Student helps revive electromagnetics course at OSU, receives national honor
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Vignesh Rajamani, a graduate student in OSU’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
has been honored nationally for his work in the field of electromagnetic compatibility,
efforts that include leadership, research and the renewal next month of a national
short course at OSU.
Rajamani, who is completing a doctorate in electrical engineering, was presented the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Electromagnetic Compatibility
Society’s President’s Memorial Award. He was recognized for “commitment and dedication
as demonstrated by an active role in the IEEE EMC Society, the Robust Electromagnetic
Field Testing and Simulation Laboratory at OSU and his technical strength in computation
and experimental electromagnetics.”
Rajamani received the honor along with a $2,000 stipend in August at IEEE’s Electromagnetic
Compatibility Symposium in Portland, Ore.
“The award is great,” Rajamani said. “But the real prize is in knowing that my work
is appreciated.”
Electromagnetic compatibility is an emphasis of electrical engineering that deals
with the development of systems, devices or equipment that are able to function properly
in their electromagnetic environment without introducing electromagnetic disturbances
to anything in that environment.
“The question we try to answer is, will my device, say a cell phone, be able to operate
when surrounded by five other wireless devices and still work properly?” Rajamani
said. “We try to identify and correct instances of interference so that these technologies
work better.”
In 2005, an OSU electrical and computer engineering senior design team constructed
a reverberation chamber that simulates real-world conditions for electromagnetic field
interactions. The chamber will be used in an advanced, short course on reverberation
chamber theory and experimentation the school will offer Nov. 13 – 17.
The course had not been offered nationally for almost two years, but Charles Bunting,
OSU associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Gustav Freyer,
a leader in the EMC community, revived it in response to demand from companies such
as Lockheed Martin, Cessna Aircraft Company and Scientific Atlanta as well as federal
agencies including NASA Langley and the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
“The electromagnetic environment is crowded, and the continual emergence of wireless
communication devices is making it even more so. But because of this, the future of
EMC is bright,” Bunting said. “I believe OSU can be a national leader in the fields
of EMC education and testing.”
Rajamani will serve as an assistant instructor for the course.
“My work will deal with the experiments and measurement of the results,” Rajamani
said.
After earning his bachelor’s in engineering from the University of Madras in India,
Rajamani transferred to OSU where he earned his master’s in electrical engineering
in 2004.
“Vignesh is Mr. Follow-through,” said Bunting, Rajamani’s Ph.D. adviser. “He is a
tremendous asset to our electromagnetic compatibility program and to the university.”
Once Rajamani completes his Ph.D., he plans to continue researching in the area of
electromagnetic compatibility.
For more information about the Nov. 13 – 17 short course on reverberation chamber
theory and applications held in the REFTAS lab in OSU’s School of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, contact Charles Bunting at 405-744-1584, reverb@okstate.edu or visit
http://cbunting.okstate.edu <http://cbunting.okstate.edu/>