 |
| (From left) EMC Society Board members
Dan Hoolihan, Barry Wallen, Andy Drozd, and Don Heirman, IEEE
President Lewis Terman, EMC Society Board member John Norgard,
2008 IEEE President-Elect John Vig, and EMC Society cofounder
Warren Kesselman show off the 50th Anniversary plaque at a
ceremony at the IEEE Operations Center, in Piscataway, New
Jersey. |
On Monday, January 14, the EMC Society donated
an original commemorative plaque to the IEEE Operations Center
in Piscataway, New Jersey. The plaque contained a lapel-pin celebrating
the 50th Anniversary of the EMC Society that had been “flown”
on a National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) shuttle
in 2007. Andy Drozd, the immediate Past-President of the EMC Society,
organized the unique donation ceremony held in the lobby of the
IEEE Operation Headquarters building at 445 Hoes Lane in Piscataway,
New Jersey.
Past-President Drozd initiated the ceremony with a short speech
where he thanked the IEEE staff members who helped make the ceremony
happen and introduced the EMC Society delegation members present,
including Warren Kesselman (Original Founder of the EMCS, current
Treasurer, and Past-President), Don Heirman (Vice-President of
Standards Services and Past-President), Barry Wallen (Vice-President
of Conference Services), John Norgard (Vice-President of Technical
Services), and Dan Hoolihan (Chair of the 50th Anniversary Committee
and Past-President). He noted that Robert Scully, an EMC Society
Board of Directors Member and a Senior Scientist at the NASA Johnson
Space Center in Texas, was unable to attend the ceremony. Mr.
Scully was instrumental in arranging the lapel-pin’s inclusion
on the NASA shuttle. Also, Elya Joffe, the current President of
the EMC Society, was unable to participate due to other commitments
but he extended his best wishes to everyone present at the ceremony.
 |
| EMC Board member Bob Scully of NASA
proudly shows the plaque created by NASA to commemorate the
EMC Society’s 50th Anniversary. The Society’s
50th Anniversary lapel pin was included on a space shuttle
flight in August 2007. |
Andy highlighted the fact that Bob Scully was primarily responsible
for making the administrative arrangements to fly the 50th Anniversary
lapel pin on the Space Shuttle Endeavour Flight SS-118 on 8-21
August 2007.
Andy read a written statement from Bob that said:
At first, the thought was to fly one of our large, fluffy,
oversized 50th Anniversary towels. That idea was quickly dashed
upon discovery that each of the astronauts only had a portion
of what is a container approximately the size of a large cigar
box in which to carry “personal” items. Without too
much consideration, it seemed that we could get one of our 50th
Anniversary lapel pins on board instead. As it turned out, many
small trinkets of a sentimental nature, such as watches, rings,
lapel pins, tie clips, and so forth, are regularly flown on Shuttle
Missions.
The next challenge was in getting the lapel pin included in the
proposed manifest. Absolutely everything that goes up on a flight
has to be accounted for on some list that ultimately is reviewed,
approved, and the weight added to the overall payload calculations.
As one might imagine, the competition is rather fierce to get
just a small item like a lapel pin on board! In fact, it was the
small size of our pin that worked to our best advantage, and we
were very fortunate to pass muster with the astronaut corps and
the Shuttle Program and Johnson Space Center Senior Management
Team.
Once the lapel pin was approved, it was simply a matter of being
included in the lot that went into the “cigar-box-sized”
container. Because everything is reviewed and approved so carefully,
the owner of each item that flies receives a plaque afterwards,
which commemorates the event and is signed by the astronaut crew.
In our case, we got a bonus United States Flag that was also flown
on the mission; the lapel pin and flag are on the plaque as well
as the pictures of the astronauts and other items.
It was my privilege to have been able to coordinate this and I
am proud to return this plaque with its lapel pin and flag to
the EMC Society and the IEEE for placement in the history files.
Andy then introduced Dan Hoolihan, Chair of the 50th Anniversary
Committee of the EMC Society. Dan briefly reviewed the history
and work of the Committee. The EMC Society Board of Directors
formed the Committee in the year 2000 during the presidency of
Joe Butler.
Some of the accomplishments of the Committee noted by Dan included:
• A series of articles were written over the past three
years highlighting different aspects of the History of the EMCS;
in general, at least one article was published in each of the
quarterly EMC Newsletters.
• A logo was developed, with the help of the Creative Services
Department of the IEEE, which was coordinated with the logo of
the 2007 IEEE International Symposium on EMC, the symposium occurring
during the 50th Anniversary year.
• Ten oral histories were created including interviews of
Founders and other significant long time EMC Society members with
the help of the IEEE History Center. These oral histories are
available on the IEEE web page.
• A 28-page booklet was created, entitled “50 Years
of Electromagnetic Compatibility – The IEEE EMC Society
and its Technologies.” This booklet was created with the
help of the IEEE History Center and the Creative Services Department.
Note – At this point in his speech, Mr. Hoolihan made a
point of thanking Mike Geselowitz and Rik Nebeker of the IEEE
History Center and Lauren Hall and her co-workers from Creative
Services for their significant contributions to the 50th Anniversary
Celebration of the EMC Society. Mike and Lauren were present for
the ceremony and they received a warm round of applause.
• A CD was created consisting of a Power Point Presentation
on “EMC History Through the Decades” plus additional
historical photos of EMC Society interest. Jerry Ramie, an EMC
Society member and volunteer, was cited for contributing hundreds
of hours of effort to the CD’s preparation.
• A DVD was created containing “Founders’ War
Stories” which was a video compilation of speeches given
by the six Founders of the EMC Society who attended the 2007 IEEE
International Symposium on EMC in Hawaii. The speeches were given
on Thursday morning of the Symposium week in the History Museum
in the exhibition area of the Symposium.
NOTE – The booklet was distributed to all members of the
EMC Society; the CDs and DVDs were distributed to the Board of
Directors to the Chapter Chairpersons of the EMC Society.
• The 2007 IEEE International Symposium on EMC was the culmination
of the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the EMC Society. The Symposium
was held in the “50th” state of the USA in July of
2007. We had special sessions on EMC Society history. We sponsored
unique luncheons where the six invited Founders exchanged ideas
with graduate students in EMC engineering. We instituted an EMC
History Museum that contained antique EMC test equipment, both
operational and non-operational, along with numerous pictures
of past-presidents, past symposium program covers, and other noted
individuals in the EMC Society. We had a one-day mini-tour of
Oahu Island on the way to a celebratory lunch at the famous Turtle
Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu. At the luncheon, we gave
anniversary awards to selected individuals who had made significant
contributions to the EMC Society over the past 50 years. We inducted
the six Founders into the EMC Society’s Inaugural Hall of
Fame; this virtual Hall of Fame is available for viewing on the
EMC Society’s web page.
• And, of course, we developed the 50th Anniversary Lapel
Pin that is prominently displayed on the plaque that was presented
to the IEEE on this special occasion.
Andy Drozd then presented the plaque to Lew Terman, the current
President of the IEEE. Mr. Terman graciously accepted the plaque
and thanked the EMC Society for their efforts and congratulated
the EMC Society on its 50th Anniversary.
Also present for the ceremony was John Vig, President-Elect of
the IEEE; Jeffry Raynes, Executive Director and COO of the IEEE;
Lew Terman’s wife, and a reporter from the IEEE Institute,
Anna Bogdanowicz. EMC
