Technology transfer and moving of hardware from our New Bern, NC office to the RABQSA Milwaukee office has begun. This process will take place gradually over the next two months in order that it is not too disruptive to our operations.
Nevertheless, we expect that some longer than normal times will be needed in processing certification requests and marking of examination results during this period. By the end of August all systems should be operating smoothly in the new RABQSA offices.
iNARTE attended the High-speed digital engineering and EMC series of courses at the University of oxford in June, and received considerable support and interest in the new EMC Design Engineer Certification program. It is expected that iNARTE will become a regular feature of these Continuing Education programs at Oxford.
Our congratulations go to Mike Violette, President of Washington laboratories and to Elya Joffe, President of the IEEE PSE Society and past President of the IEEE EMC Society. These two members of the now disbanded iNARTE Board of Directors have been invited onto the RABQSA Board of Directors. Most other members of the iNARTE Board will be invited to serve on an iNARTE/RABQSA Advisory Board.
Mike Violette seems happy
at the prospect of joining RABQSA
Learn more about RABQSA at http://www.rabqsa.com.
The RABQSA 2011 Annual Report is available at http://rabqsa.com/docs/rabqsa-annual-report-fy2011.pdf.
THE NEW EMC DESIGN ENGINEERING PROGRAM
At the end of May, our partner in Japan, KEC Electronic Industry Development Centre, administered their second iNARTE EMC Design Engineer certification examination. Although very new the examination attracted 35 participants, more than half of which succeeded in achieving a passing grade. All examinations were at the basic Engineer level for recent graduates and engineers with just two or more years of electronics design experience.
This same examination level will be offered at the IEEE EMCS 2012 in August as well as the more advanced Senior EMC Design Engineer examination for those with five or more years of related work experience.
Applications for certification as a Master EMC Design Engineer will be available once again in September. Plan to visit the iNARTE web site in September to get this latest information.
OPTIONS FOR PRODUCT SAFETY ENGINEERS AND TECHNICIANS THROUGH RABQSA
Now that iNARTE is a brand of the RABQSA International organization, there are more than 30 other certification schemes that iNARTE engineers and technicians could consider. One of the most closely comparable credentials would be that of a Certified Safe Design Professional. The iNARTE Certified Product Safety Engineer and Technician go into more technical details than the RABQSA Safety Design Professional does. The RABQSA scheme is for individuals who conduct design appraisals. These individuals would not be a part of the actual design of the products, as the iNARTE engineers and technicians would be. Instead they would be responsible for verifying that the product design does in fact meet the required market safety standards. Shown below is a comparison of the requirements for the RABQSA scheme with the iNARTE program. 
click image for larger version
QUESTION OF THE MONTH
Last month we asked:
The skin depth of a metal conductor is defined as ___________.
A) The distance into the conductor at which currents have been attenuated to 1/e of their value at the surface.
B) The distance into the conductor at which currents have been attenuated, by 2.718–1.
C) The distance into the conductor at which currents have been attenuated 1 neper.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above
Of course the answer is D), All of the above.
This month’s question is:
Adding depth to an opening in a shielded enclosure can help in the overall shielding effectiveness. What is the total shielding effectiveness to a 10 MHz field with the strength 10 V/m if the only opening in the structure is 1.5 cm round with a 3cm long tube, or waveguide bonded to it?
A) 120 dB
B) 60 dB
C) 90 dB
D) 30 dB
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Brian Lawrence began his career in electromagnetics at Plessey Research Labs, designing ”Stealth” materials for the British armed services. In 1973 he moved to the USA and established a new manufacturing plant for Plessey to provide these materials to the US Navy. In 1980 he joined the Rayproof organization to develop an Anechoic Chamber product line. As a result of acquisitions Rayproof merged into Lindgren RF Enclosures and later into ETS-Lindgren. Following a career of more than 40 years in the EMC field, Brian retired as Managing Director of ETS-Lindgren UK in 2006. Later that year he assumed the position of Executive Director for the National Association of Radio and Telecommunications Engineers. NARTE. Now renamed iNARTE, the Association has expanded its operations and in 2012 merged with RABQSA International, a subsidiary of the American Society for Quality, ASQ. Brian remains associated with RABQSA through this merger process. |
