Chapter Chatter

I know that the two (2) faithful readers of Chapter Chatter have been waiting excitedly for the final installment (Part 3) of “Dorm Life with Engineering Students.” I apologize to my two (2) faithful readers for repeating the background information (again) for these tales. But, Chapter Chatter’s first time (and probably last time) readers will enjoy Part 3 much more with the background information. “Dorm Life” stories have come from my favorite and most trustworthy source of humorous engineering stories, Steve Jensen (Steve Jensen Consultants, Inc). Steve assures me that his stories have/have not been greatly embellished over time in order to clarify/add humor to the actual/imagined events. When reading Steve’s accounts, keep in mind that “state of the art” in this era for personal entertainment devices and clocks, was vacuum tube table top (so called “5-tube”) radios and synchronous motor driven clocks, respectively. A table model radio of the era (referenced in one of the stories) would typically be capable of AM reception only and include a clock that was capable of turning on the radio at a preset time or as an alarm clock. Steve attended UCLA Engineering College from the fall of 1958 until the summer of 1963. During the years 1960 and 1961, he was a resident of Dykstra Hall, which was the first “coed” (by floor) dormitory on the campus. Sproul Hall, another “coed” dormitory also figures in one of the three stories, hence the reference to it. The storyline, as usual, is narrated from Steve’s perspective.

Field Loading Modulation (FLM)
My final story occurred in the last year of my residency at Dykstra Hall. My roommate was a guy named Greg Lewis (I have not heard from him again since college). We shared a room on the 5th floor at the end of the west end of the building. Greg was a meteorology major and as a hobby he was an avid late night AM broadcast band listener. In those days, many of the local AM stations shut down at night, giving him the opportunity to hear distant stations. Greg had a Heathkit all band receiver with a piece of wire draped out of the window for an antenna. He was always lamenting that he didn’t have a good enough antenna. He was sure that if he could connect to a “really long wire” he could hear European AM broadcast band stations. Well, by this time, Sproul Hall was completed and occupied across the road from Dykstra Hall and a little north and west of our building. In those days, access to the roofs of both buildings was open to the residents and some pretty good sunbathing observations could be made on the roof during warm days. I used to fly kites off the roof of Dykstra Hall, as it was totally free of obstructions. The only challenge was getting the kite past the up and down drafts coming up the side of the building. One day, Greg and I were on the roof flying my kite. I observed that the wind direction was such that our kite was flying directly over the roof of Sproul Hall. “Unlimited opportunity” was the phrase that came to my mind. I sent Greg over to Sproul Hall and I observed him appear on the roof of that building. He made a few gestures related to letting out string etc. and I managed to land the kite on the roof of Sproul Hall. He cut the string from the kite, tied off the string to the railing, and came back. I did the same at the Dykstra Hall end and we both raced back to the room to retrieve a roll of #36 AWG black enamel magnet wire that I had in my junk box. In the 15 minutes it took to get back up on the roofs nobody spotted our string and we used the kite string to pull the magnet wire over to the roof of Sproul Hall. We insulated the wire from the railing with black thread. We had a terrific 650-foot long wire that was completely invisible from a distance of more than about 5 feet from it. We dropped a connection down our side of the building and fished it in through the window screen. A little tape strain relief and insulation and our broadcast band antenna was complete! That wire lasted through several “Santa Ana” winds that I was sure would bring it down. It stayed for around two months until one night the girls on the 10th floor decided to have a party on the roof that involved throwing rolls of toilet paper off the roof. One of them snagged the wire and brought it down. During the two months the wire was in the air, Greg heard many stations from all over Europe.
The term “Field Loading Modulation” came about by accident one afternoon when we heard the neighbor playing his AM radio. By chance, Greg had disconnected the long wire from his receiver and the bare wire end made contact with the aluminum window frame. At the moment of contact, we noticed that the volume from the neighbor’s radio dropped dramatically! We then repeatedly connected the antenna to the window frame and disconnected it. Every time the wire was in contact with the window frame, the volume from the neighbor’s radio dropped at least 10 dB. When we disconnected the wire (open circuit) the volume returned. Another “unlimited opportunity” situation, if there ever was one, had appeared. This time we held the wire in contact with the frame until the neighbor decided to turn up the volume on his radio to compensate for the loss in volume. As soon as we heard that happen we disconnected the wire and nearly blew him out of his room. Then he turned the volume back down and of course we reconnected the wire. This cycle repeated about five times as I recall until we heard the radio go off entirely followed by a loud pounding noise against the common wall. We didn’t hear his radio for a few days after that and of course, we never inquired about the radio’s fate. The engineering lesson of this story relates to the parasitic effects of conductors that are in the near field of another antenna. Perhaps there remains an opportunity to use FLM as a means of communications over short distances without the need of building a transmitter.

Epilogue
The foregoing “Dorm Room” stories are a bit revealing with respect to my aforementioned grade point standing in the UCLA engineering class of 1963. I admit that these activities were often taking place when I should have been doing what I was supposed to have been doing (like homework or studying). However, I do consider each of these epics a learning experience, even if they could not be found in the course catalog. These situations were my introduction to what is now referred to as “thinking outside the box.”
steve@stevejensenconsultants.com

Pittsburgh – Welcome New Chapter!
Michael Oliver, Chapter Chair, reports that the IEEE Pittsburgh Section – Electromagnetic Compatibility Society Chapter has been officially formed as of November 2, 2005. The new IEEE Pittsburgh EMC-S Chapter held its inauguration meeting on January 31st and February 1st, 2006 at the Westinghouse Energy Center in Pittsburgh, PA. A special thanks is extended to Dr. Kalyan Sen, immediate past Chair of the IEEE Pittsburgh Section, for assistance in coordination of the meeting. The technical program included three excellent presentations delivered by invited speaker Elya Joffe. Mr. Joffe presented: 1. Frequently Asked EMC Questions (and Answers), 2. Principle of Path of Least Inductance and its Implications in Circuit, Cable and Grounding Design, and 3. Electrophobia, or Why are People REALLY Scared of Electromagnetic Fields? Elya also delivered a special welcome message to the Chapter from the EMC-S Board of Directors. Elya is V.P. of Engineering at K.T.M. Project Engineering and works as a Senior EMC Engineering Specialist and Consultant; Elya is a Senior Member of IEEE, and has served as a member of the IEEE EMC Society Board of Directors. Over 20 people attended the meeting. The technical and administrative/organizational inauguration meeting opened at 6:30 PM on January 31, 2006 and 5:00 PM on February 1, 2006 by founder and Chairman of the Chapter, Michael J. Oliver from MAJR Products Corporation welcomed honorary guests, Elya Joffe of the IEEE EMCS BOD, and IEEE EMCS Chapter “Angel” Dick Ford. About the new Chapter’s Chairman: Michael Oliver is Vice President of Electrical/EMC Engineering at MAJR Products Corporation in charge of new product development, EMC product consultation, and technical quoting. He is also the ISO-9001 Management Representative. His expertise is in EMI/RFI shielding technology with a background in electronics, military shelter electrical systems, and military high power antenna/radome design. Mike holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Gannon University and has been an Electrical Engineer since 1989. He currently holds three patents (two pending), on thermal management EMI/RFI shielding devices. He has experience in the design and testing of aerospace antennas, military electrical systems, and electronic and shielding components. Mike has performed open and anechoic chamber EMI/RFI radiated tests to military standards and has utilized many antenna and electronic RF testing hardware systems. He has written numerous technical papers on electromagnetic shielding components, shielding product enhancement, and the development of test specifications for antenna/radome radiated test measurements. In addition to serving as Chairman of the newly formed IEEE EMC Society Pittsburgh Chapter, he is also Vice Chairman of the SAE AE4 Electromagnetic Compatibility Committee, and is also a member of the IEEE EMCS and Standards Advisory Coordination Committee (SACCom).

Michael Oliver, Chairman of the newly formed Pittsburgh IEEE EMC Society Chapter.

Austria
Chapter Chair Kurt Lamedschwandner of the Austrian Research Center Seibersdorf (ARCS) reports that on October 12, the Austria Chapter enjoyed a very interesting presentation on EMC emission measurement techniques at the printed circuit board and integrated circuits level. Professor Heyno Garbe, IEEE EMCS Distinguished Lecturer, gave the presentation. The meeting took place in Vienna, hosted by the Austrian Electrotechnical Association (OVE). After the lecture, all attendees were invited to a buffet sponsored by the OVE.

Professor Garbe gave a presentation to the Austria Chapter in Vienna.

Attendees at the Austria Chapter meeting listened intently to the presentation of Professor Garbe, and enjoyed a humorous moment.

Following the presentation to the Austria Chapter, Professor Garbe (far right) held a technical discussion with participants at the buffet.

Beijing
Wen Xun Zhang, Chapter Chair, reports that their Chapter held numerous meetings during the months of November and December 2005. All of their meetings were well attended by both IEEE members and guests. The Chapter also held an Executive Committee Meeting on December 13. The following is an overview of presentation topics heard by the Beijing Chapter during November and December. November 14: “Various kinds of antenna test ranges at Da Yeh University,” by Professor Dau Chyrh Chang. November 25: “Biological effects under UWB high power microwave,” by Doctor Guo Zhen Guo; “EM exploration and imaging of underground objects,” by Professor Tie Jun Cui; and “Antennas for Commercialized UWB Applications,” by Doctor Zhi Ning Chen. November 30: “Research advances on THz technology in JPL” by Doctor Peter H. Siegel. December 1: “Antenna-in-Package (AiP) Technology for Single-Chip RF Transceivers,” by Associate Professor Yao Ping Zhang and “The Emperor-Selective Genetic Algorithm and Its Applications to Antenna, Microwave,” by Associate Professor Yi Long Lu. December 8: “Development progress of UWB antennas,” by Doctor Zhi Ning Chen. December 9: “Microwave passive structures design without hardware prototyping,” by Professor Wojciech Gwarek; “Modeling in RF engineering,” by Doctor Ce Jun Wei; and “Analysis and Applications of Metamaterial Surfaces: A New Paradigm in Electromagnetics,” by Doctor Fan Yang. December 12: “Microwave power Doherty amplifier for high efficiency and linearity,” and “Current status of millimeter-wave transistor technology,” both by Professor Bumman Kim. December 13: “Ultra-wideband (UWB) bandpass filters using multiple-mode resonator,” by Associate Professor Lei Zhu. December 14: “Self-calibrated method of moments for planar transmission line structures,” by Associate Professor Lei Zhu. Members of the Beijing Chapter, including speaker Gang Wang, participated in the National Symposium on UWB & Short Pulse Electromagnetics on November 26, 2005. Chapter members also participated in the 2005 Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference. Professor Wei Hong participated as a speaker. Over 800 people attended this conference!

Central New England
John Clarke, Co-Chair, reports that their Chapter held a meeting on Wednesday, October 26, 2005. The speaker was Douglas C. Smith of D. C. Smith Consultants. The topic presented was, “Locating Impulsive Events in 3D Space Using Time of Arrival Techniques.” Impulsive events, such as ESD, can cause problems in the lab as well as in the field ranging from noise glitches in measurements to outright equipment malfunction. Mr. Smith’s talk demonstrated a procedure for finding such events using just an oscilloscope, a pair of coax cables, and two short wires. Using this technique, events that were causing problems have been pinpointed from over 50 feet away! Audience participation was used for one of the experiments performed. In attendance were 18 IEEE members (11 also EMCS members) and 7 guests. The speaker previously completed a two-year term as an EMCS Distinguished Lecturer and is also a past member of the EMC Society Board of Directors. Doug is the author of the book, “High Frequency Measurements and Noise in Electronic Circuits.” His very popular website is: http://emcesd.com (www.dsmith.org)

Chicago
For its October 2005 technical meeting, the IEEE EMC Society Chicago Chapter invited Mr. Gary Fenical of Laird Technologies to present information on the topic titled “Advancements in RF Shielding Materials”. Gary’s presentation began by describing the market forces driving the RF shielding industry. He spoke of advances in electronic equipment and tough EMC compliance regulations as the key factors, but also about other application drivers such as new laws on product waste, higher mechanical reliability requirements, miniaturization, and of course reduced application costs. Gary mentioned that just about every class of shielding product has seen noteworthy changes. His presentation included information on RF shielding and mechanical performance for foam-based products and electrically conductive elastomers. He also described how the need for gaskets with geometric complexity has led to the development of Metal-Mold in Place (MIP) and Rotary Form in Place (FIP) products. The meeting was held at Elite Electronic Engineering Inc. and over 25 IEEE guests and members were in attendance. The November 2005 meeting of the Chicago section featured the Chief Engineer for WLS-AM, Mr. Warren Shulz. WLS is the Chicago affiliate of ABC radio and television and is one of the largest radio and TV broadcast stations in the country. The title of his presentation was “Surge and EMP in the Broadcast Environment.” Mr. Shulz spoke about the many engineering challenges associated with the operation of a radio and broadcast station, including the need to maintain 100% on-air reliability for high power RF transmitters and equipment. He described the equipment and procedures necessary to protect the station’s sophisticated equipment against lightning strikes and other threats. In addition, Warren talked about the important public safety role that WLS-AM has with our nation’s emergency broadcast system in times of natural disasters or national emergency. The meeting was held at DLS Electronics. In addition to the presentation, the Chapter members voted to accept the nominated slate of Chapter officers. Congratulations to the newly re-elected officers and thanks again to the outgoing officers for another year of service to the Chapter. The last event of 2005 was the annual Holiday Party held at Dave and Busters restaurant. This great social event has become a tradition for the Chapter and includes a magnificent buffet dinner, games, and a billiards tournament.

Ray Klouda of Elite Electronic Engineering Inc. made a few announcements at the Chicago Chapter’s October meeting.

Mr. Gary Fenical of Laird Technology was the guest lecturer for the October Chicago Chapter meeting.

Warren Schulz, Chief Engineer for WLS-AM Radio, spoke at the November Chicago Chapter meeting.

Carla Robinson and Tom Braxton (far left) address the audience at the November Chicago Chapter meeting held at DLS Electronics.

France
André Berthon reports that the French Chapter sponsored the “2EMC (embedded EMC) Symposium” from September 26th to 28th at EGISELEC (Rouen). The program covered the practice and theory of EMC in transportation, such as automotive and aeronautics, with a strong emphasis on equipment. Discussions and exchanges of ideas greatly contributed to the success of the presentations. Much was shared concerning the integration of equipment in complex systems during the symposium. More than 60 attendees were present at four conferences, 25 papers and an animated roundtable. On November 4, the Chapter held a meeting organized by Joe Wiart of France Telecom R&D. The topic, “Numerical Methods in Time Domain Calculations,” attracted over 20 participants representing all French firms and laboratories active in this field. Exchanges were very fruitful and it was decided to approach this topic regularly in the future.
On December 13, Dr. Gil Cottard of Antem gave an excellent talk at ISEP Paris entitled “New Measurement Methods for Microwave Absorbing Walls.”

Germany
The German EMC Chapter met in Aschaffenburg on October 31. Distinguished Lecturer David Pommerrenke from the University of Missouri-Rolla gave a presentation entitled, “EMI Analysis of Complex Systems.” All 39 attendees agreed that the presentation, as well as the host, was excellent. Shortly after the October lecture, the German Chapter met in Magdeburg for a presentation entitled “Characterization of Statistical Impedance of Field Distributions in Mode Stirred Chambers,” given by Dr. Krauthäuser. This talk, held at the Otto-von-Guericke-University, was the prelude for a series of events addressing mode stirred chamber related topics. The German Chapter is organizing a “Region 8 Mode Stirred Chamber User Meeting” to be held in the second half of 2006. The annual meeting of the IEEE German EMC Chapter took place on November 24 in Frankfurt/Main. The new chairman Frank Sabath (Federal Armed Forces Research Institute for Protective Technologies (WIS), Munster) welcomed 14 Chapter members and promptly guided them through the agenda. After his opening and welcome address, he briefed Chapter members on year 2005 activities and the year-end Chapter status. Dr. Sabath reported a 5% increase of members and seven new senior members. He announced that the IEEE Fellow Committee has named Professor Heyno Garbe from the University of Hanover to Fellow Grade, effective January 2006, for contributions to electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) measurement techniques. Dr. Sabath congratulated Heyno Garbe for this elevation. Since the 2004 annual meeting, the IEEE German Chapter has been quite busy. 20 events took place including 15 technical meetings, one special session at the IEEE International Symposium on EMC in Chicago and two meetings of working groups. Because of the German Chapter’s continued high quality activities and technical events, they were awarded the 2005 Chapter-of-the-Year-Award by the IEEE EMC Society. Frank Sabath thanked all members for contributing to the activities of the EMC Society and of the German Chapter. Everybody agreed that the workshop on EMC in aircraft systems, with keynote speakers Nigel Carter and Elya Joffe, was the most outstanding event of the year 2005. In 2006, the German Chapter is looking forward to hosting the “Region 8 Workshop on CEM Computational Modeling” and the May meeting of the IEEE EMC Society Board of Directors. At the end of his briefing, Frank Sabath was also honored to inform the attendees about the Best Thesis Award of the German Chapter. The awards commission has received nominations for the 2005 award; it will be presented at the Board meeting in May 2006. The next annual Chapter meeting is scheduled to be held at the Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, on December 1, 2006. Professor Karl Gonschoreck offered to organize tickets for a concert at the Semperoper. Everyone is looking forward to this special social event.

Frank Sabath (right), Chair of the German Chapter, congratulated Heyno Garbe on his recently bestowed IEEE Fellow Award.

Meeting attendees at the 2005 annual meeting of the German Chapter.

Korea
Professor Jeong-Ki Pack of Chungnam National University, Chairperson of the Korea EMC Chapter, reports that the Chapter co-hosted the “2005 Workshop on Computational Electromagnetics” at Kyungbuk National University on August 19, 2005. The workshop’s five presentations covered various computational methods for numerical solution of electromagnetic phenomena, such as Method of Moment (MoM), Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) methods, Finite Element Method (FEM), and others. The workshop was attended by over 100 participants! The Korea Electromagnetic Engineering Society (KEES) and IEEE AP/MTT Korea Chapter coordinated the event. The Korea Chapter also held the “2005 Fall Conference on Microwave/Radio” at Kwandong University on September 24, 2005. There were nearly 90 papers presented at the conference, which covered many aspects of the electromagnetic field including active/passive circuits and components, EMI/EMC, antenna, scattering, and so forth. This conference was also well attended with about 120 participants. The Microwave/Radio Conference was organized and coordinated by KEES and the IEEE AP/MTT Korea Chapter. Finally, the Korea Chapter co-hosted the “2005 EMC Korea Workshop” with KEES at the Seoul Education Center on October 6, 2005. A total of 9 presentations covered various aspects of EMI/EMC measurement, EMC design rules, and other topics. 105 participants attended this workshop.

Malaysia
The IEEE AP/MTT/EMC Joint Chapter of Malaysia successfully organized the Asia Pacific Conference on Applied Electromagnetics 2005 (APACE2005) from 19 to 21 December 2005. The event venue was the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. APACE2005 is second in the APACE series of conferences initiated by the Chapter aimed to provide opportunities for researchers, engineers, and industrialists working in areas related to electromagnetics to present research results and new findings. It also aims to foster a close academia-industry relationship and serves as a platform to discuss areas of mutual interest among attendees. The conference was jointly organized by the electrical engineering faculties of the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Kolej Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn, Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Industri Selangor. 140 participants attended the conference from 10 countries. A total of 87 papers were presented in sixteen parallel sessions. Topics discussed at the conference included computational electromagnetics and modeling, electromagnetic interference and EMC, bio-electromagnetics and medical applications, microwave engineering, wireless communications, ionospheric and radio-wave propagation, packaging and inter-connects. Two Keynote Addresses were given, including: “Adaptive Integral Method for Electromagnetic Scattering and Antenna Radiation” by Professor Le-Wei Li of the National University of Singapore and, “3D EM in South East Asia – State of the Art and Future Perspective,” by Dr. F. Demming of CST GmbH, Germany. Dr. A. Centeno of London South Bank University delivered an invited paper entitled “New Types of Microstrip Filters Using Defected Grounds.” Four Best Paper Awards were presented at the conference. Mr Jayaseelan Marimuthu, of Multimedia University, Malaysia, received the Best Paper Platinum Award for his presentation entitled “Second Harmonic Suppression Characteristic of a Grooved Bandpass Filter.” The conference organizers are grateful for the support lent by the sponsors, CST GmbH Germany and Silterra Malaysia. This conference has successfully filled a void of dedicated EMC conferences in this region, and this has led to the 3rd Asia Pacific Conference on Applied Electromagnetics planned for 2007.

Richard Keating presented a tutorial titled “Characterization of RF and Mixed Signal Devices Built on SI” at APACE05 in Malaysia.

Dr. Frank Demming of CST GmbH Germany provided the keynote address titled “3D EM in South East Asia - State of the Art and Future Perspective” at the conference in Malaysia.

APACE05 Conference Chair, Associate Professor Dr. Mazlina Esa, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony in Malaysia.

Mohawk Valley
The past year brought several exciting presentations by guest speakers! Dr. Tapan Sarkar of Syracuse University, Paul Zdanowicz of Fair-Rite Products Corporation, and Dr. Gerard T. Capraro of Capraro Technologies, Inc. all gave presentations to the Mohawk Valley Joint EMC/Reliability Chapter. The meetings were presided by Chair Irina P. Kasperovich of ANDRO Computational Solutions, LLC. Dr. Sarkar’s talk was titled, “Analysis of Composite Metallic and Dielectric Structures Using the WIPL-D Code.” The talk centered on the application of the WIPL-D code which is a tool used for modeling the scattering effects of electromagnetic radiators in the presence of mixed materials (e.g., wires embedded within metallic plates as well as non-perfectly electrically conducting structures such as dielectrics). According to Dr. Sarkar, the WIPL-D code uses the Galerkin method to solve surface integral equations for electric and magnetic currents over any arbitrarily shaped finite composite dielectric surface including perfect electric conductors. Flexible geometrical modeling is performed by using truncated cones to model wires and bilinear surfaces for other geometries. Efficient approximation of currents is achieved by using polynomial entire-domain expansions that automatically satisfy the continuity equation. Special care is devoted to: (a) modeling of wire-to-plate junctions and protrusions of wires through dielectric surfaces, (b) automatic segmentation of large surfaces and (c) automatic parameterization of 3-D geometries. Thus, a very efficient and user-friendly code is available, enabling the solution of real life problems using personal computers. Typically, it is an order of magnitude faster than the conventional subsection-based computer codes such as the traditional method of moments (MoM). Dr. Sarkar presented several examples to illustrate the applications and benefits of using the WIPL-D code. He is one of the people behind the ongoing development, application, and refinement of the WIPL-D code for analyzing complex electromagnetic systems. Dr. Sarkar is an IEEE Fellow and is affiliated with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University. He is also currently an associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation and is Vice President of the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society (ACES), as well as the technical chair for the combined IEEE 2005 Wireless Conference along with ACES to be held in Hawaii in April 2006. Next, guest speaker Paul Zdanowicz as part of the Chapter’s late Fall 2005 meeting schedule, gave a presentation. Mr. Zdanowicz gave a talk on the topic of “Ferrite Cores for EMI Suppression.” The talk was aimed at individuals involved in designing, testing, or generally dealing with EMI suppression and those interested in understanding the basic operation of ferrite materials and components. The presentation also provided an in-depth discussion of EMI suppression and the significance of test methods. From the attendees’ responses, this was a great opportunity to learn about the various materials available and how they perform, thus allowing one to quickly narrow down the choices when choosing a ferrite solution. Mr. Zdanowicz has worked at Fair-Rite as a Product Manager for six years. Prior to Fair-Rite Products, he spent 18 years designing magnetic components and providing applications support for various transformer and power supply companies, so his experience on the topic speaks for itself. Dr. Capraro presented another topic titled, “Knowledge Discovery for Electromagnetic (EM) Compatibility – Another Paradigm Shift,” during the Winter 2005 meeting. This highly interesting topic addressed the future of US military systems and the need to be able to adapt to changing environments in real time. To accommodate these future systems, the US Department of Defense is promoting the use of waveform diversity for radar systems, and dynamic sensing and exploitation of the electromagnetic spectrum for communication systems. Building a military system including one or more of these radar and communication systems will require the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and techniques, stated Dr. Capraro. This presentation also discussed leveraging AI tools being developed by the Semantic Web, DARPA’s DAML and XG programs, and building ontologies for sensor systems so that they can efficiently communicate, share their data, and manage the electromagnetic spectrum through knowledge processing and discovery. Incidentally, Dr. Capraro is a Fellow of the IEEE and a past member of the Board of Directors of the EMC Society (1983-1985 term). Irina Kasperovich plans for more talks commencing in February 2006 by Andrew L. Drozd, President of the EMC Society, on the “State of the Society.” Other technical topics are planned for the coming year pertaining to new concepts in spectrum management, EMC regulatory issues, and advancements in computational electromagnetics.

At the Mohawk Valley Chapter meeting, Dr. Gerard T. Capraro of Capraro Technologies, Inc. stood firm on the need for a paradigm shift in the way we assess system-level EMC.

Paul Zdanowicz of Fair-Rite Products Corporation provided an excellent tutorial on the selection and application of ferrite materials for EMI suppression at the Mohawk Valley Chapter meeting.

Oregon and SW Washington
William Moyer reports that the Oregon and SW Washington Chapter continued their tradition of sharing high-quality guest speakers with its neighboring Chapter to the North (Seattle). Starting in October, with their own Dave Arnett, they enjoyed insights on “Telecom Port Conducted Emissions Measurements,” from the 2005 IEEE International Symposium on EMC in Chicago. Dave Arnett is a Senior Member of the IEEE EMC Society who has presented a number of worthy technical papers on a variety of important design and measurement topics at recent EMC Society Symposia. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University (BSEE) and has an MSEE degree from Oregon State University. He has been employed at Hewlett-Packard for 14 years, where he is now the Senior EMC Technical Lead (Expert) Engineer in HP’s Vancouver InkJet Printing Division. Mr. Arnett presently serves as a US Delegate to CISPR Subcommittee I and is designated a Technical Expert on three of the four working groups within CISPR/I. (CISPR/I maintains Publications 13, 20, 22, and 24, and is currently writing Publications 32 and 25, dealing with Emissions and Immunity of multimedia equipment.) A NARTE certified engineer (by examination) since 1996, Mr. Arnett received his FCC 3rd Class Radiotelephone Operator’s License when he was 13, helping his father maintain commercial radio stations in and around Yakima, Washington. He is married, has four children ages 8-16, and is a member of the Northwest LDS Symphony, a member of Toastmasters International, and a USSF Soccer Referee. Mr. Arnett’s presentation is the result of his cooperative research with Ed Blankenship (also of Hewlett-Packard) on telecom port emissions problems in computer peripherals (specifically digital printers). Their findings demonstrate how one can use telecom LISN’s (T-LISN’s) as a diagnostic tool. Also, by varying the T-LISN’s longitudinal conversion loss (LCL) characteristics, the location of the T-LISN between the Ethernet hub and the EUT, host system computer, and network traffic generator, and by varying the percentage of traffic loading present on the network. Dave’s presentation illustrated explicitly how departing from standard test set-ups could identify the nature (common/differential mode), and source (EUT/traffic generator/hub/host system/signal/power) of the problem emissions. This is a fascinating presentation and much better in color (rather than the Symposium Record’s black and white hardcopy and PDF file on CD), and was especially appreciated by the members of his audience who were not able to attend this year’s Symposium. In November, Portland was host to the EMC Board of Directors, providing an opportunity to have Dr. Heyno Garbe (University of Hanover, Germany), Distinguished Lecturer of the EMC Society and a member of the Society’s Board of Directors, as Chapter meeting guest speaker. Dr. Garbe received his Dipl.–Ing and Dr.-Ing degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of the Federal Armed Forces, Hamburg Germany, 1978 and 1986. From 1986-1992, Dr. Garbe was with the Asea Brown Boveri Research Center in Switzerland, where he was involved in research on TEM-waveguides, numerical calculation of electromagnetic fields, and other EMC related topics. Since 1992, he has been with the University of Hanover, where he is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. There he has developed an active research program in electromagnetic field effects modeling, testing, and measurement as applied to EMC. Professor Garbe is very active in several EMC-related national and international standardization committees and has authored and co-authored more than a hundred articles in books, journals, and conference records. Dr. Garbe’s presentation/tutorial was entitled, “Understanding and Avoiding EMC-Problems of LANs.” He covered EMC fundamentals with respect to LANs, EMC properties of LANs, and concluded with a discussion of some typical mistakes with LAN cables, which result in poor EMC performance. LAN cable EMC design is driven by cross-talk concerns within a LAN cable. Thus, Dr. Garbe’s presentation on EMC fundamentals focused on attenuation to cross-talk (ACR), which is specified as a function of frequency for Cat. 5, 6, and 7 cable, and on the effects of twisting, shielding (the latter in terms of the shielded wires’ transfer impedance), and the signal’s balance, and how those factors interact to determine a LAN circuit’s common-mode rejection in operation. Dr. Garbe next summarized an Ethernet LAN’s signaling characteristics as determined by the different combinations of encoding and scrambling employed in 10BaseT, 100BaseT, and 1000BaseT LAN’s. Finally, Dr. Garbe presented data showing the disastrous and strikingly similar effects on cross-talk coupling of pigtail shield terminations and of interrupted (broken) shields. Mr. Moyer also reports that preparations for the Portland 2006 IEEE International Symposium on EMC are proceeding smoothly. The Symposium is coinciding with the 200th Anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition across North America. In honor of the Lewis and Clark expedition across geographic frontiers, a theme of “Exploring EMC Frontiers” has been adopted. All Committee positions for EMC 2006 have been filled, and monthly meetings of the Symposium Committee are being held prior to each month’s EMC Chapter Meeting - almost all EMC Chapter Officers are members of the Committee. Please visit the EMC 2006 Website at http://www.emc2006.org/ for more information. The Oregon-SW Washington Chapter looks forward to having all join the ‘Corps of EMC Discovery’ in Portland this summer! In December, the Chapter held its traditional Holiday Social, this year in conjunction with the local Chapter of the newly-formed IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society (PSES), at Who-Song and Larry’s Mexican Cantina on the Columbia river, timing the event to the night that the local volunteer fleet of decoratively lighted Christmas Ships was scheduled to pass by directly below the riverside windows of the restaurant. In addition to the Christmas ships on the Columbia River, the participants had the pleasure of each other’s company, good food, and the fun of the traditional White-Elephant gift exchange, thus bringing to a close another enjoyable and productive year for the Chapter. Information about future Chapter meetings can be found at the following web site: http://www.worldaccessnet.com/~emc/

Dave Arnett (right) of Hewlett Packard in Vancouver gave a presentation on the diagnostic use of a T-LISN at the October Oregon and SW Washington Chapter meeting.

The EMC Society Board of Directors comes to Portland, and not only does the Chapter have the opportunity to hear a special speaker from Germany, but the quality of the food shows a remarkable improvement as well. (The members infer the cause and effect relationship.)

All had a fine time as the Board, Chapter members, and local engineering students had a chance to socialize prior to the evening’s technical presentation at the Oregon and SW Washington Chapter meeting.

Dr. Heyno Garbe, EMC Society Board Member, gave his well-attended presentation at the University of Portland, following a Board meeting in downtown Portland.

Eating again, it must be that clean Pacific Northwest air! Oregon and SW Washington Chapter members and their guests enjoy dinner prior to the appearance of the lighted Christmas Ship flotilla on the Columbia River, which, along with their sister fleet on the Willamette River, bring the holiday spirit to Portland and Vancouver, even without a hint of snow in sight.

The Oregon and SW Washington Chapter enjoys the merriment of a “White Elephant” gift exchange. Nice hat – we would definitely swipe that if we were playing!

Phoenix
Glenn Gassaway reports that the October 2005 IEEE EMC Phoenix Chapter meeting was held October 12th at Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant in Tempe. This was the first meeting of the fall season, and it was very well attended! Jim Reed of Optimal Designs provided a very interesting talk on 3D EM simulation. Jim’s discussion focused on the two initial solution domains used to calculate the electrical properties of a device: frequency domain and time domain. Each domain has advantages and disadvantages which affect the solve time. Jim presented a brief introduction of frequency and time domain calculations with an emphasis on the meshing technique. Several EMC examples were presented using both Ansoft HFSS frequency domain and CST Microwave Studio time domain with consideration to model setup for accuracy and solve time. Jim went through the five basic indicators of when time or frequency domain simulation should be used. Electrically large models often solve faster in time domain. Models with high mesh aspect ratio are generally more suited for frequency domain simulations with tetrahedral mesh. Large bandwidth models should focus on time domain simulations, since a single simulation excites a broad range of frequencies in the time domain. High Q devices should typically use frequency domain simulations, since time domain solutions of these devices may be lengthy due to their energy storage and long decay times. Finally, frequency domain simulations should be used for models with a large number of ports. Jim then presented several examples. The first example used CST’s Microwave Studio (time domain) to solve for the radar cross section of a 10 inch ‘almond’. The second example showed how Ansoft’s HFSS (frequency domain) solved for a small gap. The third example showed how Microwave Studio simulated a blade antenna. This example showed how to establish entry ports and boundary conditions. The fourth example showed how Microwave Studio simulated a cavity resonator (a device with a long decay time). Even with simple geometry, the simulation of this high Q device in the time domain was rather lengthy. The last simulation showed how HFSS simulated a microstrip connector with a complex form factor. The conclusion of the presentation conveyed that both domains are accurate for all passive 3D devices if used properly, but there are clear advantages in solve time and improved accuracy if the proper solution domain is chosen. The November 2005 IEEE EMC Phoenix Chapter meeting was held on November 9 and featured speaker Ray Adams of Fischer Custom Communications, Inc. Ray has also been the Los Angeles IEEE EMC Society Chapter Chair since 1992. The typical cost of performing a complete MIL-STD-461 EMC test suite warrants attention to detail. The level of investment (time and money) demands that a successful and efficient EMC test be performed. This is particularly true with the qualification of any new system or system upgrade. Ray discussed methods of successful EMC test planning, including gaining a full understanding of how the equipment under test (EUT) operates, the physical layout of the EUT, the selection of proper operational modes, and the EUT harnessing, grounding and power returns. Ray mentioned that it is imperative to write a useful EMI test procedure that includes a full comprehension of the intent of every test. A well-written test plan should not rely heavily on a ‘boilerplate’ test procedures. During a test, it is critical to carefully follow the procedure, document deviations, and to maintain an EMC test logbook. The EUT susceptibility criteria should be carefully defined and non-value added testing should be avoided, since it can increase test time and cost. Ray presented several sample susceptibility criteria for a number of different EUT types. Ray also discussed several methods to improve EMC test setups, including understanding the limitations of the test equipment. He went into detail discussing the effects of preamplifier and spectrum analyzer overload and how it can be mitigated. Ray then reviewed the pitfalls of poor design of EUT monitoring equipment. It is important to prevent the monitoring equipment from becoming the dominant noise source or from inducing EUT susceptibility. Ray indicated how one could analyze susceptibility test signal coupling paths and estimate required RF isolation. Troubleshooting methods should focus on careful review of test data and only one variable should be changed at a time. Test reports should include a test equipment list, a summary of test performed with results, test set up photographs, test data, transducer factors and a copy of the redlined test procedure. Ray summarized the presentation by declaring that successful EMC tests are possible, but careful preparation is necessary and thorough EMC test procedures are required. Our Chapter thanks Ray for a very informative presentation! Stay tuned to our web site at http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/phoenix/phoenixemc/ for upcoming meeting announcements.

Speaker Ray Adams points out potential RF leakage points when conducting RS103 testing to the Phoenix Chapter.

After the Phoenix Chapter finished their Mexican dinner, it was time to get down to business with a talk by Ray Adams from Fischer Custom Communications.

Jim Reed of Optimal Designs explains the difference between time domain and frequency domain modeling to the Phoenix Chapter.

Seattle
Chapter Chair Pat André of André Consulting reports the October meeting featured speaker Dave Arnett of Hewlett Packard in Vancouver, Washington. The meeting was held at CKC Labs in Redmond. Dave spoke on issues related to conducted emissions measurements made on telecommunication ports. Historically thought only to apply to telephone lines, the conducted emissions on telecom port rules require testing on all Ethernet and network cables. With a clear but concise presentation, Dave discussed methods of determining the source of telecom noise, the effects of traffic on the bus, as well as the effect of the LCL circuitry. The November meeting brought a rare opportunity to the Chapter. The IEEE EMC Society Board of Directors held their meeting in Portland, Oregon. The Board includes a number of celebrated EMC engineers; one of note is Dr. Heyno Garbe from the University of Hanover, Germany. Dr. Garbe is a Distinguished Lecturer for the EMC Society, has received numerous EMC related awards, and since 1998 is the Dean for Education at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. Following the Board meeting in Portland, Dr. Garbe traveled north to Seattle with Chapter Vice-Chair Janet O’Neil. The Chapter had the privilege of hearing Dr. Garbe speak on “Understanding and Avoiding EMC Problems of LANs.” The meeting was held at CKC Labs in Redmond. With an increasing amount of equipment using LAN and Ethernet connections to communicate with other equipment, and with the proliferation of EMC requirements, this topic is becoming critical. The Chapter enjoyed a very enlightening and informative discussion. The 2005 Chapter year ended with elections being held at the November meeting. Pat André was re-elected Chairman, Brent DeWitt of CKC Labs was elected Vice-Chairman, Leo Smale of Lionheart Northwest was re-elected Treasurer, and Stephen Stimac of Cascade Engineering was re-elected Secretary. Congratulations to these Seattle Chapter officers and many thanks to outgoing Vice-Chair, Janet O’Neil of ETS-Lindgren, who “retired” after several years of service to the Chapter. The Chapter also wishes to thank CKC Labs for graciously offering their Redmond facility as a meeting location over the years. Having recently moved to a new, expanded facility in Bothell, the Chapter looks forward to meeting at the new CKC Labs in the future.

Dave Arnett was the expert speaker from Hewlett Packard at the October meeting of the Seattle Chapter.

Chapter Chair Pat André (left) thanked Dave Arnett for his great presentation to the Seattle Chapter.

Derek Skouby of ElectroMagnetic Investigations, Oregon and SW Washington Chapter Chair, journeyed north from Portland with speaker Dave Arnett to attend the Seattle Chapter meeting and enjoy dinner with his “sister” Chapter members.

Heyno Garbe of the University of Hanover, Germany, makes a point during his presentation to the Seattle Chapter members in November.

Professor Garbe answers a question following his presentation at the November Seattle Chapter meeting, while attendees complete the Distinguished Lecturer Survey.

Singapore
Dr. Li Erping, Chapter Chair, reports that on 26 October 2005, the Singapore IEEE EMC and MTT Chapters invited Elya Joffe to deliver a technical talk on “Frequently Asked EMC Questions (and Answers),” at PSB Corporation, Singapore. Over 100 participants attended Mr. Joffe’s presentation from industry and academic research organizations. On 31 October 2005, a technical workshop was organized jointly by the IEEE Singapore EMC and MTT Chapters and held at the National University of Singapore. Dr. William A. Radasky from Metatech Corporation in Goleta, California, gave a presentation on, “Intentional Electromagnetic Interference (IEMI): The Threat and Protection Methods.” Dr. Ma Jian Guo from Nanyang Technological University also delivered a talk that evening regarding, “Characterization and Modeling of On-wafer Interconnects for RFICs.” Over 50 persons attended the double-header presentation from both the Singapore industry and academic research institutions. On October 31, 2005, the Singapore EMC Chapter specially hosted a one-day EMC-Zurich in Singapore International Technical Program Committee (TPC) Meeting. The meeting was held primarily to review the symposium papers and identify the best student papers and best symposium papers.

Elya Joffe captivates the audience during his “Frequently Asked EMC Questions (and Answers)” presentation to the Singapore Chapter.

There was a great turnout for Elya Joffe’s presentation last fall in Singapore.

United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland
The Chapter had another successful programme of events in 2005 starting on March 23 with a joint event with the IEEE Communications Society UKRI Chapter at the University of Bath. The subject was “EMC and Communications.” Five presentations covering land, sea, and air situations were very well received by a large audience. On June 29, the Chapter met at the Imperial War Museum site at Duxford, near Cambridge, where papers were presented covering a number of hot topics under the headings of “EMC and Signal Integrity,” “Spectrum Monitoring” and “The New EMC Directive.” After the presentations and lunch, members and guests had a fascinating time exploring the extensive site, which is home to some very large exhibits including many historic military aircraft. The Chapter provided eight presentation tables for the Demonstration Session at the recent EMCUK2005 event, which was held at Newbury Racecourse. This is the second year that the Chapter has provided demonstrations on the first floor of the Grandstand Conference Centre and many attendees were able to seek-out and discover the practical manifestation of a variety of EMC effects. EMC

Paul Duxbury (left) of Flomerics demonstrates a computer solutions presentation at the UK and Republic of Ireland Demonstration Session.

Adrian Leaver (right) of QinetiQ demonstrates the operation of a light bulb during an experiment at the UK and Republic of Ireland Demonstration Session.