Letter From the Editor

Did you notice that the last issue of the EMC Newsletter was number 200? Published quarterly, at 200 issues, that means the EMC Newsletter has been a regular feature of the EMC community for 50 years! It was originally published by the Institute of Radio Frequency Engineers, which later evolved into the IEEE EMC Society. 200 issues is a significant milestone that our EMC Society Historian, Dan Hoolihan, was quick to point out when he received the last issue.
Recently I thumbed through past issues of the EMC Newsletter from when I first started as editor some eight years ago. Back then, it was all black and white printing and the only color was limited to the front and back covers. The above photo is from the early days of black and white Newsletters. Now, of course, we have all color issues and we’ve gone from an average of 24 pages per issue to 64 pages per issue. It’s interesting to see how things can change over the years.
Speaking of history, Mr. Hoolihan is actively gathering material that records the 50-year history of the EMC Society. He has collected several issues of the EMC Newsletter as well as the Transactions on EMC. When he has spare time, he’s been reading a few of these historic back issues. In one such issue of the EMC Newsletter, he found information about Richard R. Stoddart. One of the EMC Society’s most prestigious awards is named after Mr. Stoddart. Do you know about the life of this illustrious and accomplished engineer? Have you ever wondered why the EMC Society would name an award after him? Well, thanks to Mr. Hoolihan, you can find out in this issue of the EMC Newsletter on page 30. This is just one example of various interesting articles on our EMC Society history that Mr. Hoolihan will be providing for the EMC Newsletter in future issues to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the EMC Society. Remember, we will celebrate that milestone over July 9-13 in our 50th state, Hawaii. You won’t want to miss the special 2007 IEEE International Symposium on EMC in Honolulu, Hawaii.
When I read about Mr. Stoddart, I thought about the unique individuals from the early days of the EMC Society. Sadly, we lost two such unique individuals recently. Myron (Mike) Crawford and Chris Kendall passed away in March 2004. I had the pleasure to know these fine EMC engineers. What impressed me most about these gentlemen was their enthusiasm for EMC and their pleasure in sharing their knowledge with others. Both were capable and accomplished engineers in their profession, and both were keen educators. I know of countless EMC engineers that have been mentored over the years by Mike and Chris. I’d like to thank Galen Koepke and the RF Fields Group at NIST for preparing the fitting tribute to Mike in this issue on page 41. Likewise, many thanks to Steve Jensen for preparing the tribute to Chris Kendall on page 43. Members of EMC Society will sadly miss Mike and Chris. EMC