PCEC facility proves to be highlight at international conference

September 19, 2023 (Volume 47, Number 2)
Article by Michele Coffill

two rows of people standing for photo, most in blue polo shirts, two men in front in suits

two people standing at convention booth with blue and white draping behind them

It's not often a university laboratory is the centerpiece of a tour during an international conference.

The Electromagnetic Compatibility Center (EMC), housed at the Shape Corp. Innovation Design Center, was a highlight for a group of attendees at the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility and Signal Integrity Symposium, held July 31-August 4 at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids.

Bogdan Adamczyk, director of the EMC Center and professor of electrical engineering, said it was the first time the IEEE EMC+SIPI Symposium was held in Grand Rapids. Adamczyk and Scott Mee, owner and EMC specialist of E3 Compliance in Grand Rapids, took that opportunity to promote the center as a unique academic-industry partnership.

The center employs co-op engineering students through a collaboration with E3 Compliance. The 6,000 square-foot facility houses seven EMC test chambers and provides support for electromagnetic compatibility courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels as well as EMC certificate courses for industry. "There's really no other such place like this," Adamczyk said.

Co-op students with E3 Compliance led tours of the center and also attended the IEEE symposium. Mee said participants were impressed with the size of the center and its capabilities, including a new three-meter EMC chamber with abilities to test and evaluate medical devices.