Achieving Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Success Through Smart Design and Planning
Course Detail:
This course will feature a wide variety of speakers covering the fundamental principles of electromagnetic compatibility and practical steps designers can take to improve their chances of sailing through EMC compliance. Instructors will cover several industries including aerospace modules, full spacecraft, automotive, consumer electronics, and more. The course will combine easy-to-understand fundamentals with practical, implementable tactics to improve the design product lifecycle.
The course will include:
- Learning the right questions to ask
- The most problematic areas and where to focus your attention
- The systems-level perspective
- Information to help cut down on test times
Specific topics include:
- EMC fundamentals
- PCB design principles
- Cable construction and shielding
- Areas of common EMC concern (switch mode power supplies, EV power trains, etc.)
- EMC testing and tactics to minimize test schedules
- EMC troubleshooting tips
Who Should Attend?
The course is designed for anyone who ever has to worry about getting a product through EMC compliance testing including project managers, electrical engineers, systems engineers, and mechanical engineers responsible for electrical cabling. Attendees will get the opportunity to ask the questions that have plagued them and get answers from practitioners who have been down in the trenches.
Schedule:
Jan. 30- Feb. 2, 2024
Includes lunch and breaks daily.
Course Fee:
EMC training course and early expo admission (May 1- July 31): $1,800
EMC training course and advanced expo admission (Aug. 1- Dec. 30): $2,000
Cancellations and Refunds:
- Cancellations received more than 28 days prior to the conference start date are subject to a processing fee of 4% of the total registration, plus any direct expenses incurred by EMA.
- Cancellations received 15 – 28 days prior to the conference start date are subject to a $250 cancellation fee plus any direct expenses incurred by EMA.
- Cancellations received 8 – 14 days prior to the conference start date are subject to a $500 cancellation fee plus any direct expenses incurred by EMA.
- No refunds will be issued for cancellations received less than seven days prior to the conference start date.
- No refunds will be issued due to inclement weather or travel disruptions/cancellations.
- Registrations may be transferred without incurring any penalty or fee.
Featured Presenters:

Karen Burnham, EMA Principal Scientist I
Karen Burnham is an electromagnetic compatibility subject matter expert with experience in the aerospace, defense, and automotive industries. She is familiar with requirements generation, regulatory compliance, verification and validation, systems engineering, test plans, and troubleshooting.
Karen is an iNARTE certified EMC engineer and sits on the SAE EMC working group that advises on CISPR, ISO, and SAE standards for automotive products and on various ANSI committees. In 2022 she was elected as the vice president of standards for the international IEEE EMC Society.
Karen has been active in the industry since 1996 with her most recent prior experience doing vehicle testing and troubleshooting for Ford Motor Company, both on traditional gas engines and also newer Hybrid Electric vehicles. Prior to that she was the lead EMC Engineer for the Dream Chaser space vehicle being built by the Sierra Nevada Corporation for crew transport to the International Space Station. She has worked as EMC lead on the NASA side for the European Service Module that will accompany the Orion spacecraft. At NASA she also conducted extensive research into the RF and lightning susceptibility of NASA Standard Initiators.

Garth D’Abreu, Director, Automotive Solutions at ETS-Lindgren
Garth D’Abreu is the Director, Automotive Solutions at ETS-Lindgren based at the corporate headquarters office in Cedar Park, Texas. He currently has primary responsibility for the design and development functions within the Systems Engineering group, specializing in turnkey solutions for Automotive EMC, Wireless and OTA test integration.
Some of these more complex full vehicle and ESA test chambers involve his coordination with the RF engineering team on custom components, and the certified, internal Building Information Modeling (BIM) team at ETS-Lindgren.
He is also the ETS-Lindgren subject matter expert responsible for the ongoing research and development of Reverberation chambers, GTEM cells, and supports the RF filters, EMP applications and wireless device test systems groups. Automotive EMC, Antenna Measurement, and Wireless Test Systems for modern vehicles, incorporate multiple measurement techniques and chamber combinations, for which his expertise is well suited.
Garth is a Senior Member of the IEEE EMC Society and active participant in standards development as a member of the US ISO and CISPR D automotive EMC standards committees. He has over 27 years of experience in the RF industry and holds a BSc degree in Electronics & Communications Engineering, from North London University, UK.

Bob Johnk, research engineer, Institute for Telecommunication Sciences
Robert (Bob) Johnk received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Colorado in 1990, where he specialized in electromagnetics and antennas. Bob is currently a research engineer at the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (NTIA/ITS) where he is engaged in advancing the state of the art in radio-channel propagation measurements/analysis and mentoring new engineers in the art of measurement science
During the development of the FirstNet National Public Safety Radio System, Bob conducted research on in-building wireless propagation and methods for improving in-building public safety communications. Prior to joining NTIA/ITS in 2007, he worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, Colorado for 17 years, where he was the leader of the time-domain fields project. Bob has received best paper awards from the IEEE EMC Society, NTIA, and NIST. In 2011, Bob received the IEEE EMC Society’s Technical Achievement Award for his work “in the development of free-space time-domain measurement techniques”. Bob has also received a U.S. Department of Commerce Silver Medal award for his work in Public Safety communications. Bob is a Life Senior member of the IEEE and a member of both Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi.

John McCloskey, Chief EMC Engineer, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
John McCloskey is the Chief EMC Engineer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he has worked since May 1988. John provides EMC support to many space flight projects, including the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) which launched on Christmas Day of 2021.
John really enjoys teaching and training, and he has provided many EMC training and education opportunities for the Goddard workforce. Most recently, he has started to put together a series of training videos that can be viewed publicly on YouTube at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtrpQ-gPvnJn2r9Mw49jij7Ky0mb6RJYF
About EMA:
EMA was founded in 1977, and for nearly five decades has become a leading developer of technologies for engineering simulation, specializing in applied electromagnetics. EMA provides software and services to promote the design, certification, and performance of our customers’ products. EMA is an Ansys Technology Partner that develops two simulation products: Ansys EMC Plus and Ansys Charge Plus.
Contact us:
Email: ema.expo@ema3d.com
Phone: (303) 980-0070