incorporate three year budgets into this plan. The goals of the plan address career enhancement, globalization, organizational improvement, products and services, and public responsiblity.

Elizabeth and Andre Podgorski of Ottowa, Canada particularly enjoyed the relatively warm Atlanta climate in November during the Board of Directors activities. Mr. Podgorski is the new Technical Activities Committee (TAC) Chairman.

Under Old Business on the agenda, the Board discussed the TAB Intelligent Transportation Systems Ad Hoc Committee per the report of Andy Drozd. Mr. Drozd attended one of their committee meetings in June 1997. The committee is attempting to become a technical council within the IEEE and is soliciting Society memberships for a fee. Mr. Drozd agreed to work with the Chairman of this committee to see how the EMC/S can best contribute to their efforts as well as be assured that there is minimal risk associated with any financial commitments. He will attend their next meeting in February 1998 and will report his findings at the next Board meeting.
Under New Business on the agenda, the Board discussed the Board meetings for 1998. These were proposed and subsequently scheduled as follows: April 27 in Seattle, Washington, August 23 in Denver, Colorado in conjunction with the IEEE EMC Symposium, September 18 in Rome, Italy in conjunction with the EMC’98 Roma conference, and November 14 in Piscataway, New Jersey in conjunction with the IEEE TAB/RAB meetings.
Lastly, President Gjertson discussed the activities at the recent IEEE TAB/RAB meetings he attended. He distributed the 1998 and 1999 TAB meeting dates and welcomed those interested to attend. This being the last meeting under President Gjertson, the gavel was officially passed to the newly elected President, Dan Hoolihan. The Board then gave Mr. Gjertson a round of applause for a successful two year term as President of the EMC Society.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm.
Later that evening, the Board held their traditional November dinner at Anthony’s restaurant in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. The new Board members were “officially” welcomed at this dinner while the outgoing Board members were “officially” thanked for their years of service to the Board. The Board also celebrated the election of its new officers for 1998.

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