August 2024

Young EMC engineers often wonder where some of the rules of EMC originated. The answer is frequently found in the history of the EMC Society and the early work of a cadre of intelligent and active engineers who spearheaded the formation of the Society. This article highlights the story of some of these engineering professionals and their contributions to the engineering solutions practiced by today’s EMC engineers.

While articles and papers have been written in the past concerning the protection of high voltage power grids throughout the world, there has not been sufficient emphasis on the near-term plans to harden existing facilities. This article provides a specific cost-effective approach to protect existing power system assets over time from the threats of HEMP and IEMI.

This study examines the impact of complex magnetic permeability in 3-D simulations of toroidal ferrites and magnetic cores for EMC applications, revealing its importance and limitations at different frequencies.

Explore the impact of the return path impedance and the return current level on common-impedance coupling between circuits. The measurements presented were performed on a custom PCB containing audio, video, and high-current circuitry, where the return paths for each circuit were selectively shared with other circuits.

Humidity control in relation to an ESD control program continues to be misunderstood across the industry. Humidity does help in the reduction of charge accumulation, but it does not control charge accumulation to reduce the risk to sensitive items.

When traditional EMC troubleshooting tools fall short, the reciprocity theorem can reveal hidden immunity problems. This real‑world case study shows how unexpected RF sources—like walkie‑talkies—can expose susceptibility paths, helping engineers diagnose failures and strengthen designs with simple, effective fixes.