EMC Education At Syracuse University

Abstract

ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY is proposed as a new 500-level course in Electrical Engineering. This course will augment the relatively few design courses available to students in Electrical and Computer Engineering. It will also satisfy the need by industry for students who understand problems associated with designing electromagnetically compatible products. To enhance the design aspect of the course, demonstrations and experiments will be included. A) PROBLEM STATEMENT The accreditation board for Electrical and Computer Engineering undergraduate programs requires that undergraduate students take a minimum of 16 design credits. Currently, Electrical and Computer Engineering students at Syracuse University have little flexibility in selection of their design courses. To alleviate this situation, it is proposed to develop a new 500-level design course to be taught for senior and first-year graduate students. In selecting the topic area for such a course, consideration was given to industrial requirements. Manufacturers of electrical products and electronic systems are keenly aware of the importance of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). For example, it is important that the electromagnetic radiation from a home computer not interfere with television reception. As a rule, industry cannot afford an in house program to train their beginning engineers to the necessary level of EMC design competence. Consequently, industry today considers a basic knowledge of EMC to be as important a part of an Electrical or Computer Engineer’s education as is circuits, digital design, signal theory, electromagnetics, etc. Nevertheless, according to a survey in 1985 by the Education Committee of the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society, only a few colleges and universities offer courses dealing with EMC. In spite of this, most respondents felt that there was a need to include this material in the Electrical Engineering curriculum. To satisfy this need, ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY was selected as the subject matter for the new design course. B) OBJECTIVES The course material will be based on the text, INTRODUCTION TO ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY, by C.R. Paul. The manuscript has only recently been accepted for publication by John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (I served as one of the reviewers for John Wiley.) A course outline, based on this text, is included with the supporting documents. In a design course of this nature, it is important that the student observe demonstrations and have an opportunity to conduct experiments. Not only will this help the student to understand and retain the course material, it will also provide the student with an opportunity to see and use modern measurement equipments and to CH3169-0/92/0000-0032 $3.00 01992 IEEE 166 obtain an appreciation for realistic "numbers" to be observed in practice. The objective of the proposed project is to develop a minimum of two demonstrations and four experiments for the new course which will first be taught during the spring '92 semester. If possible, a site visit by the students to the local EMC laboratory at General Electric will also be arranged. Course Description 7.2 Shielded Wires 7.3 Twisted Wires