Joanna McLellanEMC Training, Consulting and Assessment

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  • Consulting
    Quick EMC issue mitigation when and where you need it.
  • Design Reviews
    Mitigate EMC issues before it is too late to change.
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    Quantify the risk of failure to prevent budget overruns and delays.
  • Training
    Learn the physics of EMC without the arduous math.
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Hello, I’m Joanna.
I may be able to help.

Joanna McLellan is a recognized expert in electromagnetic design. She has helped engineers in China, Germany, Mexico and the United States design EMC compliance into their products.

  • Consulting
    Quick EMC issue mitigation when and where you need it.
  • Design Reviews
    Mitigate EMC issues before it is too late to change.
  • Risk Assessment
    Quantify the risk of failure to prevent budget overruns and delays.
  • Training
    Learn the physics of EMC without the arduous math.
GE flourescent lighting caused interference to a Verizon cell site. FCC Citation Number: C201432900003

The Electromagnetic Spectrum is a shared resource that is almost transparent in our lives, until a call is dropped or a product misbehaves. Then engineers are called in to investigate. Often these engineers lack the skills required to resolve the issue and companies hire consultants like me to fill in the skills gap and quickly resolve the issue.

There are many licensed products that are given priority over specific segments of the electromagnetic spectrum by governments around the world. And there are even more products that emit unintentional radio frequency interference in these segments of spectrum. For example, when an unlicensed fluorescent light ballast interferes with a licensed cell phone transceiver, the cell phone company can file a complaint with the government.

For more EMC in the news see our social media sites:
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Colleges and universities produce few engineers with adequate capabilities above 100KHz. This leaves five decades of spectrum open between the typical engineer’s capabilities and operational requirements that extend well into the GHz range. As a result, Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), Electromagnetic Interference (EMI), and Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) have become a rare specialty rather than an inter-disciplinary design team skill.

For further information see Training.
For public course offerings see Public Courses.
For private courses held onsite or nearby see Private Courses.

As Benjamin Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This definitely holds true when it comes to EMC. The longer a development team waits to address EMC issues, the more it will cost to resolve them. Often EMC non-compliances are rooted in fundamental design decisions that were made early in the development program and are difficult to undo. By taking Mr. Franklin’s advice and front loading a development with appropriate EMC effort the total cost of compliance is dramatically reduced and the team can perform to plan and hold to budgets.

For further information see Consulting.

Laboratory time is expensive and waiting for an opening to repeat a test from the back of the line often jeopardizes program timing. Since we can predict the EMC performance of circuits and systems, we can predict the likelihood of passing or failing the test. We use a six point scale: Likely to Pass, Might Pass, Don’t know, Might Fail, Likely to Fail, and Don’t Bother to Build It.

For further information see Risk Assessments.

An EMC design review is more thorough than a risk assessment. It is typically performed with much of the same input as a risk assessment and takes longer. A written report is generated with specific suggestions along with a risk assessment grade for the design.

For further information see Design Reviews.

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In the Matter of Lithia Toyota

On January 9, 2018, Lithia Toyota was ordered by the FCC to turn the lights off. Induction lighting devices were causing harmful interference to LTE radio communications. Noncompliance would result in fines of $16,000 per day. (Citation and Order DA 18-18).

Close the Skills Gap

Colleges and universities teach circuit theory giving electrical engineers the ability to resolve issues to 100 KHz, but the EMC spectrum extends well past 1 GHz creating a skills gap. We can fill this gap by pointing out the implications of the pesky slow speed of light.

Plan A or Plan B, Choose Wisely

© 2023 Joanna McLellan | EMC Training and Consultanting

  • Consulting
    Quick EMC issue mitigation when and where you need it.
  • Design Reviews
    Mitigate EMC issues before it is too late to change.
  • Risk Assessment
    Quantify the risk of failure to prevent budget overruns and delays.
  • Training
    Learn the physics of EMC without the arduous math.
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