The process of merging iNARTE into the RABQSA International organization is now well under way. All new and renewed iNARTE Certificates are now issued under the hands of the RABQSA President, Peter Holtmann and their Certification Chairman, Adam Maxwell. New Certificate recipients will also note the new legend that, iNARTE is a brand of RABQSA International.
The iNARTE office in New Bern, NC will continue to act as the administrative headquarters for iNARTE operations until such time that RABQSA headquarters staff in Milwaukee has completed assimilation of the various iNARTE programs. All iNARTE certificate holders and certification candidates may be assured of continuing service and attention through this transition.
At the final meeting of the iNARTE Board of Directors the motion to dissolve the board and merge the iNARTE operations into RABQSA International was adopted unanimously.
Two members of the iNARTE Board will be elected to serve on the RABQSA board. This selection process is under way. Together with these two elected members, others from the iNARTE board have volunteered to serve on a new iNARTE Advisory Board. The Advisory Board will serve to develop future iNARTE brand strategy for its continuing development and growth at its new home with RABQSA.
Learn more about RABQSA at http://www.rabqsa.com.
The RABQSA 2011Annual Report is available at http://rabqsa.com/docs/rabqsa-annual-report-fy2011.pdf.
The iNARTE board at their final meeting, from the top left:
Mike Violette, President of Washington Laboratories, Peter Holtmann, President and CEO of RABQSA, Kimball Williams, IEEE SEM Section Chair, Elya Joffe, President IEEE PSES, Lawrence Behr, Chairman of LBA Group, Inc., Richard Georgerian, Senior Member at IEEE, Michael Hayden, President of iNARTE, Inc., Terry Welsher, Senior VP at the ESDA.
SOME NEW EMC CREDENTIALING OPTIONS
This year EMC professionals have several options to validate their engineering excellence through iNARTE certification. Our traditional programs for EMC Engineers and EMC Technicians remain current and very much in demand. However, within the ever expanding field of EMI/EMC influence, certain specialty skills have emerged and practitioners in these areas are worthy of recognition. Accordingly, iNARTE has responded and we are pleased to be able to introduce the following programs that are now available, or are in late stages of development such that they will be offered within the next few months:
EMC Design Engineer and Senior EMC Design Engineer
A credential for engineers who work in the design and development phase of electronic system and who are involved in the application of EMC principles to PCB layout and circuit design. At the EMC Design Engineer level, this credential is intended to identify the most able young graduate engineers with little or no work experience who wish to build a career in system design, development and analysis. At the Senior EMC Design Engineer level, a typical candidate would have four or five years of design work experience and would have the capability to direct and train the younger engineers. Both of these credentials are available today and iNARTE is accepting applications and reservations. Later this year we will offer a Master EMC Design Engineer certificate for those gurus of the industry who missed out on the Grandfather program last year but still wish to be recognized.
Many iNARTE certified EMC Engineers are probably now involved in design work and adding this credential at the Senior level will be a validation of your expanded role within the EMC community. Unlike the traditional iNARTE EMC program that requires you to remain current through annual recertification, the EMC Design Engineer and Senior EMC Design Engineer credentials are issued for life and attest to your fundamental knowledge and experience in applying EMC principles in designing for compliance.
MIL-STD Specialist
More than 20 years ago, when the traditional iNARTE EMC certification programs were developed at the instigation of the US Navy, the question pools were largely populated with MIL-STD subject matter. As the requirement for EMC compliance propagated through the commercial sectors, more and more industry specific regulatory standards were introduced and questions related to commercial standards, test facilities and test methodology began to take precedence in the iNARTE question pools. This issue has become so evident today that many engineers and technicians, whose work is primarily in the evaluation of military equipment against MIL STD EMI and EMS requirements, feel that iNARTE EMC certification is no longer applicable to their specialty. Accordingly, we are pleased to introduce this new credential specifically designed for the EMC Technician working in the military sector.
Wireless Device Certification Professional
This new credential is in the final stages of development in cooperation with an international Program Development Committee of device certification experts. The launch date is expected to be in July 2012. The program is intended to validate the special knowledge and experience required of professional engineers and technicians whose work involves the test and evaluation of a wide variety of licensed and unlicensed wireless devices for compliance with international regulatory agency requirements. The program is intended to, “raise the bar”, for wireless device certification by developing an internationally recognized set of criteria for the credentialing of personnel involved in this work. The program is intended to harmonize the understanding of the technical requirements and the process involved to improve the wireless device certification system. Question pools will be directed to FCC and IC requirements but will include optional RTTE questions. In the future other international requirements will be incorporated into the program. iNARTE will be ready to accept applications for credentialing under this new program by June 1st, 2012. Watch for full details to be posted on our web site.
Spectrum Management
This new credential is still in development by our Program Committee. It is targeted for launch in 2012. The program will establish certification criteria for Spectrum Managers and Frequency Coordinators with the intent of developing a uniform level of expertise and quality in the following disciplines:
- Antenna and Radio Wave Propagation
- Basic Spectrum Electronic Principles
- Frequency Licenses and Assignments
- Interference Resolution
- Spectrum Analysis
- Spectrum Certification
- Spectrum Engineering
- Spectrum Monitoring and Compliance
- Spectrum Policy (Rules and Regulations)
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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. |
