Workshop on a Major Security Threat to the Critical Infrastructures

Workshop Description

This is the third workshop covering new developments in the electromagnetic (EM) weapon threat to the critical infrastructures – Intentional Electromagnetic Interference (IEMI). In August 1999 the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and in particular its subcommittee SC 77C headquartered in Geneva, began to develop IEMI standards leveraging the previous development of High-altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP) standards in the IEC, especially with regard to protection aspects. The IEMI work in the IEC has covered the description of the EM threats, their impacts on commercial electronic equipment and systems, and protection methods. Most recently the IEC is preparing a new EMC standard on immunity test methods for qualifying equipment and systems to survive IEMI.

In addition to the work performed by the IEC, three other organizations have become active in writing standards to protect equipment and systems against this threat. First the IEEE EMC Society is completing its work on a recommended practice for protecting public accessible computers from IEMI (P1642). The ITU-T has completed work on a recommendation to protect telecommunications centers from IEMI.   Finally, Cigré (International Council on Large Electric Systems) has nearly completed its work on how to protect high-voltage substation electronics from the threat of IEMI. This latter subject is of significant interest today after the recent attack from criminals (or terrorists) directed against a high voltage power substation in the San Francisco Bay area with high-powered rifles.

This workshop will review the IEMI standardization work of the IEC, the IEEE, the ITU-T and Cigré and will also summarize many important conference and journal articles dealing with IEMI to provide an understanding of how modern electromagnetic weapons can impact our critical infrastructures and how we can protect against this emerging threat. Attendees will also learn about the relationship of this high power EM (HPEM) threat to the world of EMC design and testing.

Presented By

Dr. William Radasky
President and Managing Engineer of Metatech
William A. Radasky received the B.S. degree with a double major in Electrical Engineering and Engineering Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1968. He also received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico in 1971 and the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1981, respectively with an emphasis on the theory and applications of electromagnetics.

He started his career as a research engineer at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1968 working on the theory of the electromagnetic pulse (EMP). In 1984 he founded Metatech Corporation in Goleta, California where he is currently President and Managing Engineer. During his 46-year career, he has published over 450 technical papers, reports and articles dealing with electromagnetic interference (EMI) and protection.

In 1989 Dr. Radasky began his volunteer work with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) developing reports and standards to protect commercial equipment and systems against the threats of high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) and Intentional Electromagnetic Interference (IEMI). He has led the development of 20 publications and 3 new projects as Chairman of IEC SC 77C since 1991. In addition, he helped to coordinate all of the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) work of the IEC as Chairman of the Advisory Committee on EMC (ACEC) from 1996 to 2008. He has also organized and presented many workshops for the IEC dealing with EMC in general and IEMI. In 2004 he received the Lord Kelvin Award from the International Electrotechnical Commission for exceptional contributions to international standardization. This award is presented annually to one individual out of the 15,000 active participants within the IEC.

Dr. Radasky’s current interests include studies to understand the threat of IEMI and to develop mitigation and monitoring methods to protect commercial facilities from this new threat. In addition he was active in supporting the U.S. Congressional Commission to evaluate the threat of HEMP on commercial systems and the critical infrastructure.

Outline

In the IEMI Workshop, you will learn:

• How do we describe the IEMI threat?
• How technology advances have raised the importance of IEMI
• The effects caused by IEMI
• The radiated IEMI environment
• The conducted IEMI environment
• HPEM/IEMI test facilities worldwide
• IEMI immunity test methods
• Examples of protection methods
• Review of IEMI standardization work in the IEEE, ITU-T and Cigré

Who Should Attend
Those responsible for protecting systems from HPEM:

• Product Managers and Developers
• Critical Facility Developers
• EMC Engineers and test technicians
• Test Instrumentation Developers
• Test instrumentation and chamber manufacturers

Registration

Location: Northwest EMC
41 Tesla Avenue, Irvine, CA 92618

September 11 2014: Registration: 8:30 am, Class: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
September 12 2014: Class: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Fees:
(Early Bird!) By August 11, 2014: $900
After August 11, 2014: $1100

Fee Includes: Lecture notebook, lunch, breaks, and completion certificate.

The organizing committee reserves the right to substitute speakers, modify the program (or lecture notes), restrict attendance or to cancel the workshop. In the event the workshop is canceled, registration fees will be refunded (credit cards are only processed if workshop is held). No refunds will be made to individuals who cancel after September 5, 2014. Substitutions are allowed.