My predecessor, Todd Hubing, had (supposedly) drawn heat from the Chief (a.k.a. Janet O’Neil) for using EMC songs, sonnets and sundry satires to headline his Chapter Chatter articles. The Chief’s editorial focus groups never included me – I loved Todd’s prose. But, the Chief is the Boss and when I took over this endeavor, it was my intent to use only “real life” EMC stories. The Chief couldn’t come after me for writing about real life EMC, could she? OK, so my versions of “real life” EMC stories are slightly embellished to enrich and highlight the drama of the situations. Nevertheless, the stories are (mostly) true. All of this is just a long-winded effort to cover my backside. I am violating the Chief’s editorial “policy,” kind of. I have a true EMC story about an EMC song. The following is a brief, but true story about a retirement party held at my company in 1996. A really great guy and talented engineer by the name of Roger McConnell was retiring after a distinguished 34 year career in electromagnetics, 24 years at the Stanford Linear Accelerator and 10 years at CKC Laboratories. During his tenure with us, Roger made numerous outstanding contributions, including development of equations for coupling between tuned dipole antennas for the purpose of loss determination. Roger’s equations have also been central to papers on fully anechoic chambers presented jointly at IEEE EMC Symposia. He was affectionately dubbed “Mr. Math” after one of his symposium presentations. At Roger’s little send off into retired bliss, we discovered that he is not only a superb engineer; he is also a talented musician. Roger performed the following piece in unaccompanied vocal. The EMC Professional (with apologies to Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Major General”) I am the very model of an EMC Professional, About antenna calibration I am called obsessional. I know the regulations from the FCC and VDE, With smatterings of knowledge on Austel and also BZT. I’m very well acquainted too with double exponentials, I calculate the energy of damping sinusoidials. In short, in matters technical and legal and tutorial I am the very model of an EMC Professional! When filters are not filtering and cable shields are fraying And interfering ambients are proving most dismaying, Instead of heading quickly for the nearest priest’s confessional, Pick up your telephone and call the EMC Professional! I’ll fix your interference in a moment with astounding skill And render for my services a perfectly astounding bill. In short, in matters technical and legal and tutorial I am the very model of an EMC Professional! Aside: I am sure that you noticed the dated agency references in Roger’s ditty. It’s amazing how much has changed in nine years.

Austria
On March 31st, the IEEE EMC Chapter in Austria, the Institute for Electronics (TU-Graz) and the Seibersdorf EMC Test Laboratory, organized the well-attended “EMC Meeting 2005” at the University of Technology in Graz. The following topics were presented and discussed:

During the lunch break and after the presentations, the audience had many discussions and visited the vendor exhibition area.

Austria EMC Chapter members and speakers at the “EMC Meeting 2005,” included (from left) Lamedschwandner (Seibersdorf), Deutschmann (austriamicrosystems), Sutter (Rohde & Schwarz), Gerfer (Würth), Stark (Würth), Wallner (UEI), Winkler (TU-Graz), and Stabentheiner (Magna Steyr).

Lunch break in the exhibition area at Austria’s “EMC Meeting 2005.”

Over 80 people participated in the one-day EMC event organized by the Austria EMC Chapter.

Chicago
Frank Krozel reports that there was standing room only at the April meeting of the Chicago EMC Chapter. Held at Elite Electronic Engineering, speaker Ed Hare, W1RFI, had the audience in awe, talking about Broadband Over Power Lines (BPL) Communications, and how it is working. Ed also covered many standards that are applicable. (Is it a coincidence that this topic also appears in the EMC Standards Activities article on page 29 of this Newsletter?) Many new faces were seen in the audience, and many amateur radio operators from the Illinois and Wisconsin areas attended this special meeting. The crowd was estimated to number over 60 people! The Chicago Chapter is very busy planning for the 2005 IEEE International Symposium on EMC to be held over August 8-12 in the famous “Windy City.” All are encouraged to attend! For more information, visit www.EMC2005.org.

Ed Hare of the American Radio Relay League (left) and Frank Krozel of Electronic Instrument Associates chatted before the April Chicago Chapter meeting.

Speaker Ed Hare drew quite an audience at the Chicago Chapter meeting held at Elite Electronic Engineering.

A lively question and answer period followed Ed Hare’s presentation to the Chicago Chapter.

Carla Robinson and Bob Hofmann compare notes at the Chicago Chapter meeting.

Eastern North Carolina
Chapter Chair Glenn Robb of Research Triangle Compliance Engineering and Chapter Vice-Chair Dave Guzman of EMC Technologists enlisted the talent of speakers Lee Hill of Silent Solutions and Bruce Archambeault of IBM for their March 9th one-day Colloquium and Exhibition on EMC. With the now “famous” title of “The Bruce Lee Show”, these speakers in all seriousness spent one full day presenting “EMC Design Concepts and Applications for the Real World” to the rapt attention of some 70 attendees. Scheduled to follow the EMC Society Board of Directors meeting at IBM in Research Triangle Park on March 8, the Colloquium and Exhibition was held at the Hilton Raleigh/Durham Hotel nearby. This allowed many Board members the opportunity to stay an extra day in the area and attend this event. The networking was very interesting as a result! 20 exhibitors were on hand to display the latest in EMC related products and services. During the reception in the exhibition area, a raffle was held for several great prizes donated by the Chapter and also the exhibitors. The speakers arrived at the reception in festive attire to the delight of many. Business attire by day, Kung fu attire by night! After the full day, the Chapter Officers were tired, but pleased with the outcome: many engineers left having learned practical EMC techniques that they could use the next day on the job! Incidentally, a few nights before the Colloquium, the Chapter held a meeting on March 7 with Todd Hubing as the speaker. Todd’s presentation was titled: “The Top 10 EMC Questions (and Answers).” This was a very well received topic being both educational and entertaining. The Chapter wishes to thank the EMC Board of Directors for visiting Raleigh and for participating in many of the Chapter’s activities while in town.

John Whitney of AR Worldwide caught up on some work during a quiet time at the Colloquium.

Leo Makowski of HV Technologies (left) and Dave Guzman of EMC Technologists, Eastern North Carolina Chapter Vice-Chair, visited during the Chapter’s one-day Colloquium and Exhibition.

John Ball of Leader Tech was one of the many exhibitors at the Eastern North Carolina Colloquium on March 9.

Trip Kreger of Fair-Rite Products Corp. (left) and Kevin Saurage of Laird Technologies participated in the Eastern North Carolina EMC Chapter’s one-day Colloquium and Exhibition.

Mack Davis of G-Mag, Kimball Williams of Denso, Jack Black of DLS Electronics, Lee Hill of Silent Solutions, and David Johns of Flomerics (from left) enjoyed the networking opportunities at the Eastern North Carolina Chapter event.

Bruce Archambeault of IBM drove home a technical point during the “The Bruce Lee” show.

Janet O’Neil of ETS-Lindgren enjoyed the dramatic attire of the speakers at “The Bruce Lee Show”, namely Lee Hill (left) and Bruce Archambeault, in Eastern North Carolina.

Guy de Burgh of Mentor Graphics (left) visited with Bruce Archambeault during the reception held following the Eastern North Carolina Chapter Colloquium.

IBM’s Sam Connor staffed his company’s tabletop display at the March 9 Chapter event.

Rich Spangenberg of Square D (left) enjoyed the lunch buffet in North Carolina along with Doug McKinnon of EMSCAN.

Jack Black networked with Mark Montrose of Montrose Compliance Services, Glenn Robb of Research Triangle Compliance Engineering, Eastern North Carolina Chapter Chair, and Larry Leise of IBM (from left). Larry won the raffle prize of a Best Buys gift card.

Jim Skelly of Cybershield joined Bob Rodriguez and Dortch Walker of Rohde & Schwarz (from left) at the March 9 Colloquium and Exhibition.

Germany
Dr. Frank Gronwald reports that at the beginning of April, the German EMC Chapter held an officer meeting at Airbus Industries in Hamburg where Treasurer Robert Kebel welcomed Chair Frank Sabath, Vice Chair Jan-Luiken ter Haseborg, and Secretary Frank Gronwald. One of the main topics was to plan and discuss forthcoming EMC events. Dr. Sabath announced the names of outstanding and well-known EMC experts that already have agreed or intend to speak at future German Chapter meetings, including Carter, Joffe, Pommerenke, Holloway, Archambeault, Brenner, Williams, Drozd, and Hubing. It certainly is exciting to think of EMC events with speakers like these! The German Chapter also plans to initiate and strengthen activities of the IEEE student branches. It is hoped that in this way more prospective researchers will find their way to the IEEE and enjoy its scientific and social benefits. Benefits such as listening to thoughtful presentations on EMC are surely valuable!

Frank Sabath, Jan-Luiken ter Haseborg, Robert Kebel, and Frank Gronwald (from left to right) conduct a German EMC Chapter officer meeting with ties and plain mineral water.

Milwaukee
This past year for the Milwaukee EMC Chapter has provided our members with many opportunities for learning and, of course, socializing. The year started with a very well attended fall dinner meeting capped by a presentation with Mr. Doug McKinnon of EMSCAN, LLC. Discussion centered on the topics of spectral scanning and spatial scanning. Over 30 IEEE members attended and observed a demonstration utilizing a 433 MHz transmitter. Both the final FCC certified production unit and a pre-compliance unit were compared with observable results. As the holiday season approached, socialization came together with an IEEE Milwaukee Section Family Holiday Party at the Milwaukee Public Museum. Over 160 attendees consisting of both members and student members from several local universities participated. Dinner was served on the 2nd floor of the museum among the African dioramas. This was a welcomed environment, dining with the Lions, Elephants and Thompson Gazelle’s on a brisk snowy night. After the holiday season, planning went into full swing for the Spring 2005 EMC Educational Seminar. The efforts were rewarded with a record attendance, both for attendees and vendors. This is the fourth year the Milwaukee EMC Chapter has sponsored an educational seminar and the consistency of this seminar is being rewarded. For the record, 143 engineers registered for the seminar. Of the 143, 79 were IEEE members. 19 vendors staffed tabletop displays, adding another 31 attendees. For lunch, 178 were served. Our speakers were Dr. Bruce Archambeault of IBM and Mr. Lee Hill of Silent Solutions. Their enthusiasm and presentation style brings a credibility that can only be summed up by our post seminar survey responses. After the seminar, 122 surveys were turned in. A resounding 121 indicated that they would return next year for another EMC Chapter sponsored seminar. 61 responses graded our speakers as “excellent.” In addition, free form comments included: “outstanding value”, “Dr. Bruce’s presentation was incredibly useful” and “best seminar I have attended in several years”. Planning for our 5th educational seminar has already started. Following the EMC Educational Seminar, the EMC Chapter sponsored an early spring evening of networking with IEEE Student Members at Marquette University. The guest speaker was Mr. Russell Harrison of IEEE USA. The Milwaukee Chapter encourages all Chapters and sections to consider scheduling Mr. Harrison as a speaker. IEEE USA is a branch of the IEEE dedicated to lobbying the US Congress on behalf of the US engineering profession. His presentation on student visa’s and immigration laws with their impact on the US engineering job market kept everybody’s interest well past 10:00 pm. The next scheduled activity for all members of the Milwaukee EMC Chapter is attending the 2005 IEEE International Symposium on EMC in Chicago. See you all at Navy Pier in August!

(From left) Doug McKinnon of EMSCAN and Frank Krozel of Electronic Instruments Associates had fun with Jim Blaha, Milwaukee Chapter Chair, and his alignment techniques.

EMSCAN in action with a 433 MHz transceiver.

Jim Blaha, Milwaukee Chapter Chair, congratulates Sylvia Wrate of Rockwell Automation/Allen Bradley on her Chairing of the 2004 Holiday Party Committee.

Lee Hill of Silent Solutions and Bruce Archambeault of IBM (right) are now “Honorary Cheese Heads” (and with full honors) in Milwaukee.

Frank Krozel of Electronic Instruments Associates…… “Look – Gravity”

The 2005 Milwaukee EMC Seminar Committee (from left) included Teresa White of L. S. Compliance, Dr. Bruce Archambeault of IBM, Lee Hill of Silent Solutions, and Jim Blaha of L. S. Compliance. Absent are: Janet O’Neil of ETS-Lindgren and Ron Borowski of Quad-Tech Industries.

Teresa White of L. S. Compliance stuffed the duffle bags that were provided to all that returned a seminar survey.

There was seating for 160 and only a few empty chairs at the Spring 2005 EMC Educational Seminar in Milwaukee.

Find Val Werner of Wisconsin Electric Corp. among the Polynesian exhibits at the Milwaukee Section Holiday Party!

Hey Bruce, say … “Cheese”

Jim Blaha, Milwaukee EMC Chapter Chair, concluded the Seminar by saying, “Thank you for attending and we’ll see you next year.”

Lee Hill challenged the Milwaukee Chapter audience with another example of “Learning through Experimentation.”

Mr. Russell Harrison of IEEE USA discussed immigration laws and how you can participate in the next “IEEE USA Fly-in” in Washington, DC.

147 certificates of attendance were ready for distribution following the Milwaukee Seminar!

Jim Blaha discussed career choices and job interviewing techniques with students from the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Oregon and SW Washington
Sidney Chan, Chapter Vice Chair, reports that the Oregon and SW Washington Chapter continued their tradition of excellent technical presentations. Pat André came down from Seattle in January to kick off the New Year. Mr. André is the current chair of the EMC Society Seattle Chapter and the principal consultant of André Consulting. He has worked in the military and aerospace environment for over 20 years, and worked in the commercial electronics environment for the last nine years. Mr. André has a strong ability in the test and measurement area of EMC. Mr. André’s presentation was divided into two parts. He first discussed the properties and uses of inductors and baluns. Then, he spoke on the ‘lighter’ topic of speaker cables. He helped dispel myths about the value and properties of very expensive speaker cables. In February, Robert G. Olsen came to speak on the Evaluation of RF Measurement Instruments in strong ELF Fields. Robert G. Olsen is the Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture and the Boeing Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. Professor Olson gave an excellent presentation on the real world effects of strong ELF fields on RF measurement instruments. He gave examples of the measurement errors due to the ELF fields and also presented some possible solutions for correcting these errors. In March, Greg Kiemel (Director of Engineering at Northwest EMC and EMC Society Distinguished Lecturer) gave an overview of the EMC requirements for Wireless Medical Telemetry in the US, Canada, and the EU. Examples were given of wireless patient telemetry across a variety of operational frequency bands. His presentation included some very interesting examples of real world interference in hospitals with medical wireless implanted devices. In addition to the monthly Chapter meetings, the Oregon and SW Washington EMC Chapter and the PSTC are planning a Portland Product Compliance Colloquium and Exhibition for Monday, April 25. The Colloquium will feature EMC, Product Safety, and Environmental Regulatory topics. The speakers will be:

Information about future Oregon and Southwest Washington Chapter meetings can be found at the following web site: https://www.worldaccessnet.com/~emc/

The Oregon and SW Washington Chapter members relaxed before the March meeting.

Dave Britton of Hewlett Packard, Chair of the Oregon and SW Washington Chapter, presided over the January meeting.

Robert Olsen of WSU traveled from Pullman, Washington to speak in February at the Oregon and SW Washington’s Chapter meeting.

Oregon and SW Washington Chapter Officers (from left) Chuck Britten, Dave Britton, and William Moyer visited with speaker Greg Kiemel (second from right).

Local talent Greg Kiemel of Northwest EMC spoke at the March meeting of the Oregon and SW Washington Chapter.

Rocky Mountain
The Rocky Mountain EMC Chapter got the 2005 technical program off to a flying start with 50 people attending the first meeting in January. The technical presentation was entitled, “Electrostatic Discharge: A Tutorial.” The meeting was intended as a review of the basics of Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) and was divided into four parts. Part 1 consisted of a description of the several types of ESD events that are created in information processing equipment and other electronics. Part 2 outlined the various possible current wave shapes of an ESD event and how each wave shape affects logic and other electronic circuitry. Part 3 was a general review of ESD mitigation techniques and briefly explored unique shielding and grounding issues associated with ESD events. Part 4 focused on test set-ups, test equipment, and product survivability requirements. All in all, this was an excellent start to the tenure of Matt Aschenberg, the new Technical Program Chair of the Rocky Mountain Chapter. The February meeting was a double header. In the first presentation, “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Emissions Testing: Part 4”, Todd Seeley from IALabs (Boulder, Colorado) ingeniously merged two different Sci-Fi themes (Hitchhiker/Star Wars) with the promise of a galactic view on emissions testing. Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) is a discipline that has many obscure technical facets. Engineers new to the EMC discipline are often confused by the various options available for testing the emissions from electronic products. How does one pick between the testing options - OATS (Open Area Test Site)/GTEM/Semi-Anechoic Chamber/Fully Anechoic chamber? This presentation gave a top-level understanding of Normalized Site Attenuation and how it affects testing results in comparing multiple emissions test sites. The second presentation, “High-Speed Measurements - a Tutorial Closed the Loop Between Board Design and Test,” was given by Minh Quach of Agilent. Mr. Quach designed this presentation to provide engineers with a practical framework for understanding and performing high-speed measurements. The talk started with a brief introduction to ideal (lossless) and lossy transmission lines, interconnects, and the use of time-domain reflectometry (TDR) and vector network analysis (VNA) techniques for high-speed measurements. Bandwidth and rise time considerations were addressed, followed by a detailed discussion of signal integrity considerations (ground bounce, power bus decoupling, dispersion loss, AC loss, differential pairs, common/differential modes, even/odd modes). The talk continued with a discussion of board-level interconnect components (vias, connectors, sockets, probe tips, packages, multi-chip modules, PCB traces, single/differential runs) and concluded with high-speed interconnect modeling consideration. In March, the Rocky Mountain Chapter was pleased to host Dr. Tom Jerse, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at The Citadel and IEEE EMC Society Distinguished Lecturer. In this meeting, Dr. Jerse presented a very elegant effect in EMC – that is using balance to control the creation of common-mode currents. First, Tom set the scene with some examples of common structures and analyzed how emissions can be created with imbalance in the circuit. Something as simple as a stub on a trace can be a very effective source of the imbalance. This talk explained, demonstrated, and quantified how asymmetric structures excite common-mode currents.

A full house was present at the Rocky Mountain EMC Chapter meeting in January.

Rocky Mountain Chapter officers (from left) Chas Grasso, Monrad Monsen, and Mat Aschenberg, gave special thanks to Bill Ritneour for his January presentation on ESD testing.

Tom Jerse of The Citadel kicked off the Rocky Mountain Chapter meeting in March.

The officers of the Rocky Mountain Chapter thank Tom Jerse (center) for a great presentation in March.

 

Santa Clara Valley
Darryl Ray reports that the incoming Chapter officers assumed their new roles starting January 1st. The new officers are: Bert Chan (Chair), Hans Mellberg (Vice Chair), Dale Gutierrez (Treasurer) and Oscar Fallah (Secretary). On the first Tuesday of each month, the administrative committee (ADCOM) meets to discuss Chapter businesses and prepare for the monthly meetings. Complementary sandwiches and soft drinks are furnished to all attendees at the monthly meetings. As a result of its efforts in organizing the 2004 IEEE International Symposium on EMC in Santa Clara, California (August 2004), the SCV Chapter received a $10,000 surplus appropriation from the IEEE EMC Society. The SVC Chapter is grateful indeed! The January meeting presentation was entitled, “Does Position Matter? - Locating Bypass Capacitors for Effective Power Distribution.” The speaker was Mr. Steve Weir of TeraSpeed Consulting Group, LLC. The discussion was presented from a signal integrity point of view. Many aspects of capacitor placement with respect to power distribution were discussed. The paper also pointed out the importance of capacitor placement with respect to good EMC design. The February meeting topic was “Locating ESD and Other Impulsive Events by Time of Arrival,” presented by Santa Clara Valley’s own Doug Smith, Consulting Engineer. Doug set up a high-speed digital oscilloscope and showed how to locate impulsive events using a few simple handmade antennas and looking at time delays of the wave front. Examples were discussed and a live demonstration was given. A number of interesting horror stories (also known as case studies!) were shared with the audience. In March, Mr. Fred Leffingwell, EMC engineer with Cisco Systems, San Jose, California, gave an informative presentation entitled, “EMC and the Transformer Center Tap.” Fred’s presentation showed various center-tap grounding strategies and the trade offs associated with them. The meeting concluded with a brief discussion of transient suppressors and their implication on EMC emissions and immunity performance. Over 40 people attended Mr. Leffingwell’s presentation.

Sendai, Japan
After supporting the “2004 International Symposium on EMC, Sendai” in June 2004, the Chapter sponsored an “EMC Sendai Chapter Colloquium.” Professor Ken Kawamata (Hachinohe Institute of Technology) was invited as the lecturer. Dr. Kawamata presented his excellent research work on “Wideband measurements of transients relating to micro-gap discharge phenomena.” He outlined very interesting measurement results obtained by the fastest oscilloscope and the widest spectrum analyzer currently available, applying his distributed circuit model. During the presentation, helpful discussions took place and encouraging suggestions were given. In December of 2004, a workshop took place focusing on PLC (Power Line Communications), which is currently a hot issue in Japan. Six lecturers made presentations on PLC, including:
1) Overviews by Professor Akira Sugiura
2) Characteristics of Power Lines and PLC by Professor Nobuo Kuwabara
3) EMI Regulations of PLC by Director Fujio Amemiya
4) PLC Systems and their Characteristics by Director Masahiro Maki
5) Counter Measures for Interferences caused by PLC by Professor Masamitsu Tokuda
6) Interferences for Radio Astronomy by Professor Takayuki Ono
The 2004 Chapter officers will remain in place for 2005. Moving forward, the Chapter has also decided to hold colloquia on a bi-annual basis, in June and in December.
For more details on upcoming Sendai Chapter activities, please visit them on the web at https://www.topic.ad.jp/emc-sendai/pr-mar2005.html

Professor Sugiura gave the opening greeting of the Sendai Chapter’s PLC workshop.

Seattle
The Seattle EMC Chapter held a joint meeting with the local IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques, Computer, and Communications Societies. Over 80 people attended this January 27 meeting at Arrow Electronics in Bellevue. Techlink NW donated pizza for dinner prior to the meeting. The featured speaker was Dr. Amer Hassan of Microsoft on “The Future of Wireless LANs: IEEE 802.11n”. Dr. Hassan noted that Wi-Fi is proving to be an essential technology for pervasive computing. However, some key issues need to be resolved to enable some applications enjoyed by end users. His presentation outlined the current status of the Wi-Fi industry, issues to be addressed, and how the industry is collaborating to enhance the user experience. The presentation concluded with a discussion on the emerging next generation of Wi-Fi, currently referred to as 802.11n. On February 24, Professor Bob Olsen, Associate Dean of Washington State University, and Technical Editor of the EMC Newsletter, gave a presentation titled “Evaluation of RF Measurement Instruments in Strong ELF Fields.” This topic was a nice complement to the presentation given by Elya Joffe on “Electrophobia” at the Chapter’s November meeting. Professor Olsen is a wonderful speaker who kept the audience alert throughout his entire presentation. This meeting was held at CKC Labs in Redmond. Professor Olsen’s experience in front of an audience was clearly evident as he provided detailed information on RF survey meters and field measurements. The Chapter appreciated learning about his expertise on human exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields. On March 29, Northwest EMC came to town and hosted a wonderful dinner at the Desert Fire restaurant in Redmond. Jerry Page of Northwest EMC affably greeted the some 20 attendees upon arrival. The featured speaker was Greg Kiemel, an EMC Society Distinguished Lecturer. He spoke on the topic “Wireless Medical Telemetry Devices.” It was interesting to see the examples shown of wireless patient telemetry across a variety of operational bands. The presentation and the dinner were excellent! For April, Seattle EMC Chapter Chair Pat André will lead a Chapter contingency south to Portland for their Colloquium and Exhibition on April 25. He may just recruit an interesting speaker or two for future Seattle EMC Chapter meetings!

Dave Walen of the FAA is first in line for the casual dinner held prior to the February Seattle Chapter meeting held at CKC Labs in Redmond.

Pat André, Seattle EMC Chapter Chair, (left) thanked speaker Greg Kiemel of Northwest EMC for his excellent presentation at the March Chapter meeting.

Jerry Page of Northwest EMC visited with Mark Chase of CKC Labs (right) following the March Chapter meeting in Seattle.

Desert Fire restaurant was the location of the March Seattle Chapter meeting.

Speaker Bob Olsen of WSU (left) and Dennis Lewis of Boeing discussed a presentation issue following the February Seattle Chapter meeting.

Singapore
Dr. Li Erping, Chapter Chair, reports that the Singapore Chapter held a meeting on January 14. The meeting venue was the Singapore Institute of High Performance Computing, where Professor Joungho Kim, of KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), gave a presentation on Digital Electromagnetic Waves in High-Speed Digital Packages and PCBs. His talk attracted over 100 attendees from both industry and academic institutions in this region. In this talk, Professor Kim presented the fundamental design issues and challenges associated with the signal propagation, resonance, and the radiated emission profile of high frequency and high-current electromagnetic waves. Topics presented included transmission line effect, crosstalk, resonance, antenna effect, simultaneous switching noise, skew, and jitter. He also touched on the impact of the degradation of timing and noise margin, and system reliability. On March 8, the Singapore Chapter invited Professor Tatsuo Itoh, from the University of California at Los Angeles, to deliver a seminar on “Microwave Devices Based on Composite Right/Left-Handed (CRLH) Transmission Line Metamaterials.” The meeting and presentation took place at the Singapore Marina Mandarin Hotel. On March 11, the Singapore Chapter held a technical meeting that specially addressed organization of the 2006 International Zurich Symposium on EMC in Singapore. The meeting in particular discussed the special topics and topical meetings to be included in 2006. The meeting was well supported by the Chapter members.

Director Maki presented PLC Systems at the Sendai Chapter’s December workshop.

 

The Sendai EMC Chapter Flag.

Sendai Chapter officers met after their EMC Colloquium in late August.

Professor Kawamata presented his excellent work on micro-gap discharge during the Sendai Chapter’s EMC Colloquium.

Professor Takagi gave the opening announcement at the inaugural EMC Sendai Chapter Colloquium.

An attentive audience listened to the presentation by Professor Joungho Kim at the January Singapore Chapter Meeting.

Singapore Chapter officers gather with the speaker after their January Chapter meeting including (from left) Timothy Foo, Singapore Chapter Treasurer, Dr. Linus Lau from Intel, the invited speaker Professor Joungho Kim, Professor Kim’s student, and Dr. Li Erping, Singapore Chapter Chair.

Tucson
The joint Chapter of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques, Antennas and Propagation, and EMC Societies held a special one-day event in cooperation with the Antenna Measurement Techniques Association (AMTA). Titled “Antenna Calibration and Measurements: A Colloquium and Exhibition,” this regional event was held on Friday, March 18 at the new JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort in Tucson, Arizona. The goal of the event was to offer education on antenna measurement techniques and related topics. Over 70 people attended the event. Attendee companies represented included Boeing, Raytheon, EG&G, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, and NAVSEA, to name a few. The new JW Marriott Hotel in the hills of Tucson was a dramatic setting for this event. All enjoyed the incredible views offered from this first class setting. And, the food served was excellent! Following a continental breakfast buffet, the technical program started with an overview of AMTA and the local Tucson area presented by Larry Mandeville of Raytheon in Tucson. Larry is Secretary of the AMTA Board of Directors so he was well qualified to speak about this small, but growing organization. Next, Joe Vokurka of March Microwave presented information on antenna and RCS measurements. Joe traveled from Europe just to speak at this event! Harry Gaul of General Dynamics C4 Systems in Phoenix then spoke about the influence of ground plane reflection on antenna calibration and measurements. Harry is the chair of the Phoenix EMC Chapter. His presentation was followed by a 75-minute lunch break in the exhibit area. A buffet overflowing with delicious chicken and beef fajitas, as well as rice, beans, a variety of salads, and dessert was offered. Vince Rodriguez of ETS-Lindgren had the daunting task of being the designated after lunch speaker, but with his interesting topic, people stayed alert – despite having full bellies! Vince spoke about anechoic chamber design and rectangular antenna ranges. He presented a case study that kept the topic informative and applicable. Lastly, Doren Hess of MI Technologies wrapped up the day with his presentation on spherical near-field testing of vehicle-mounted antennas over a ground plane. He presented the topic with applications. A noted AMTA expert, as well as an experienced speaker, he also tied in material from the previous presentations to provide a good summary of how all the topics related and fit together. After these excellent presentations, the attendees and speakers returned to the exhibit room for a reception. Once again, the buffet was overflowing with fish tacos, a cheese platter, a fresh vegetable platter, and a variety of gourmet pizzas. Everyone was treated to drink tickets that could be redeemed at the full bar in the room. The prickly pear margaritas seemed to be a big hit! There was also a raffle of several great prizes donated by AMTA and the exhibitors. All the speakers, as well as Carrie O’Shea and Brent Treadway of Technical Marketing Specialists (TMS) who handled the registration, were thanked at the conclusion of the event. The Co-Chairs of the Tucson joint MTT/AP/EMC Chapter, Sarah Morales and Nicola Splitek, look forward to their next meeting on May 23, which will feature Nigel Carter of QinetiQ in the UK. Nigel will be visiting Tucson over May 23-24 to attend the EMC Society Board of Directors meeting. His expertise related to aerospace EMC will surely be of interest to the local engineering community.

Vince Rodriguez and Janet O’Neil of ETS-Lindgren appreciated visiting with the AMTA and IEEE Joint MTT/EMC/AP Chapter members at the Tucson event.

John O’Brien of WEMS Electronics showcased his company’s EMI/RFI signal line, power, custom, and space level filters at the Tucson Chapter’s Colloquium and Exhibition.

Lunchtime at the Tucson Chapter event provided a good networking opportunity for Mike Valle of Boeing, Johannes Ganzert of Rohde & Schwarz, and Bob Bender of Boeing (from left).

Enjoying the pleasant Tucson weather are exhibitors John Clutton of Laird Technologies, Bob Ydens of EMI Solutions, John Detwiler of MI Technologies, David Turi of Cuming Microwave, and Jack Radavich of S&S Technologies (from left).

Speakers at the Tucson Chapter event included (from left) Larry Mandeville of Raytheon, Joe Vokurka of March Microwave, Vince Rodriguez of ETS-Lindgren, Don Bodnar of MI Technologies, and Harry Gaul of General Dynamics.

United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland
Tony Swainson reports that the Chapter has continued to flourish, with an interesting program of four meetings each year. Meetings usually include technical presentations on topics of current interest and where possible, venues are selected which have a broad appeal and can offer some more general interest after the technical business. One of the highlights of the year was a meeting held on June 23, 2004 by special arrangement at the Science Museum Annex, which is on an unused airfield at Wroughton near Swindon in Wiltshire. In spite of the awful weather, 39 people attended. The technical session was on the theme of circuit board EMC with presentations from Tony Maddocks and Martin Ganley of ERA, Tim Jarvis of RadioCAD and Markus Bueker of Zuken EMC. Nigel Carter then introduced presentations on “EMC History” by Gerry Jackson and Dave Bull, old hands who probably needed no introduction. The history lesson was very appropriate to the atmospheric surroundings, which included many historic aircraft. After an excellent buffet lunch there was a guided tour of the exhibits in the large hangar where the morning session had been held. This part of the collection included early wheeled-vehicles, bicycles, and historic aircraft. It was a tantalizing glimpse of just a small part of the collection. It is hoped that there will be an opportunity to see more of the Wroughton site in the future.

Presenters Gerry Jackson (left) and Dave Bull at the June meeting of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland EMC Chapter.

Did that really fly? These were the types of questions pondered during the June meeting in the UK.

Dave Bull checked the compatibility of one of the exhibits during the UK and Republic of Ireland Chapter meeting.

Julius Knapp of the FCC discussed new technology EMC regulatory challenges with the Washington DC/Northern Virginia Chapter in March.

Washington DC/Northern Virginia
Mike Violette of Washington Labs reports that the Washington DC/Northern Virginia Chapter held its bimonthly meeting on March 17 at the FCC’s Laboratory in Columbia, Maryland. There were 31 attendees. Mr. Julius Knapp, Deputy Chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology, gave a talk entitled: “EMC Challenges in a Rapidly Changing Spectrum Environment.” In his presentation, Mr. Knapp discussed how a number of recent matters before the FCC have raised fundamental policy questions relative to EMC, such as how to define harmful interference and what levels of interference protection levels are appropriate for services that rely on reception of extremely weak signals. Mr. Knapp also discussed some of the EMC challenges posed by the introduction of new technologies such as ultra-wideband devices, dynamic frequency selection to facilitate sharing of spectrum between unlicensed devices and Department of Defense radars, smart antennas, and cognitive radio. As the FCC’s mandate is to protect users of the RF spectrum, it has enacted regulations covering all manner of intentional and unintentional emitters. However, rule-making often becomes very narrowly focused towards protecting either particular service providers who have either purchased large segments of spectrums or incumbent users; these rulemakings have and will continue to levy strong restrictions on new technologies—with the intent to protect existing services—which may hamper development and deployment of new services. A key admonition to EMC professionals was to be ready to participate in these processes so that the regulations are realistic and do not become overly restrictive. EMC

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