The 2000 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility will be held at the Washington DC Hilton Hotel on 21-25 August 2000. Our Society's annual international event is generally recognized at the world's meeting place for EMC technologists. Dozens of international committees and organizations involved with EMC will hold key meetings at this event. Attendance estimated at 3000 people is expected to exceed the previous record attendance of 2640 set in 1998 at the Denver Symposium. This year's program will also be record breaking with thirty-six technical sessions (well over 200 papers) in addition to a three day, special parallel session specifically addressing the Symposium theme, A Spectrum of Challenges for the New Millennium.* As well, 125 exhibitors will occupy nearly 300 exhibit booths. Among topics that should pique interest include papers on private sector Spectrum needs, EMI to pacemakers from cell phones, Instantaneous Frequency Distribution measuring equipment, and many others.
Outstanding seminars and workshops will be presented, beginning on August 18 with the Measurement of Radio Noise Emissions, instructed by Don Heirman, H. Robert Hoffman and Art Wall. There are 11 workshops, seven on Monday and four on Friday that address issues from Reverberation Chamber Designs, to Composite Material EM Properties, to EM Modeling, to Wireless EMC in the Medical Environment. All will be lead by internationally known individuals in the EMC community. The widely popular EMC experiment/demonstrations will run virtually continuously from Tuesday through Thursday of the Symposium week.
The Tuesday evening reception will be held at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Our Symposium attendees and guests will have virtually unlimited and exclusive access to one of the most visited museums in the world for the entire evening. There are 23 galleries of displays to see. All of the aircraft and most of the spacecraft on display in the galleries were actually flown or used as backup vehicles. Both young and old will experience a strong sense of the fruits of human endeavor seeing the suspended Wright brothers' 1903 Flyer and Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, touching the Moon rock collected by the Apollo astronauts from the lunar surface, and walking through Skylab. The IMAX film "To Fly" will be shown in the Langley Theater during the evening.
On Wednesday night you will see the US Capital's premier national monuments and federal buildings flooded in lights, from the illuminated dome of the US Capitol to the breathtaking view from the roof of the Kennedy Center. You will step off the catered motor-coach with the assistance of tuxedo attired waiters and visit the Jefferson Memorial, Kennedy Center, Lincoln, Korean, Vietnam Veterans and FDR Memorials. You will experience views from the air conditioned coach, views of the US Capitol, Library of Congress, Supreme Court, House and Senate Office Buildings, Federal Triangle, Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House, Capitol Reflecting Pool, Georgetown and Marine Corps Memorial (Imo Jima).
Many additional daily tour events are scheduled through out the entire week. Each day will feature a tour that starts at 0900 and will last all day. You will be able to experience most of what Washington D.C. has to offer from visiting the Newseum - "the interactive Museum of News", to visiting the Colonial past in Mount Vernon and Historic Old Town, to enjoying a whirlwind city tour of all the DC highlights, to a visit back in times to Georgetown, Washington's oldest neighborhood, and finally a shopping trip to one of the world's largest discount/outlet shopping centers - Potomac Mills.
Bill Duff, Symposium Chair, and his committee have worked hard to assure that this symposium will set the standard for the next decade's EMC International Symposia. First-and-foremost, attendees will leave with both top-notch technical presentations and records. As well, they'll have had a first class experience in a fascinating, beautiful, and culturally exhilarating Capital City.
* Editor's Note: For details on this special session, see either the last Newsletter issue, page 33, or the Symposium Advance Program (which, at this time, should be in the possession of all EMCS members). EMC