KEYNOTE SPEAKER - OCTOBER 30: Brian M. Kent, Ph.D., Chief Scientist, Applied Research Associates (BRD Division)

During one’s career, it is inevitable that an engineer may be exposed to an unexpected non-technical consequence having technical roots in a major public policy decision. This keynote outlines some high level case studies where engineering expertise is vital to resolve technical disputes. The chosen scenario is real – an unnamed passenger passes through an airport body scanner and is later diagnosed (within months) with stage 4 cancer. The passenger writes his congressman and claims the L3-Comm Provision body scanner “gave them cancer”.  The keynote describes what happened next and how such disputes are generally adjudicated.  Next, I detail a specific and highly relevant topic to our EMC, Antenna and RF Microwave audience – how can one accurately predict, measure and quantify the calibrated emitted electromagnetic emissions of a TSA fielded production L3-Comm airport millimeter wave body scanner. In the end, the thorny safety issue is fully and publically addressed.  My end goal is to inspire each of you to look for opportunities to apply your own specific scientific training to make at least one significant societal impact. The world beyond “work” needs your expertise, so given the opportunity, make a difference!  

Biography:

Dr. Brian M. Kent joined Applied Research Associates and currently serves as Chief Scientist and S&T Lead for Electromagnetics (EM), Radio Frequency (RF), and Sensing Systems. ARA is an employee-owned scientific research and engineering company founded in 1979 and dedicated to producing innovative solutions that tackle critical national problems in National Security, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment, and Health Solutions. (www.ARA.com) Dr. Kent will support corporate ARA technical efforts, and will work to expand S&T opportunities in his area of expertise. In addition, Dr. Kent continues to serve as Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering with Michigan State University's Department of Electrical Engineering. Dr Kent’s technical work in ARA includes the design impacts of High Power Microwave Devices, instrumentation of static and dynamic radar measurement ranges, and the passive EMI emanations from commercial instrumentation.

Previously, Dr. Brian M. Kent was a member of the scientific and professional cadre of senior executives, and the Chief Technology Officer, Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He served as AFRL's principle scientific/technical advisor and primary authority for the technical content of the Science and Technology Portfolio. He evaluated the total Laboratory technical research program to determine its adequacy and efficiency in meeting national, DoD, USAF, AFMC, and AFRL objectives in core technical competency areas. He identified research gaps and analyzed advancements in a broad variety of scientific fields to advise on the their impact on Laboratory programs and objectives. He recommended new initiatives and adjustments to current programs required to meet current and future Air Force needs. As such, he is an internationally recognized scientific expert, and provides authoritarian counsel and advice to AFRL management and the professional staff as well as to other government organizations.    He also collaborates on numerous interdisciplinary research problems that encompass multiple AFRL directorates, customers from other DOD components, as well as the manned space program managed by NASA.

Dr. Kent is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering and is a former IEEE Distinguished Lecturer for the Antenna and Propagation Society. He is also a Fellow of the Antenna Measurement Techniques Association and of the Air Force Research Laboratory.  In 2009, he was a Meritorious Presidential Rank Awardee.

His technical specialties include EM Scattering and material property measurements, Radar, Antenna, and Radar Cross Section Measurements, Radar Performance Evaluation, RF/EO Sensing Technologies, and Passive/Active Electronic Warfare.

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KEYNOTE SPEAKER - OCTOBER 31: John Ladbury, RF Fields Group, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Boulder, Colorado

The choice of whether to use stepping or stirring in a reverberation chamber measurement is often dealt with as if this is simply facilities decision…for stepping, use Procedure A, for stirring, use Procedure B. The characteristics of the DUT are simply ignored or addressed with a simple statement along the lines of “verify that the stirring speed insures that the field evolution is slow enough to detect susceptibilities.” Such a statement does not adequately address the subtleties and complications that can be introduced by different possible DUT response types.  In this presentation, we will discuss several different possible DUT response types, and open up the discussion to other types suggested by the audience.  Then we will go through the effects of stirring (and stirring at different rates) and discuss how best to deal with these effects.  This talk is meant to be interactive, and we hope that the audience can introduce new and even more complicated challenges into the discussion.

Biography:

John M. Ladbury received the B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. degrees (specializing in signal processing) from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1987 and 1992, respectively. Since 1987 he has worked on EMC metrology and facilities with the Radio Frequency Technology Division of N.I.S.T. in Boulder, CO.  His principal focus has been on reverberation chambers, with some investigations into other EMC-related topics such as time-domain measurements and probe calibrations.  He was involved with the revision of RTCA DO160D and is a member of the IEC joint task force on reverberation chambers.  He has been awarded four “Best Symposium Paper” awards at IEEE International EMC symposia, a Technical Achievement Award from the IEEE EMC Society for significant contributions in the development of reverberation chamber techniques for EMC applications, a US Department of Commerce Bronze Medal for his research in Reverberation Chambers, and a US Department of Commerce Gold Medal for his role in evaluating the impact of LTE wireless signals on the performance of GPS receivers.

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