EMC SYMPOSIUM

EMC Symposium Rides Into Central Texas

 

Experience "EMC Austin Style" when the 2009 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility is held Aug. 17-21 at the Austin Convention Center. The five-day program, hosted by the Central Texas chapter of the IEEE EMC Society, will incorporate technical paper sessions including one focusing on nanotechnology, a new technical area for the society; workshops; tutorials; demonstrations; experiments; special sessions; working group meetings; and exhibitors.

Courtesy of Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, Photo by Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum

Among the highlights of the symposium and related activities will be the Global EMC University, a continuing education track taught by world-renowned EMC professionals. And in keeping with tradition, the iNARTE certification exams are part of the symposium schedule on Friday (Aug. 21).

The Live Music Capital of the World, as Austin often is called, will be a fitting backdrop for the symposium reception at the Hilton Downtown Hotel and the gala banquet and entertainment at the Austin Convention Center. In addition, companion tours will be available from Sunday (Aug. 16) through Thursday (Aug. 20). The 2009 Youth Program, consisting of two workshops, will enable young people to build their own radios, learn how they work, and use them to demonstrate some basic EMC principles.

Technical Sessions

Courtesy of Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau

Approximately 160 regular technical papers will be presented on Tuesday (Aug. 18), Wednesday (Aug. 19), and Thursday (Aug. 20). The sessions are aligned according to topic areas associated with the IEEE EMC Society Technical Committees.

EMC Measurements
More than 40 papers are expected on topics ranging from military and commercial applications to emissions and immunity measurement issues. Measurement techniques and errors will be covered as well as various measurement environments like open area test sites, shielded rooms, reverberation chambers and anechoic rooms, and antenna techniques.

EMI Control
The next largest topic area is EMI control. Once again, 40-plus papers are likely on topics related to EMI design, analysis, and control. Shielding techniques, cable termination techniques, PCB design and analysis, and specialized areas such as power supply design and I/O filter design are some of the topics to be covered in this group of papers. Both military and commercial applications will be included for emissions as well as immunity, including ESD, lightning strike, medical, automotive, and SAR.

Computational Electromagnetics
The session on computational electromagnetics is expected to include 25 papers on various modeling and simulation techniques, using fullwave methods, quasi-static methods, and simple circuit methods with validation of all simulation techniques as an important subtopic. Papers will supply details into the inner workings of some of the simulation techniques such as method of moments, finite-difference time-domain, finite element method, and finite integration technique.

Signal Integrity
Signal integrity has become very important, especially for signals above 1 Gb/s. These sessions will include approximately 20 papers on topics including common-mode filtering, electromagnetic bandgap structures, impedance matching and equalization, crosstalk, power integrity, and PCB via effects.

High-Power Electromagnetics
The high-power electromagnetics session is expected to provide approximately 10 papers on a variety of topics concerned with high-power EM. Wide-ranging areas such as NEMP, electromagnetic bombs, electrostatic discharge, and lightning for mobile, airborne, and fixed military and commercial applications will be addressed.

Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the newest technical topic area for the EMC Society. Six papers will focus on subjects like carbon nanotubes and composite materials. Measurements, design, and analysis also will be discussed.

EMC Management
EMC management will have a session covering EMC education, management processes, best practices, and methodologies. Various EMC-related standards are included in this area.

Electromagnetic Environment
A session dedicated to the electromagnetic environment will provide information on a variety of environments including shipboard and hospital. Effects from lightning, radio towers, electronic equipment, and cell phones all contribute to the electromagnetic environment.

Nonsinusoidal Fields and EM Product Safety
Papers also will be presented in other technical topic areas including nonsinusoidal fields dealing with time-domain transients and ultra-wideband signals and EM product safety dealing with the safety concerns associated with EMC issues.

Scheduling details about the papers are available at www.emc2009.org .

Special Sessions

In addition to the regular technical program, a series of more than 30 special peer-reviewed sessions and invited papers is slated for Tuesday (Aug. 18), Wednesday (Aug. 19), and Thursday (Aug. 20). The sessions are more tutorial in nature and will cover the basics or updates in these areas: automotive EMC, EMC in Asia, high-power UWB interaction with electronic systems, multi-Gb/s interconnect simulation and measurement for signal integrity and EMI, evolving trends in spectrum management, and modeling/simulation validation standards and applying the FSV technique to quantify validation quality.

Workshops and Tutorials

Twenty workshops and tutorials will be offered on Monday (Aug. 17) and Friday (Aug. 21). Two of the tutorials, Fundamentals of EMC and Practical Radiated Measurements Using Antennas and Field Probes—Fundamental and Advanced Topics will be full-day events; the remaining will be half-day sessions.

A new course of action this year will provide participants with a copy of the presentations for four workshop/tutorial sessions of their choosing. Each attendee will receive four tickets that can be used to obtain one set of W/T presentation materials per group.

Courtesy of Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau

Monday, Aug. 17
Group 1—8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

MO-AM-1: Basic EMC Measurements
MO-AM-2: Introduction to EMI Modeling Techniques
MO-AM-3: Protection Against Short Pulse High Power IEMI Threats
MO-AM-4: MIL-STD-464 Updates
MO-AM-5: Practical Radiated Measurements Using Antennas and Field Probes—Fundamental and Advanced Topics (Part 1)
MO-AM-6: Fundamentals of EMC (Part 1)

Group 2—1:30 to 5:30 p.m.

MO-PM-1: How to Simplify Real-World Complex Systems into Realistic, Solvable, Accurate Models
MO-PM-2: MIL-STD-461 Updates
MO-PM-3: Practical Radiated Measurements Using Antennas and Field Probes—Fundamental and Advanced Topics (Part 2)
MO-PM-4: Developing EMC Standards
MO-PM-5: Fundamentals of EMC (Part 2)
MO-PM-6: EMC and Medical Devices

Friday, Aug. 21
Group 3—8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

FR-AM-1: Leadership Skills
FR-AM-2: Electromagnetic Environments Driving Need for Robust Equipment Designs
FR-AM-3: EMC and Wireless Devices
FR-AM-4: Preparation for Above 1 GHz
FR-AM-5: EMC Issues in Hybrid and Electric-Propulsion Vehicles

Courtesy of Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau

Group 4—1:30 to 5:30 p.m.

FR-PM-1: Application of Reverberation Chambers
FR-PM-2: Electromagnetic Compatibility and Spectrum Supportability Issues Associated With Military Use of Commercial Off-the-Shelf Equipment
FR-PM-3: Fundamentals of Signal Integrity
FR-PM-4: Wireless Propagation Measurements and Analysis of Electrically Very Large Structures
FR-PM-5: International Advances in Site Validation Techniques and Related Measurement Activity Above 1 GHz

Global EMC University

Back for the third consecutive year is the very popular Global EMC University. This series of two- or four-hour short courses is designed for individuals with a background in EMC or who have attended the Fundamentals of EMC tutorial in previous years. A certificate of completion will be provided, and CEUs will be assigned to this course. IEEE is an authorized provider through the International Association for Continuing Education and Training.

Enrollment is limited to 30 students. Full symposium registration is required to participate in the Global EMC University. The additional fee is $275 on or before July 20 or $375 after this date.

Here is a list of this year’s topics and instructors and the tentative schedule.

Monday, Aug. 17

• Conducted Emissions and Power Supply Filters, Mark Steffka, General Motors; 1:30 p.m. to 3:20 p.m.
• Capacitance and Inductance, Al Ruehli, IBM; 3:40 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Courtesy of Austin Convention and
Visitors Bureau

Tuesday, Aug 18

• Use of PSPICE in Solving EMC Problems, Clayton Paul, Mercer University; 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• Overview of Numerical Methods, Chuck Bunting, Oklahoma State University; 1:30 p.m. to 3:20 p.m.
• Shielding, David Hockanson, Sun Microsystems; 3:40 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 19

• Transmission Lines: Time-Domain and Signal Integrity, Jim Drewniak, Missouri University of Science and Technology; 8:00 a.m. to 9:50 a.m.
• Transmission Lines: Frequency-Domain and Crosstalk, Marco Leone, Otto Von Guericke University; 10:10 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 20

• Antennas and Radiation EMC Standards, Andy Marvin, University of York; 8:00 a.m. to 9:50 a.m.
• PCB Layout and System Configuration for EMC, Todd Hubing, Clemson University; 10:10 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Courtesy of Austin Convention and
Visitors Bureau

Demonstrations

The long-running series of live demonstrations focusing on hardware experiments and computer modeling and simulations will take place in the Exhibit Hall from Tuesday (Aug. 18) morning through Thursday (Aug. 20) noon. Both programs are sponsored by the IEEE EMC Society Education and Student Activities Committee.

The hardware segment will demonstrate important EMC concepts through a series of interactive experiments focusing on EM coupling phenomena and effects, EMC measurements, and EMC troubleshooting methods. Fundamental EMC modeling approaches and simulation methods will be illustrated through a series of interactive computer demonstrations using various computational electromagnetic modeling techniques.

Exhibits

Companies from around the world will be exhibiting the latest EMC products and services ranging from EMC modeling software to complete test systems. All the booths will be staffed with technical experts. Exhibit hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday (Aug. 18) and Wednesday (Aug. 19) and 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday (Aug. 20).

Courtesy of Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, Photo by Frederica Georgia

iNARTE Examination

The iNARTE certification exams for EMC engineers and EMC technicians, traditional complements to the symposium, will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Friday (Aug. 21), at the Austin Convention Center. The iNARTE exam tutorial, part of the Monday workshop offerings, is recommended for anyone planning to take the iNARTE certification examinations. The exams for EMC engineer and EMC technician will run concurrently. Both are two-part exams, each part scheduled to run four hours. The test laboratory auditor examination is four hours long, and candidates can elect to attend either the morning or afternoon session. For more information, visit www.inarte.org .

Registration and Reservations

Registration forms for the symposium can be found at www.emc2009.org. Several registration classifications are available: one day; full five-day program with reduced rates for retired, unemployed, or student attendees; guests aged 18 and older; and junior guests aged 8 to 17. The fees will increase after July 20.

The host hotel is the Hilton Austin Downtown (800-236-1592), and additional accommodations are available at the Marriott Courtyard (800-228-9290) and Residence Inn (512-472-5553). All three hotels are located across the street from the Austin Convention Center. Contact the hotels directly to reserve rooms. The deadlines to guarantee symposium room rates are July 8 for the Hilton and July 17 for the Marriott and Residence Inn.

Details on committee meetings, social activities, companion tours, and the youth program also can be found at www.emc2009.org.