Session Description: Prime Contractor? Don’t leave EMC to the End!
Chair: Professor Ian MacDiarmid – Consultant in Applied Electromagnetics
The session was less about the equipment design and more about the systems design, development and qualification from the prime contractor’s point of view.
Many prime contractors or designers and developers of complex systems do not design and develop the equipment which they integrate into the final system. As such they have to develop specifications which control all the electromagnetic effects with which the equipment has to cope. These include the traditional EMC susceptibility and emission requirements.
In addition, there are a growing number of other electromagnetic effects, including electrostatic charging, induced effects of Lightning, intentional electromagnetic interference etc. Prime contractor organisations also have a responsibility to ensure that systems architecture and installation is designed to ensure that equipment qualification limits are not exceeded.
This session provided an opportunity for speakers to present their approaches to the development of such specifications and systems design, including the responsibility of the prime contractor or integrator to demonstrate the complete system operates safely without electromagnetic incompatibility and without significant disturbance in the presence of an external electromagnetic environment (e.g. High powered radio or radar transmitters or Lightning).