| Personality Profile |
Bill Duff, Associate Editor |
 |
Elya Bernard Joffe |
In this issue, we travel to Israel, to present the personality profile of Elya Joffe. Elya is a member of the Joffe family, one of the largest families in the Hebrew people. Rumors claim that the family is descended from King David.
Elya Joffe received his B.Sc.EE degree in 1982 from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Be'er-Sheva, Israel. His studies, which he completed within two years and a half, took place while he was still with the Israel Air Force, and focused on communication and radiating systems. It appears from that early time he was preparing for a career in Electromagnetic Effects.
During his studies, Elya joined the IEEE, and participated in the First Mediterranean Electrotechnical Conference (MELECON'81), in Israel, where he presented his first Symposium paper.
Upon graduation in 1982, he returned to full service in the Engineering Division of the Israel Air Force, where he obtained the degree of Captain.
During that time, Elya was first introduced to EMC. His first mentor was Mr. Jack Moe, a well-known expert in the EMC Community (and up to these very days Ð a good friend of his). Thanks to Jack's encouragement and willingness to discuss and explain technical aspects, Elya's future was being "carved on the rock". EMC was "love at first sight".
During his service in the IAF, Elya was preparing to make EMC his career, taking courses, reading books and participating in several EMC Symposia. His first EMC Symposium was the 1986 IEEE International Symposium on EMC in San-Diego. Thereafter, he participated in most of the annual IEEE EMC Symposia and others.In 1987, Elya was discharged from the IAF, and joined KTM Project Engineering, a privately owned consulting company, and was assigned to the IRRS (Israel Radio Relay Station) project, better known as the "Voice of America" Station in Israel. His responsibilities covered the study and investigation of the potential electromagnetic effects of the planned broadcast station (one of the largest of its kind in the world), transmissions on people, fauna and flora, communication systems and aircraft. Many studies carried out then could still be considered innovative today – especially those associated with the investigation of aircraft ("Iron birds") fuselage shielding effectiveness in the short-wave frequency band as well as EMR effects on living birds. Measurement techniques developed by Elya and his Team have been the topic of several papers presented at various EMC Symposia.
Up to these very days, one of Elya's primary fields of interest is that associated with field to aircraft interactions, particularly Short Wave (HF) interactions.
During his work for the Project, Elya joined the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and became an active member of the SAE-AE/4-R Committee (HIRF). This enabled him to contribute his experience from his studies to the development of the HIRF requirements generated in the Committee.
After the termination of the Project, in 1992 Elya extended his consulting in EMC to government and industry in Israel, and became one of the leading consultants in Israel in the field of EMC. His activities extend from circuit (and below) to systems (and above). He also extended his activities to EMC Education and training, in Israel and abroad, where he teaches multiple EMC and EMC-related public and in-house courses.
Elya was first introduced to the EMC Society and joined it during his service in the Air Force. Naturally he joined the IEEE EMC Chapter in Israel in 1986, and soon became the Chapter Secretary/ Treasurer. New as he was in the Society, he already outlined his aspirations to contribute to the Society, and to the EMC Community in a global scale. In 1990, Elya was elected to the Senior Member grade of IEEE. In 1992, while acting as Secretary of the Israel IEEE EMC Chapter, Elya and Mr. Rafi Rubinstein, then the Chapter Chairman, organized the 1992 IEEE Regional Symposium on EMC, of which Elya was the Technical Chairman. In 1995, Elya was elected Chairman of the Israel IEEE EMC Chapter. Since his appointment as Chapter Chairman, the Chapter membership increased by 20dB (from 20 members, approximately, to 200 and more today).
Elya was determined to get the Israel Chapter "on the global map", and, therefore, one of his first activities as Chapter Chairman was to "cash the cheque" from the EMC-S, and petition to hold the 2003 IEEE International Symposium on EMC in Tel-Aviv, Israel. That proposal being approved, Elya was elected as chairman of that Symposium, "the first after 2000 years," as commonly said in Israel.
In 1998, Elya was elected to the IEEE EMC Society Board of Directors (BoD) for the term 1999-2001. It is interesting to note that he is the first Israeli Member on the BoD. It is noteworthy that the Israel EMC Chapter was also the first EMC Chapter outside the USA. Elya now serves the Society as the Chairman of the IEEE EMC Society Standards Advisory and Coordination Committee (SACCom) and as Chairman of the IEEE EMC Society Region 8 Membership Com-mittee and, naturally, also as the "Angel" of the Region 8 Chapters.
Elya is very active in the annual EMC symposia, and has presented over 30 papers on EMC at various EMC symposia worldwide. He also serves as a member of the international committees of several EMC Symposia worldwide (e.g., EMC'97 Beijing, EMC'99 Tokyo, and others).
Elya is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and was a reviewer of several EMC books which were published by the IEEE Press. He is also a demanded speaker on EMC topics in Israel and abroad, and serves as a Distinguished Lecturer of the EMC Society for the years 1999-2000.
Elya's interest in EMC Standardization led him to the position of Chairman of the Israel Technical Committee on EMC in the Israel Institution of Standards, where he is currently leading the effort of standards development and regulation in Israel. He is also a member of other technical committees, particularly the Lightning Protection Experts Committee.
He is a registered Professional Engineer and a NARTE-Certified EMC and ESD Control Engineer. He is also a member of the dB Society.
Elya is a recipient of the Third Millenium Medal of the IEEE. He is also listed in the 14th Edition (1997) of "Who's Who in the World".
His favorite hobby and pastime is... IEEE, to which he devotes many, many hours of his day (and nights). He also enjoys the reading of historical novels and fiction.
Elya enjoys traveling, especially with his family, and takes advantage of the annual trips to the IEEE EMC Symposia to explore different regions of the USA and other regions of the world. He is, therefore, always accompanied to the IEEE EMC Symposia by his wife, Anat, and daughter, Tami-Lee. Incidentally, Tami-Lee, has "attended", since her birth in 1988, all EMC Symposia, with the exception of the 1991 Symposium. Elya says she is undergoing her "on job training" in EMC.
And finally from past to future. From the troubled yet so promising region – the Middle East, where the Israel Chapter resides as the only IEEE EMC Society Chapter, Elya also has a vision: A vision of EMC cooperation between EMC engineers in Israel and in the neighboring countries. His aspirations are to open the Israel Chapter to EMC engineers, and particularly to EMC Society members from the Region. His motto is EMC for Peace and Peace for EMC. Would that not be the accomplishment of the IEEE's goals: The understanding of the electrical and electronic phenomena and their application for the benefit of Society and mankind in general, and to the improvement of it's quality of life?
Elya Joffe may be reached at eb.joffe@ieee.org. EMC