Introduction
Hundreds of engineers and scientists in the discipline of Electromagnetic
Compatibility (EMC) attended the 2003 IEEE International Symposium
on EMC, Istanbul, which took place on May 11 to May 16, 2003,
in the cosmopolitan city of Istanbul, Turkey.
This is the very first time that this very important and prestigious
Symposium was held in Region 8 of the IEEE, encompassing Europe,
Africa and the Middle East, marking, more than anything else,
the globalization the EMC Society of the IEEE.
The Symposium was organized by the Israel IEEE EMC Chapter, technically
co-sponsored by the IEEE EMC Society, and co-sponsored by the
Israel IEEE Section, IEE and URSI, Commission E as well as other
international organizations.
The slogan of the Symposium was: "Radiating Compatibility
from the East" or "Ex-Oriente Radians" in Latin,
alluding to the historical Byzantine period, where Istanbul (or
Constantinople, in its historical name) was the center of the
ancient world. Today, as in ancient times, Istanbul is simultaneously
an important and thriving tourist attraction, as well as a modern
business and industry metropolis. For the week of May 11, 2003,
Istanbul was also the international center of the global EMC Community.
During this week, spanning from Sunday to Friday, an exciting
top-notch technical program with something for everyone attending
the Symposium took place, including technical sessions, workshops
and tutorials, innovative special "meet the expert"
sessions and "Birds of a Feather" forums, EMC Demonstrations
and Computer Simulations, as well as a short EMC Course - and
this is not all!
There was an international attendance of more than 330 participants
from 41 countries representing all continents (with the exception
of Antarctica).
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The
Hilton Istanbul Hotel Symposium Venue.
|
The Symposium took place in the convention center of the Hilton
Istanbul Hotel, a spacious, elegant and comfortable hotel, featuring
13 acres of beautiful gardens and exclusive sporting facilities.
The Hilton Istanbul offered an impressive surrounding, ideally
situated, overlooking the spectacular view of the Bosphorus, magically
attractive amid the glittering lights of the City.
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The bridges across the Bosphorus between
two continents. |
After all, what makes a city beautiful?
It is the uniqueness and splendor, but also its character that
is laid deep in its roots, the tradition and the cultural heritage!
Istanbul - Turkey's largest city, is a thriving vibrant metropolis!
It is very unique in the sense that it is built on two continents,
bridging across Europe and Asia, connecting East and West with
two suspension bridges over the Bosphorus Straits.
As an exciting and cosmopolitan city, blending east and west,
Istanbul offers something for everyone. Outdoor cafes, ethnic
restaurants and cultural centers compete for your attention with
historic sites and open oriental markets - a haven for dedicated
shoppers.
Technical Program and Activities
As a prologue, an EMCS Standards Open House was held on Sunday,
May 11, 2003, with the guidance and leadership of Don Heirman,
VP for Standards. Read more on the "Standards Open House"
in the article "Standards on the Bosporus!" in this
issue of the Newsletter, Standards Activities.
 |
The Opening Session Panel (from left):
Professor Arie Braunstein, Israel IEEE Section Chair, Elya
B. Joffe, Symposium General Chairman, Don Heirman, EMCS VP
for Standards and Past President, and Andy Drozd, EMCS VP
for Member Services. |
Elya B. Joffe, the Symposium General Chairman, chaired the opening
ceremony on the morning of Monday, May 12. In his welcome address,
Elya gave a brief overview of the Symposium, and particularly
- the evolution of this event. Please see the article "The
Road from Tel Aviv (1992) to Istanbul (2003)" in this issue
of the Newsletter, The Road from Tel Aviv to Istanbul.
Elya then introduced the Guest of Honor - His Excellency, Mr.
Ali Müfit Gürtuna - the Lord Mayor of Istanbul, a metropolis
of 14 million citizens, who spared some of his very valuable time
to present a welcome address of behalf of the host city.
 |
Lord Mayor of Istanbul, Mr. Ali Müfit
Gürtuna, receives a Certificate of Gratitude from Elya
Joffe, Symposium Chairman, during the Opening Session. |
Greetings were then offered by Don Heirman, VP for Standards of
the IEEE EMC Society, and Past President of the IEEE EMC Society,
on behalf of Dr. Todd Hubing, President of the IEEE EMC Society
as well as by Professor Arie Braunstein, Chairman of the Israel
IEEE Section.
The technical portion of the opening session included two presentations.
First, there was an interesting presentation by Professor Marcello
D'Amore, Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility,
who spoke on "IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility:
An Overview."
The second presentation was a highlight of the opening ceremony.
This was the keynote address given by Dr. Nigel Carter, from QinetiQ,
UK, who spoke on "Past, Present and Future Challenges of
Aircraft EMC." This presentation was an introduction to a
series of activities planned in the Symposium, commemorating 100
years of manned powered aviation, from 1903 to 2003. (Please see
more about this special event on page 57.)
An Awards Ceremony concluded the Opening Session, where Certificates
of "Appreciation, Recognition and Acknowledgement" were
presented. Other awards were presented at the Wednesday Awards
Banquet. Read more on the awards presented during the Symposium
in this issue of the Newsletter, page 63.
Considerable efforts were exerted in the formulation of the scientific/technical
program of the Symposium. The Editorial Board (EB), under the
skilled and devoted leadership of Dr. Anatoly Tsaliovich, composed
of 52 international experts and professionals in the field of
EMC, performed a peer review of the 579 technical papers received
from almost 50 countries in order to ensure a high quality technical
program.
Under the skilled leadership and dedication of Dr. Alex Axelrod,
the Technical Program Committee did a great job in selecting the
best papers and grouping them as best as possible into the appropriate
sessions, and lined up a top-notch Technical Program; more than
380 papers were included in the Symposium technical program and
presented in 34 regular sessions and 10 open forums (poster) sessions.
No doubt - a record! Those sessions covered a broad range of areas
in the field of electromagnetic compatibility; particularly noteworthy
are six sessions on Measurement and Standards, five sessions on
Human Exposure and EMF and five sessions on Numerical Modeling.
However, besides the more traditional EMC topics, this symposium
also featured some very special topics, not regularly covered
at the IEEE EMC Symposia, including sessions on Wave Propagation,
Radar Cross Section, Power Quality, and EMC in Power Equipment
and Systems (and this is only a very partial list).
A session noteworthy of special attention was that organized by
Mr. Peter Kerry, CISPR President, entitled: "EMC Standardization
- Quo Vadis." This session, with speakers representing a
variety of countries and continents, discussed the present and
future of International EMC Standardization. Presentations covered
EMC Standardization activities in Russia, Turkey, Israel and the
relationship between academia and EMC Standardization.
 |
Elya Joffe presenting an experiment on
the "Path of Least Inductance." |
The regular sessions were supplemented by a wide variety of 16
outstanding workshops and tutorials, covering a broad spectrum
of topics such as "Lightning Phenomena and Lightning Protection
Systems", presented by Professor Arie Braunstein from Israel,
giving special insight into the concepts (and misconceptions)
of external lightning protection, "Partial Element Equivalent
Circuit (PEEC) Approach" by Professor G. Antonini, Italy,
"The Latest Updates in EMC Emission Measurement Standardization"
by Don Heirman, USA and many, many other excellent presentations.
Furthermore, special "Birds of a Feather" discussion
forums took place, focused on examining innovative, controversial,
or otherwise mind-provoking issues of interest to the EMC Community.
These included "Personal Electronic Devices (PED) on Aircraft
- Are they Really a Source of Concern," "The Precautionary
Principle with regard to EMF," and "Grounding from Chips
to Systems." These forums comprised a platform for discussion
between experts and the audience, each of whom held very different
opinions on these issues, often leading to a lively, even "heated"
discussion. No agreement was probably reached on these very controversial
topics, but those present definitely benefited from the different
opinions presented in the discussions.
Russ Carstensen led a "Preparation for NARTE Exam" workshop
from NARTE and an exam also took place during the Symposium, thus
creating several new NCEs (NARTE Certified EMC Engineers).
For both the veterans desiring to "brush up" their EMC
knowledge, and for the novices who wanted to learn more on the
discipline of EMC, a "Selected Topics on EMC" course
took place in four half-day sessions during the Symposium. The
course, organized by Dr. Heyno Garbe from Germany, Chairman of
the Symposium Education and Student Activities Committee, covered
the following topics:
Participants who took part in at least three
sessions of the four also received beautiful "Certificates
of Completion."
The technical program was supplemented by experiments
and computer simulation demonstrations, which attracted much attention
among the attendees of the Symposium. This provided the opportunity
to observe, with their own eyes, the "facts of (EMC) life."
The Symposium Committee would like to thank the companies Rohde
& Schwarz and R.D.T. (Israel) for providing the necessary
test equipment in support of the experiments.
All of the above took place in six (yes - 6!) parallel sessions!
As one of the participants said: "The technical program posed
a special difficulty and a major dilemma - where to go first,
and what to subsequently give up
?"
A technical exhibition took place alongside the Symposium, thus
forming the link between the ivory tower of science and the reality
of EMC technology.
Over 20 exhibitors from Europe, Asia and North
America were on site to provide hands-on demonstrations and explanations
of their products and services.
Radio Amateurs Activities
We were especially thankful to Mr. Aziz Sasa, TA1E, President
of TRAC, the Turkish Radio Amateurs Society, who assisted us in
erecting and operating a radio amateur's station during the Symposium.
For the duration of the Symposium, the station received a special
"EMC call sign" - TA1EMC. Two dedicated attendees of
the Symposium, Dr. Rod Perala and Dr. Diethard Hansen, operated
the station for many hours. We are told that special QSLs were
made by TRAC.
 |
The Turkish Standards Institution exhibit
was ably staffed by (from left) Arzu Cihan, Ayfer Aydin, Haluk
Dag, M. Feyyaz Unver, Metin Dumanli, Ahmet Turan Hocaoglu,
and Bulent Sentrk. |
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Dr. Diethard Hansen: "TA1EMC, Over." |
 |
The Awards Banquet at the Cistern of
1001 Columns. |
Social Program
The social program was comprised of three special events offered
to all registered participants: a Welcome Reception and an Awards
Banquet, and an optional Farewell Reception. The Banquet took
place in one of the most beautiful venues in Istanbul: the historical
Binbirdirek Cistern, or better known as, "The Cistern of
1001 Columns."
 |
Symposium attendees visiting the well-known
"Blue Mosque" during the Symposium tour. Federica
Sensi and her husband Vesna Roje are shown in the foreground. |
At this Banquet, the major awards of the Symposium were presented.
The evening was conducted by a professional "Master of Ceremonies"
Michael Greenspan, whose wife, Gilat Ankory, accompanying him
to the event, is a well known actress in Israel and a celebrity
of her own merit. Several attendees did not miss the "photo
opportunity" with Gilat.
 |
Tami-Lee (left) and Anat Joffe (right)
did not miss the photo opportunity with Gilat Ankory at the
banquet. |
On the afternoon of Tuesday, May 13, a City tour was provided
to all attendees. That was a unique opportunity to visit the highlights
of Istanbul, without the attendees feeling that they may have
missed something worthwhile in the technical program. EVERYONE
attended one of three available tours. How many times have you
attended a Symposium and on the plane back home thought: "But
I never got to see the city and its surroundings
" No
excuses in Istanbul!!!
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Lunch Time! |
By the way, lunch was also provided to all attendees of the Symposium.
It was also a great chance for the attendees to get together,
socialize and eat
WOW! What a meal!
 |
BoD Members in the IEEE EMCS Membership
Booth in the Exhibit area. From left: Back row: Andy Drozd
and Elya Joffe. Front row: Don Heirman, Professor Shuichi
Nitta, Mark Montrose, Professor Jose Perini, and John Norgard. |
Awards
During the Awards Banquet, the Best Symposium Paper award was
presented to E.S. Siah, T. Ozdemir, J.L. Volakis, P.Y. Papalambros
and R.W. Wiese, from the USA, for their paper (selected out of
16 papers nominated for the award) "Optimization for RF Coupling
and Interference Reduction of Devices in Complex Systems."
The winners of the Best Student Paper Award were also announced
at the banquet. Maolin Wu and Xiang Cui from China received the
award for their paper (selected out of 18 papers nominated for
the award), "Wide Frequency Model for Transfer Function of
Potential Transformer in Substation."
Other major awards were also presented at the Banquet as can be
seen elsewhere in this Newsletter.
BoD Members Present
The IEEE EMCS Board of Directors was represented at the Symposium
by a distinguished delegation, lead by Don Heirman, VP for Standards
and Past President of the EMCS, with Andy Drozd, VP for Member
Services and John Norgard, VP for Technical Services. Last, but
not least, many of you may recognize Dr. Shuichi Nitta, Mark Montrose
and Professor Jose Perini, also members of the BoD. Of course,
with the Symposium Chairman, Elya Joffe, VP for Conferences and
Symposia, this completed a delegation of four VPs and three BoD
members. Also, Board member Nigel Carter was present for the Keynote
Address.
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Donald R. Bush
1942 - 2001 |
In Memoriam of a Dear
Friend: Donald R. Bush, 1942 - 2001
We dearly missed Don Bush at the Symposium, who was a past member
of the EMCS BoD and a Distinguished Lecturer of the EMCS and most
of all, a gentleman in the true sense of the word. Don so much
wanted to attend the Sympsoium, but was taken over by a severe
illness and passed away in 2001.
Don will be remembered among EMC professionals worldwide for his
warm personality and professionalism. I will always remember his
peace of mind, his serenity and his quiet talk. We all miss him
badly.
One of Don's quotes that considerably influenced my way of thinking
in EMC was: "Anyone can construct a mathematical model and
generate data. But if the predictions of your mathematical model
do not match experimental data, either your model is worthless
or your measurements are not done properly" (Professor Clayton
Paul, in the EMCS Newsletter, Winter 2002).
The Symposium Record
was dedicated to the memory of Don Bush.
Photos
Photos taken at the Symposium were uploaded to the Symposium web
site. To review the thumbnails and download a copy for your personal
enjoyment, please visit our web site at: http://www.ortra.com/emc2003/.
Many thanks to those individuals who took the photos and sent
them in, particularly Dick Ford, who was in Istanbul as his last
assignment as EMCS Photographer. Thank you very much Dick!
 |
Some of the Members of the Organizing
Committee and Secretariat (ORTRA) who made this all happen;
(left to right, from top to bottom) Elya Joffe, Oded Einat,
Alex Axelrod, Isaac Izraeli, Shmuel Auster, Eli Recht, Heyno
Garbe, Anat Joffe, Danie Tidderl, Vidi Bar-Natan, Merav Azar,
and Sagit Isay. |
Summary
Istanbul, the host city of the Symposium, is unique in the sense
that it is built on two continents, Europe and Asia, bridging
over East and West with two suspension bridges over the Bosphorus.
Those bridges symbolize the bridge these International Symposia
make across the EMC professional world and EMC professionals worldwide,
bringing them together, experts and students alike, regardless
of their country of origin.
 |
Rohde & Schwarz was one of the major
exhibitors at the Istanbul Symposium. Their exhibit was the
perfect place to celebrate its success. Cheers! |
May this Symposium, in the cosmopolitan city of Istanbul, also
form the bridge between people, making EMC the bridge of cooperation
and exchange of technical information between people and professional
societies and enhancing the quality of life for all people throughout
the world through the constructive application of technology.
At the conclusion of this article, I would like to express my
deep gratitude to all members of the Organizing Committee and
the Symposium Secretariat for their efforts spent in making this
Symposium materialize, and for the success we believe it was,
particularly under the special circumstances in which it took
place.
Special thanks are due to Professor Dr. Selim Seker from Istanbul
Turkey, whose dedicated, unconditional support of the Symposium
from the very day of the decision to relocate the Symposium to
Istanbul to the very last day were essential for coordination
in Turkey, and making the local arrangements so much easier. Thank
you, Selim! It was a pleasure to work with you on this Symposium!
The 2003 IEEE International Symposium on EMC in Istanbul will
long be remembered for the high quality technical program, the
beautiful venue, the hospitality and the wonderful social program.
EMC