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| 2008 | ||
| Month/Year | Program Title | Speaker |
| May - 2008 | "Leading Indicators" for More Effective Life Testing | Arthur Zingher & Mike Silverman |
| April - 2008 | The Integration of Automation & Safety - Safety PLC's | John Hunt |
| March - 2008 | Future of Product Safety | Rich Pescatore |
| February - 2008 | Telecomm Topics 2 | Peter Tarver |
| January - 2008 | Medical Device Regulations - from Design to Certification | Frank Eng |
| Date | June 24, 2008 |
| Program Title | Sustainability - What it Means to Product Safety Engineers & Why They Should Care |
| Program Synopsis | Unless you’ve been asleep for the past year, you're probably aware of the intense global focus on sustainability. For everything from renewable energy to global warming, sustainability is the theme of the day. But is it just a buzz word that will be gone next year, replaced with something new? Or should we really take notice?
This presentation will help to define and explain sustainability, including why it's important to the world, to business, and to the product safety engineer.
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| Speaker | Sanjay Baliga |
| Speaker Biography | Sanjay Baliga currently is a Senior Manager in the Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) Division of SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International) in San Jose. He is responsible for many EHS and sustainability activities at SEMI, such as co-coordinating the Global Care program, providing regulatory and compliance assistance to member companies, supporting the EHS International Compliance and Regulatory Committee (ICRC) and running other SEMI regional office programs.
Before coming to SEMI, Baliga was an independent consultant providing regulatory, scientific, and technical consulting services to a wide variety of chemical industry companies, trade associations and research councils. He has more than 15 years of professional experience addressing issues at the interface of science, engineering, management and policy, using his expertise in environmental risk management and sustainability.
Baliga has degrees from schools in Palo Alto, Ann Arbor and New Haven.
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| Presentation Materials | Coming Soon
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| Date | May 27, 2008 |
| Program Title | "Leading Indicators" for More Effective Life Testing |
| Program Synopsis | The recent grounding of flights by American Airlines shows that operational maintenance and potential equipment failures are a serious “real-world” safety concern. Safety standards for power tools also look at failure modes. One way to anticipate field failures is to run life tests. This presentation describes a new approach to life testing, using "Leading Indicators", that can help overcome common challenges and constraints, such as:
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| Speaker | Arthur Zingher & Mike Silverman |
| Speaker Biography | Arthur Zingher, Senior Reliability Consultant at Ops a la Carte, has over 25 years experience in physics and reliability. Arthur holds 33 issued patents with 19 more pending. Arthur was a Distinguished Engineer at Sun Microsystems, focused on HW Research. He was also a Staff Member at IBM Research, Yorktown NY, focused mainly on HW. Arthur holds a Ph.D. in Physics from U.C. Berkeley and a B.A. in Physics & Math from Columbia.
Mike Silverman, Managing Partner at Ops a la Carte, has over 20 years experience in reliability engineering, management, training and improvement. Mike has tested over 300 products and consulted for over 200 companies in a variety of industries, including medical, telecommunications, networking, semiconductor equipment and consumer electronics. He has a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder and is a Certified Reliability Engineer through ASQ. Mike is a member of many professional societies and currently the IEEE Reliability Society Santa Clara Valley Chapter Chair.
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| Presentation Materials | Coming Soon
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| Date | April 22, 2008 |
| Program Title | The Integration of Automation and Safety - Safety PLC's |
| Program Synopsis | Safety standards traditionally have separated equipment function and safety, trusting hardware and mechanical safety features over software and electronic.
Technical advances in automation hardware and software and new and revised safety standards are driving the market for intelligent and programmable safety solutions. This new generation of solutions is designed to be more effective in preventing accidents, less costly to implement, easier to adapt, and more reliable than existing hard wired systems. Effective implementation of new safety solutions for both specific machines and plant wide solutions now is possible. Learn how safety standards are affecting manufacturers, and how the integration of Automation and Safety solutions help companies comply with these standards while significantly reducing ownership costs.
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| Speaker | John Hunt |
| Speaker Biography | John Hunt has been with Siemens for 10 years, the last 3 years working with the “Safety Integrated” team covering 3 regions, including California. “Safety Integrated” products fall into four general categories: switching device and fail-safe optical sensors; fail-safe and high availability controllers; integrated safety functions in drive technology; and safety packages for machine tools.
John's previous positions at Siemens have been as an Application Engineer, Software Specialist, and Regional Business Development Manager. Prior to Siemens John spent nearly twenty years in the Automation Industry working for various System Integrators covering a variety of industries.
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| Presentation Materials | Slides (PDF)
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| Date | March 25, 2008 |
| Program Title | The Future of Product Safety |
| Program Synopsis | They said it couldn't be done - a safety standard built on the foundation of Hazard-Based Safety Engineering. But Rich Pescatore now is leading the international effort to create just such a hazard-based safety standard. It will be known as IEC 62368, and its scope will be the Safety of Information and Communication Technology Equipment and Audio / Video Equipment.
Mr. Pescatore will review the basis, the scope and the goals of this new standard. He will share his insight into the challenges being overcome to make this standard both accurate and useful, and he will describe the work being done to ensure it will be functional within the IECEE CB Scheme.
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| Speaker | Rich Pescatore |
| Speaker Biography | Rich Pescatore has over 35 years of experience in the fields of Product Safety and Regulations and presently serves as Hewlett-Packard's Global Product Safety Standards Development and Certification Manager. He is a Member of the Board of Directors of the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society, Vice Chairman (and past Chairman) of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) Technical Regulations Committee, Head of the US Delegation to the IECEE Certification Management Committee, and Head of the US Delegation to IEC TC 108 and Convener of the corresponding Working Group developing IEC 62368.
Mr. Pescatore was the recipient of the Edward Lohse Information Technology Medal for his demonstrated leadership in the development and promotion of national and international standards. He has been awarded the "IEC 1906 Award" for "his major contribution in the promotion of the IECEE CB Scheme."
Mr. Pescatore has a BSEE from California Polytechnic State University and an MBA from the University of Santa Clara. He is a Registered Electrical Engineer in the State of California.
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| Presentation Materials | Slides (PDF)
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| Date | February 26, 2008 |
| Program Title | Telecomm Topics 2 - Unique Testing for Products Containing TNV Circuits |
| Program Synopsis | “Telecomm Topics 1” in June 2007 started with the basic question – “What is TNV?” – and went on from there. Tonight’s “advanced” topics include:
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| Speaker | Peter Tarver |
| Speaker Biography | Peter took his new BSEE from CSU Fresno to Underwriters Laboratories in 1984. He obtained his Professional Engineer License in 1987. By 1989 Peter was the Designated Engineer at UL’s Santa Clara office for all telephone and related equipment product categories.
In 1994 Peter joined Northern Telecom (now called Nortel Networks). He worked primarily on their flagship enterprise level PBX product and ancillary equipment, as well as voice messaging and call server equipment. Peter moved to Sanmina-SCI Corporation, a contract manufacturing company, in 2000, where he provides product safety consulting, testing and agency liaison services.
Peter is a member of the CSA/UL Bi-National Working Group for 60950-1; UL Standards Technical Panel 60950, Information Technology and Telecommunication Equipment; Telecommunication Industry Association Technical Committee on Environmental and Safety Considerations, TR41.7 and various subcommittees. He was recently elected to the BOD of the IEEE PSES.
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| Presentation Materials | Coming Soon!
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| Date | January 22, 2008 |
| Program Title | Medical Device Regulations - from Design to Certification |
| Program Synopsis | FDA and CDRH reports are just the culmination of a long sequence of events, so this presentation is intended both for regulatory personnel and for device development engineers.
Engineers design & develop products that are as safe and effective as possible, but also must comply with regulations and industry standards. Some of their considerations are Human Factors Engineering, Risk Analysis and Management, Materials Technology, Manufacturing Procedures, Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance. Regulatory personnel provide the bridge between design and certification and must be able to “speak both languages”. Their concerns include compliance with Standards and Regulatory Requirements, considering the Device User (skill/education & worst case environmental conditions), biocompatibility (Clinical Evaluations, etc.), potential re-use of Single-Use Devices and anticipating “device design improvements” and limitations on such improvements. This presentation provides insight and guidance on the FDA regulations you may need to observe in the development, manufacture and marketing of medical devices intended for human use. The principles described also may be useful in meeting regulatory requirements for non-medical products.
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| Speaker | Frank Eng |
| Speaker Biography | Frank is an investigator with 35 years of experience in the Food & Drug Administration. He is a Medical Device Specialist and an Electro-Optics Specialist. His primary job is to inspect manufacturers of medical devices and laser products for conformance with FDA's Quality System Regulations and Laser Product Performance Standard. He is also a member of FDA’s Foreign Inspection Cadre, and has conducted foreign inspections almost every year since 1982
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| Presentation Materials | Slides (PDF)
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| 2007 | ||
| Month/Year | Program Title | Speaker |
| December - 2007 | Radiated and Conducted Emission Debug | Dr. Keith Hardin |
| November - 2007 | Switch Safety | Ian McDonald |
| September - 2007 | Laser Safety Requirements | Thomas Lieb |
| June - 2007 | Telecomm Topics - FAQs (and answers) | Peter Tarver |
| May - 2007 | Computer History Museum - Special Tour | N/A |
| April - 2007 | Product Safety Requirements for Taiwan | Leslie Bai |
| March - 2007 | Safety Certification for Leadfree Flexible and Rigid-Flex PCBs | Crystal Vanderpan |
| February - 2007 | Hazardous Locations - Sometimes you don't want to have a blast! | Mike Harris |
| January - 2007 | The impact to industry of China RoHS | Ken Kapur |
| Date | December 11, 2007 |
| Program Title | Radiated and Conducted Emission Debug Techniques |
| Program Synopsis | Radiated and conducted emissions contain spectral and time domain information that can be very helpful in determining the sources of the emissions and possible countermeasures for information technology products. This presentation will discuss a number of methods to help analyze these emissions, show steps to move from the macro scale to the near field, and possible circuit changes to reduce the emissions. The desire is to move from a trial and error solution method to one that is more deterministic when possible.
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| Speaker | Dr. Keith Hardin |
| Speaker Biography | Dr. Keith Hardin is currently a Senior Technical Staff Member and Technical Team Leader in the EMC Department of Lexmark International, Inc. in Lexington, Kentucky. In this role, Keith is responsible for overseeing all technical aspects of Lexmark's EMC product development and test activities. Keith received his M.Eng. and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Louisville. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Kentucky. He holds fourteen US patents in the field of Spread Spectrum Clock Generation and other areas of EMC.
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| Presentation Materials | Coming Soon!
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| Date | November 27, 2007 |
| Program Title | Switch Safety - It's a Snap (or is it?) |
| Program Synopsis | One of the most basic electrical components is the switch. All it has to do is open and close, right? What could be so difficult or interesting about that? When you realize that everything from computers to circuit breakers depends on opening and closing switches, you may reconsider! November’s presentation is “back to the basics”: what switches really have to do and how we make sure they can do it safely. The speaker will consider various types of switches, when and where they should be used, applicable standards and tests, and also touch on some of the issues that can arise if switches are not given the serious consideration they deserve. Come and find out about what turns on almost every piece of electrical equipment in the world. It might turn you on, too!
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| Speaker | Ian McDonald |
| Speaker Biography | Ian McDonald has spent the last 10 years at Underwriters Laboratories working with the industrial group. For the last 4 years he has been the Principal Engineer for Switches and Appliance Controls, recently designing new lab test equipment. He serves as the North American technical representative to the IEC working committee 23j for 61058- 1 (Standard for Appliance Switches) and a member of the ASTM F01.18 working group for membrane switches. Most recently he has been involved in the harmonization efforts between the legacy North American switch standards and IEC 61058-1 standard. Before completing his BSEE at CSU Fresno, Ian had a 1 ½ year stint at NASA’s Thermal lab at Dryden Flight Research Center. So… perhaps switch safety is rocket science?!
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| Presentation Materials | Slides (PDF)
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| Date | September 25, 2007 |
| Program Title | Laser Safety Requirements for Products and Users in a Manufacturing Environment |
| Program Synopsis | During the last few decades safety control measures and guidelines for lasers have been developed and implemented in the US as well as other countries worldwide. Unfortunately, communication and education about these requirements have not kept pace with the proliferation of lasers and laser systems into virtually every industry. This presentation provides an outline of these requirements and a basic understanding of general means and methods of compliance.
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| Speaker | Thomas Lieb |
| Speaker Biography | Thomas Lieb, President of the engineering consulting firm L*A*I since 1988, has managed comprehensive R&D projects, guided integration of laser optical systems, developed management and laser safety training programs, taught undergrad courses in Laser Technology and continues as L*A*I's principal consultant. Previous management positions at major laser companies include General Manager of a Business Unit, Manager - International Marketing, Manager of Quality and Reliability, and Regulatory Affairs Officer (at a medical-surgical laser company). Mr. Lieb is a Certified Laser Safety Officer and regularly consults with Test Houses and Notified Bodies for the laser portion of CE Mark certification. He is part of BALSO (Bay Area Laser Safety Officers), a member of the ANSI Z136 Accredited Standards Committee and Chair of the Z136 Subcommittee on Lasers in Manufacturing. Current positions include Chair of IEC/TC 76 WG 10, Secretary of IEC/TC 76 WG 7, Secretary to ISO/TC 172/SC 9 WG 5, and delegate to numerous other bodies. Besides contributing to Standards such as ISO's Safety Standard for Machines Using Lasers in Material Processing, Mr. Lieb has authored a variety of technical papers and articles on lasers for trade publications. He participated in the compilation of the LIA (Laser Institute of America) guidebook for Best LSO Practices and contributed to the textbook Laser Materials Processing. Thomas Lieb holds a BS/BA in Business from the University of Redlands.
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| Presentation Materials | Slides (PDF)
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| Date | June 26, 2007 |
| Program Title | Telecomm Topics - FAQs (and answers) |
| Program Synopsis | Tonight’s speaker starts with the basics – “What is TNV?” – but doesn’t stop there. Topics include: How do I know if my interface is TNV-x? What’s so hazardous about that? What about Power over Ethernet (PoE)? What level of insulation do I need? What’s this I hear about Nordic countries? What special tests do I need to perform? Does having a TNV circuit in my product affect otherwise required tests? Can I get around any of that? Introduction to Remote Power Feeding (if time allows). |
| Speaker | Peter Tarver |
| Speaker Biography | Peter took his new BSEE from CSU Fresno to Underwriters Laboratories in 1984. He obtained his Professional Engineer License in 1987. By 1989 Peter was the Designated Engineer at UL’s Santa Clara office for all telephone and related equipment product categories. In 1994 Peter joined Northern Telecom (now called Nortel Networks). He worked primarily on their flagship enterprise level PBX product and ancillary equipment, as well as voice messaging and call server equipment. Peter moved to Sanmina-SCI Corporation, a contract manufacturing company, in 2000, where he provides product safety consulting, testing and agency liaison services. Peter is a member of IEEE PSES; CSA/UL Bi-National Working Group for 60950-1; UL Standards Technical Panel 60950, Information Technology and Telecommunication Equipment; Telecommunication Industry Association Technical Committee on Environmental and Safety Considerations, TR41.7 and various subcommittees.
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| Presentation Materials | Slides (PDF)
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| Date | May 22, 2007 |
| Program Title | Computer History Museum - Special Tour |
| Program Synopsis | The IEEE PSES SVC chapter has arranged a special guided tour of the Computer History Museum. Today’s computers are ubiquitous and generally very safe. Taking a look at the historical record can tell us how that has changed – for the better. It also may throw light on the reasons for some of the ITE safety requirements we encounter and deal with today.
The mission of the Computer History Museum is to preserve and present for posterity the artifacts and stories of the information age. As such, the Museum plays a unique role in the history of the computing revolution and its worldwide impact on the human experience. Established in 1996, the Computer History Museum is a public benefit organization dedicated to the preservation and celebration of computing history. It is home to one of the largest collections of computing artifacts in the world, a collection comprising over 13,000 objects, 20,000 images, 5,000 moving images, 4,000 linear feet of cataloged documentation and 5,000 titles or several hundred gigabytes of software. In addition to tours of its extensive collection -- including pre-computing objects, software, hardware and underlying technology, graphics systems, networking, Internet, and computing precursor systems -- the Museum's first phase programs include public lectures, seminars, workshops, and artifact restoration and other volunteer-led projects. |
| Speaker | N/A |
| Speaker Biography | N/A
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| Presentation Materials | Computer History Museum
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| Date | April 24, 2007 |
| Program Title | Product Safety Requirements for Taiwan |
| Program Synopsis | In addition to the well-known EMC requirements, safety requirements have become mandatory for information technology equipment (ITE) that is imported into Taiwan. The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) of Taiwan requires these products to meet both safety (CNS 14336) and EMC (CNS 13438) standards to obtain the Bureau of Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) certification.
This presentation covers a number of Product Safety requirements for Taiwan which have undergone substantial changes recently. Import inspections are being strengthened and market surveillance has been implemented. Documentation requirements for BSMI submittals have also changed significantly. For example, critical components such as internal power supplies now must have certificates. Declarations of Conformity no longer are sufficient for such components. The procedures and new documentation requirements for BSMI safety certification submittals are discussed in this presentation. The new Voluntary Product Certification scheme (VPC) in Taiwan also is covered. |
| Speaker | Leslie Bai |
| Speaker Biography | Leslie Bai is Director of Certification of SIEMIC, Inc., and Vice President of Operations & Marketing for HCT-SIEMIC America, Inc. a compliance testing and certification facility with laboratories in San Jose California, as well as in China and Korea. He has over 15 years of experience with International Regulatory Compliance and Product Certifications. Leslie is a NARTE (National Association of Radio and Telecom Engineering) Certified EMC Engineer. His academic credentials include a PhD and Master’s Degree on Telecommunications Engineering from Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, and Master and Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronics from Nanjing University of China. He can be reached at Leslie.Bai@siemic.com
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| Presentation Materials | Slides (PDF)
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| Date | March 27, 2007 |
| Program Title | Safety Certification for Leadfree Flexible and Rigid-Flex PCBs |
| Program Synopsis | Many OEMs are turning to flexible circuit solutions as products become more sophisticated and exotic. Flexible circuits using polyimide materials are smaller, lighter and exhibit better signal integrity than traditional materials. Changing to RoHS-compliant leadfree solder increases processing temperatures, and flexible circuits resist extreme temperatures and offer better heat dissipation than rigid boards. When designing a flex circuit, the designer must factor in all the parameters that will have an impact on the circuit. In addition, designers need to consider safety issues such as flammability and the maximum operating temperature of the board in the end product. Many of the flexible circuit design considerations are the same as used for safety certification. The presentation will discuss the material, process, and certification parameters to consider when moving to Flexible and Rigid-Flex PCBs.
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| Speaker | Crystal Vanderpan |
| Speaker Biography | Crystal Vanderpan is the Principal Engineer of Printed Circuit Technologies at Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL), an independent, not-for-profit, product-safety testing and certification organization. Crystal received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science from UC Davis.
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| Presentation Materials | Slides (PDF)
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| Date | February 27, 2007 |
| Program Title | Hazardous Locations - Sometimes you don't want to have a blast! |
| Program Synopsis | You don’t need the speaker’s 40 years of Compliance and QA experience in electrical, electronic, and electromechanical manufacturing to know that product safety is affected by the operating environment. What happens to product safety when the operating location is considered hazardous? Tonight’s presentation will focus on hazardous location enclosures. The speaker will discuss the need for such devices and methods of evaluating them.
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| Speaker | Mike Harris |
| Speaker Biography | After earning an electronics degree from North Carolina, Mike became a QA Engineer with C.P. Clare, a maker of electromechanical relays and stepping switches. He then learned about compliance at Square D, a maker of industrial controls. There Mike built and operated a hydrogen-air explosion testing facility where UL witnessed certification tests. As QC Manager at Bell Aerospace in Buffalo, Mike was involved with developments from hybrid microcircuits to satellite steering motors, navigation gyros and gravity gradiometers, as well as aircushion vehicles big enough to carry large trucks. Mike moved to California to be VP Product Safety at Electro Service in San Mateo, then started Teccom Co, a product safety consultancy. After time as a Compliance Engineer at Elo TouchSystems, Mike is back in Product Safety consulting. He started Compliance Department Co. in June 2006.
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| Presentation Materials | Reference information about explosion protection can be found at: http://www.rstahl.com/Exprotection/
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| Date | January 23, 2007 |
| Program Title | The impact to industry of China RoHS |
| Program Synopsis | This presentation will review the goals of China RoHS (Reduction of
Hazardous Substances) requirements. The presentation will explain the two phases of China RoHS implementation and provide guidance on the implementation of labeling and hazardous material content declarations. The process of the catalog also will be discussed, since the RoHS 6 substances must be completely removed from products listed in the catalog. Some of the key controversial areas of implementation also are discussed including: Scope of EIP (Electronic Information Products), Spare parts, second-hand equipment and enforcement. Finally references will be provided for getting further information. On February 28, 2006, China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) promulgated the long-awaited "Management Methods for Controlling Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products Regulation" ("China RoHS"). "China RoHS" provides a broad regulatory framework for substance restrictions, pre-market certifications, labeling and information disclosure requirements affecting a broad range of products, parts and components defined as "electronic information products" ("EIP"). The extremely broad scope of products captured under the "EIP" definition underscores the potential that the entire electronics industry will be directly and immediately affected by "China RoHS" compliance obligations. The China RoHS regulations will require that products shipping to China from March 1, 2007 be compliant. This includes defining the Environment-Friendly Use Period (EFUP) and the applicable labeling on products and packaging. Also, the hazardous material content of a product shall be identified and documented. Manufacturers should understand if their products include the RoHS 6 substances (Pb, Hg, Cd, CRVI, PBB, PBDE) and provide the required documentation with each product shipping to China as of March 1, 2007. The exact level of detail regarding the collection and reporting of this content is to be determined by each company |
| Speaker | Ken Kapur |
| Speaker Biography | Ken Kapur has worked with product regulations for over 20 years, starting at Underwriters Laboratories (UL), and moving to KLA-Tencor, Seagate, AMD, AT&T and other high-tech companies, mainly in the semiconductor industry. His
responsibilities as KLA-Tencor Corporate Compliance Manager include Environmental Health & Safety. Ken established the RoHS discussion group on Yahoo groups (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/RoHS/) in 2004 and has become a leading RoHS expert. He has spoken at several worldwide industry organizations on environmental topics including WEEE, EU RoHS, China RoHS and Product Stewardship. Ken has a BS in Electrical Engineering from University of the Pacific.
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| Presentation Materials | China RoHS Presentation
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| 2006 | ||
| Month/Year | Program Title | Speaker |
| December - 2006 | Incorporate RoHS and WEEE into production designs | Michael Kirschner |
| November - 2006 | Why the CB Scheme and Hazard-Based Standards are incompatible | Rick Buck |
| September - 2006 | Factory Inspections - How to stay compliant! | Regan Arndt |
| June - 2006 | Planning Session for the IEEE PSES SCV Chapter | IEEE |
| May - 2006 | Wiring Devices - "Know how to use them or they will bite you!" | John Herschbach |
| April - 2006 | Aviation Safety - "Product Safety Considerations for Commercial, Military Aircraft and Military Rescue Boats" | Gilbert Walter |
| March - 2006 | Burning Down the House? | Gary Eldridge |
| February - 2006 | Arc Lamps - The Light Fantastic | Orin Laney |
| January - 2006 | What Santa Has to Think About | Steve Leitner |
| Date | December 12, 2006 |
| Program Title | Incorporate RoHS and WEEE into production designs |
| Program Synopsis |
The presentation will cover a review of current and future electronic product-focused environmental regulations then step back and put it in to a higher level, strategic perspective. Today industry is reactive and it is costing us enormous sums of money and little corporate, or in many cases environmental, return. How can engineers view and incorporate these requirements in to product designs and how can managers incorporate them in to a strategic approach to product definition and development? The presentation will discuss how this might be approached as well as what industry activity is necessary to support it.
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| Speaker | Mike Kirschner |
| Speaker Biography | Mike Kirschner has 25 years of extensive cross-functional experience in all phases of the product lifecycle, from conception through production and end-of-life at both Electronics OEMs and semiconductor suppliers. He has been President and Managing Partner of Design Chain Associates, LLC since its inception in 2001 and is an internationally recognized expert in the analysis and impact of environmental regulation on electronic products, and is a highly sought after speaker and author. Prior to this he held Engineering and Engineering Management positions at Compaq, Tandem, Intel, and Intergraph, as well as at several start-ups in Component Engineering, Quality Assurance, Software Development, and Product Design roles. Prior to founding Design Chain Associates, Mike held the position of Component Engineering Manager at Compaq's Tandem Division. Mike received his BSEE from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA. Mike is also on the Editorial Advisory Board of Electronics Supply & Manufacturing Magazine, a CMP publication
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| Presentation Materials | Slides
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| Date | November 28, 2006 |
| Program Title | Why the CB Scheme and Hazard-Based Standards are incompatible |
| Program Synopsis |
Tonight’s presentation explores why the widely used CB Scheme approach to product safety compliance and the new Hazard-Based standards approach are not compatible. The goals of the two approaches are in many ways complete opposites. For example, one relies on engineering judgment of a specific product; the other takes a prescribed approach to general product categories. Both schemes have their place, but come with conflicting technical, economical, and political goals. As the Hazard-Based standards approach comes into use, manufacturers will need to make a choice between the two methods. Come and find out why!
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| Speaker | Rick Buck |
| Speaker Biography | Rick Buck has worked in the field of product safety for over 20 years, including 3 years at UL and 2 years at TUV Rheinland. Obtaining compliance certification for hundreds of products in dozens of product categories has given Rick the essential background to address tonight’s topic. He has held senior management positions and currently is a Senior Consultant at Safety Engineering Laboratory. Rick also was a founding member of the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society (PSES) predecessor and was treasurer for several years.
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| Presentation Materials | Slides
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| Date | September 26, 2006 |
| Program Title | Factory Inspections - How to stay compliant! |
| Program Synopsis |
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| Speaker | Regan Arndt |
| Speaker Biography | Regan Arndt holds a Bachelor's degree in Electronic Engineering and was involved in R&D and Regulatory matters with Nortel Networks since the early 1990's. He joined TUV Rheinland in 2000 as Senior Engineer and eventually became the Western Regional Manager for Canada. Regan now works with TUV America in San Diego as the Account Executive for the Product Safety Division. Because of his broad knowledge of the manufacturing sector and of the NRTL regime, Regan is well versed on strategies for manufacturers and designers to use to ensure proper safety design and continuing compliance.
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| Presentation Materials | None
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| Date | June 27, 2006 |
| Program Title | Planning Session for the IEEE PSES SCV Chapter |
| Program Synopsis |
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| Speaker | Bob Warren, Gary Eldridge, Mark Montrose, and John McBain |
| Speaker Biography | N/A
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| Presentation Materials | None
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| Date | May 23, 2006 |
| Program Title | Wiring Devices - "Know how to use them or they will bite you!" |
| Program Synopsis | One of the most common, and potentially one of the most dangerous electrical products is covered in this presentation. The speaker addresses cord sets and both detachable and nondetachable power supply cords for use with appliances. Historical development, safety aspects for usage today, and design criteria are all discussed in a comprehensive talk.
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| Speaker | John Herschbach |
| Speaker Biography | John Herschbach has over 35 years experience in the field of Product Safety with Underwriters Laboratories. Although he has worked in more than 100 different product categories from data processing equipment to power supplies, he is "the" expert in cord sets, power supply cords and wiring devices. John also is the "Christmas in the Park" Vice President.
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| Presentation Materials | None
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| Date | April 25, 2006 |
| Program Title | Aviation Safety - "Product Safety Considerations for Commercial, Military Aircraft and Military Rescue Boats" |
| Program Synopsis | Aviation technology has made great strides in the last century. More people fly farther and faster now than ever before. The need for safely transporting people and equipment is a high priority for aircraft designers, pilots and passengers. This talk will take a practical look at aviation design and safety issues.
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| Speaker | Gilbert Walter |
| Speaker Biography | Gilbert Walter has 30 years experience in the field of Product Safety – from UL (Northbrook) to Lockheed Missile and Space, to Engineering Lead on the DSRV Rescue Sub. Mr. Walter attended Bowling Green State and Ohio State Universities. He is a registered PE in Product Safety and holds a Management Certification from Lockheed Co.
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| Presentation Materials | Slides (PDF)
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| Date | March 28, 2006 |
| Program Title | Burning Down the House |
| Program Synopsis | The Candle Flame Ignition Proposal. Can your product contribute to death and injuries in a house fire? You’ve built your product so it won’t start a fire, but is that enough? Proposed External Candle Flame Ignition requirements call for products to resist becoming the primary fuel in an externally caused fire. Will these requirements impact your product? Tonight’s speaker discusses the proposal and its possible consequences.
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| Speaker | Gary Eldridge |
| Speaker Biography | Gary Eldridge has been tinkering with electronics since an early age and started building Heathkits at age 10. He soon discovered that electrical components could burn, smoke, or explode under the right conditions of abuse, so becoming a product safety engineer made sense. Gary graduated from Sacramento State University with a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He worked at UL Santa Clara for 7 years and later at Hewlett Packard and Riverstone Networks. He has been at Apple Computer for the last 2 years. Gary is a registered PE in California and has NARTE certification as a Safety Engineer.
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| Presentation Materials | Slides (PDF)
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| Date | February 28, 2006 |
| Program Title | Arc Lamps - The Light Fantastic |
| Program Synopsis | Arc lamps are one of the most interesting light sources available on the planet. Often, nothing else will do for applications that require a highly efficient and intense output. Bulb sizes range from tens of watts to greater than 30KW. Arc lamp applications range from automobile headlamps to theater projection systems. However, unlike most other light sources, arc lamps involve high voltage starting pulses, ultraviolet emissions, explosion risk, and other hazards. This talk will take a practical look at the design and safety issues. Examples of several product designs will be included.
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| Speaker | Orin Laney |
| Speaker Biography | Orin Laney has been designing electronic circuits since he first built a crystal radio at age 12. A graduate of the University of Maryland, his career has included everything from power conversion to microwave rate serial bit streams. He is currently the owner (and sole employee) of Atwood Research in Mountain View, CA. Credentials include California PE registration and NARTE certification as an EMC engineer. He may be reached at olaney@juno.com.
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| Presentation Materials | Slides (PDF)
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| Date | January 24, 2006 |
| Program Title | What Santa Has to Think About |
| Program Synopsis | In his presentation to the PSES Steve will discuss the relatively unique challenges associated with working in the field of toy safety and regulations. Warning labels are not very useful if the user has not yet learned to read. If your products may ever encounter children, do you know what considerations to make? Compliance engineers in other businesses may learn they have it easier than they thought!
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| Speaker | Steve Leitner |
| Speaker Biography | Steve Leitner is a Product Compliance Engineer at LeapFrog, a company that develops and markets technology-based educational toys. His previous 23 years experience in quality, regulatory, EMC and safety compliance engineering at Hewlett-Packard spanned from test instruments to ITE, high-speed network printers to large servers, and business PCs to Central Office telecommunications equipment. Steve's compliance engineering roots extend back to a five-year stint with Underwriters Laboratories in Santa Clara. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
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| 2005 | ||
| Month/Year | Program Title | Speaker |
| November - 2005 | Lithium Ion Batteries: Assessment and Failure Investigation | Celina Mikolajczak and Jan Stewart |
| October - 2005 | A Framework for Thinking Ethically about Product Safety | James Balassone |
| September - 2005 | Changes in What We Know about Circuit Protection: Is it a Circuit Breaker or Not? | Ashley Harkness |
| June - 2005 | Working Planning Session for the IEEE PSES SCV Chapter | N/A |
| May - 2005 | Laser Safety | Kenneth L. Barat |
| April - 2005 | Product Liability | Lewis Bass |
| February - 2005 | Effective Environmental Stress Screening (ESS) | Dr. Hong S. Liu, Quanta Laboratories |
| January - 2005 | Gateway to a New Thinking in Energy Management - Ultracapacitors | Bobby Maher, Maxwell Technologies |
| Date | November 15, 2005 |
| Program Title | Lithium Ion Batteries: Assessment and Failure Investigation |
| Program Synopsis | Part 1: (J. Swart) Company specific safety evaluation for a product should be based on the product's design, as well as the intended use and foreseeable abuse. The speaker discusses the philosophy of safety evaluation and the development of design and application specific evaluation criteria. Part 2: (C. Mikolajczak) Batteries failures may result in electrical malfunction, thermal damage, case rupture, or combustion. Should modifications be made to battery components or manufacturing processes? Does the failure warrant a product recall? A systematic approach can identify failure causes and develop corrective actions. |
| Speaker | Celina Mikolajczak and Jan Swart |
| Speaker Biography | Ms. Celina Mikolajczak is a Managing Engineer in Exponent's Thermal Sciences practice. She specializes in the thermal sciences, particularly the areas of heat transfer, fire propagation, smoldering, pyrolysis, metal ignition and burning, and fire suppression and has conducted studies on the specific fire hazards related to batteries. Prior to joining Exponent, Ms. Mikolajczak was a Research Assistant at the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department of Princeton University and a Field Engineer with Schlumberger Well Services in Louisiana.
Mr. Jan Swart is a Senior Managing Engineer in Exponent's Electrical Engineering practice. He consults on conventional, hybrid, and electrically powered vehicles, power electronics systems, new chemistry battery specifications, safety evaluation protocol development for cells, battery packs, chargers, and power supplies and investigates electrical failures and electrically induced fires. Prior to joining Exponent, Mr. Swart was a Lecturer at Richtek College in South Africa and held positions at the University of Karlsruhe in Germany, and Cape Technikon and M. Price and Associates in South Africa. |
| Presentation Materials | Slides (PDF)
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| Date | October 25, 2005 |
| Program Title | A Framework for Thinking Ethically about Product Safety |
| Program Synopsis | What is your role as a Product Safety Engineer? Don't be surprised if tonight's speaker poses that question in this interactive session. Ethics are standards of behavior that tell us how human beings (and product safety engineers) ought to act in the many situations in which they find themselves. When your boss says, "Don't worry about it", should you be worried? The presentation will challenge us to look at product safety in an ethics framework.
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| Speaker | James Balassone |
| Speaker Biography | As Executive-in-Residence at Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University, Jim Balassone manages the Business and Organizational Ethics Partnership, which brings scholars and businesspeople together to address key ethical issues and undertake research. Balassone brings an extensive background in sales, marketing, and business development to his work with the Center. He has been an executive with several start-up companies, was executive vice president for marketing and then sales at Hitachi Data Systems, and held a broad range of positions at IBM. Balassone has served in several volunteer alumni fundraising roles for his alma mater, Princeton University. He also earned an MBA in finance from New York University.
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| Presentation Materials |
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| Date | September 27, 2005 |
| Program Title | Changes in What We Know about Circuit Protection: Is it a Circuit Breaker or Not? |
| Program Synopsis | Mr. Harkness' talk is entitled "Changes in What We Know about Circuit Protection: Is it a Circuit Breaker or Not?" On assignment in Japan, Mr. Harkness was presented with what looked like a circuit breaker, but was not listed as such. He had to determine whether it was acceptable and under what circumstances? What followed was an extensive "What are You Protecting and Why?" discussion with the manufacturer. Surprisingly, the answers have been altered by changes in new products, requirements, and system capabilities. This discussion will clarify several issues regarding Circuit Protection changes. |
| Speaker | Ashley Harkness |
| Speaker Biography | Ashley Harkness comes to us from, eti Conformity Services, a division of Electrical Reliability Services (formerly Electro-Test, Incorporated) of San Ramon, California. eti Conformity Services is the largest independent testing company in the United States servicing the commercial and industrial electrical market.
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| Presentation Materials | Slides (PDF)
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| Date | June 21, 2005 |
| Program Title | Working Planning Session for the IEEE PSES SCV Chapter |
| Program Synopsis |
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| Speaker | N/A |
| Speaker Biography | N/A
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| Presentation Materials | Presentation Coming Soon!
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| Date | May 24, 2005 |
| Program Title | What James Bond should have known about laser safety |
| Program Synopsis | High power lasers can be a serious safety hazard! This presentation is a review of several recent laser safety accidents within the Department of Energy community. Each case had consequences to the facility as well as to the people involved. What could have prevented each incident? Can we change our laser safety culture now in spite of the opposing forces?
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| Speaker | Kenneth L. Barat |
| Speaker Biography | Ken Barat has been the Laser Safety Officer (LSO) for the National Ignition Facility Directorate since 2002. He was formerly LSO at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab from 1992-2002. Ken participates in several ANSI committees related to lasers including ANSI Z136. He is a Fellow of the Laser Institute of America and won the Jim Rockwell award for laser safety leadership in 2005. As well as being a founder of the Bay Area Laser Safety Officers Society, Ken speaks at national and international meetings and is an instructor and published author on the subject of laser safety.
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| Presentation Materials |
Slides (PDF)
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| March 2005 Photonics Spectra Article by Ken Barat (PDF) | |
| August 2005 LSO Workshop (PDF) | |
| Date | April 28, 2005 |
| Program Title | Product Liability |
| Program Synopsis | We are fortunate to have Mr. Lewis Bass speaking on a topic that underlies much of what we do as Product Safety Engineers -- Product Liability. He previously has addressed our group on that topic with a very interesting and useful presentation. The usual question and answer session may stretch a bit again, since attendees tend to devise a number of “hypothetical situations” relating to the topic of liability.
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| Speaker | Lewis Bass |
| Speaker Biography | Lewis Bass, P.E., holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering, an MS in Industrial and Systems Engineering, and a JD in Law, as well as being a registered professional safety engineer. He has taught Safety Science for the University of Southern California Institute of Safety and Systems Management and hazard analysis and liability prevention for the University of Wisconsin - Madison and UCLA.
Mr. Bass is the author of "Products Liability: Design and Manufacturing Defects, 2nd Edition", has published numerous papers and is a frequent speaker on safety law and product liability at professional seminars and conferences. Mr. Bass is a member of the American Society for Quality, American Society of Safety Engineers, National Fire Protection Association, Semiconductor Safety Association and the American Bar Association. |
| Presentation Materials |
Slides (PDF)
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| Date | February 22, 2005 |
| Program Title | Effective Environmental Stress Screening (ESS) |
| Program Synopsis | Environmental Stress Screening (ESS) is a powerful tool to precipitate weakness in product design, components, and manufacturing processes. ESS (sometimes called HALT & HASS) can help companies limit the risk of product recall, meet government/commercial requirements to ruggedize their products and reduce the chance of safety defects. This presentation will describe the ESS process and how to effectively apply it to your products.
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| Speaker | Dr. Hong S. Liu, Quanta Laboratories |
| Speaker Biography | Dr. Liu is the founder and president of Quanta Laboratories since 1985. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, and MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington. Dr. Liu has over 30 years experience in environmental testing, as well as extensive experience in research, development and testing of mechanical and electronic devices, and theoretical and experimental stress analysis. He is a writer/contributor to Test Magazine and has developed 3 patents in environmental testing. Dr. Liu also has taught engineering courses at the University of California at Berkeley and engineering and business courses at San Jose State University.
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| Presentation Materials |
Slides (PDF)
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| Date | January 18, 2005 |
| Program Title | Gateway to a New Thinking in Energy Management-Ultracapacitors |
| Program Synopsis | Ultracapacitors are the heart of a high power energy storage system that is finding its way into many applications as a battery replacement. The underlying technology is over 100 years old, but new discoveries in material and processes have combined to bring the cost down. This presentation will look into the ultracapacitor technology, current applications and future opportunities. Find out what's "ultra" about ultracapacitors!
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| Speaker | Bobby Maher, Maxwell Technologies |
| Speaker Biography | Bobby Maher has worked at Maxwell Technologies for 7 years, currently as Director of Technical Sales for the Boostcap product. He has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of California San Diego and also posseses an MBA. Before his employment at Maxwell Technologies, Bobby was employed as an engineer with Cubic Corp in San Diego.
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| Presentation Materials |
Slides (PDF)
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| 2004 | ||
| Month/Year | Program Title | Speaker |
| December - 2004 | Holiday Networking Social and EMC Topic | Dave Seabury, ETS Lindgren |
| November - 2004 | National Electrical Code 2005 Code Changes | Chuck Mello, UL |
| October - 2004 | Getting Medical Products to the EU is not all about Product Safety | Amanda Pack, UL |
| September - 2004 | Central Office Power & Ground Requirements and Design Solutions | Marko Radojicic, Nokia |
| Date | December 14, 2004 |
| Program Title | Holiday Networking Social and EMC Topic |
| Program Synopsis | See IEEE SCV EMC Website for more information.
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| Speaker | Dave Seabury, ETS Lindgren |
| Speaker Biography | See IEEE SCV EMC Website for more information.
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| Presentation Materials |
Presentation coming soon!
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| Date | November 17, 2004 |
| Program Title | National Electrical Code 2005 Code Changes |
| Program Synopsis | The National Electrical Code is a constantly evolving document updated every three years. The 2005 edition of the NEC was adopted by NFPA in July 2004 and the first printing was shipped in mid September. Changes for usability,alignment with international code styles, restructuring of articles and relocations were not as extensive as in 1999 and 2002. However, over 3300 proposals for changes and over 4400 comments on the panel actions were submitted and reviewed during the proposal stage, so there are new articles and other significant changes. One example is the new Article 409 for Industrial Control Panels, which will have inspectors inspecting ICPs in cases when the assembly has no recognized third party Listing or Field Evaluation mark. Tonight’s presentation will introduce to you selected changes from the 2005 NEC and allow you some time for questions and discussion.
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| Speaker | Chuck Mello, Underwriters Laboratories Inc. |
| Speaker Biography | Chuck Mello received a BS degree from Oregon State University in 1972 with co-majors in Electrical Power Technology and Naval Science. He worked for Electro-Test, Inc. from 1977 until 1996, as a Field Engineer, Senior Field Engineer, Operations Supervisor, Area Manager, and Director of Training and Standards. During that time he started the ETI operations in Portland, Oregon. In 1996 Chuck assumed a new corporate position at ETI as Manager Conformity Assessment overseeing two NRTL laboratories, field evaluations, SEMI evaluations and CE operations on a corporate wide basis. Underwriters Laboratories hired Chuck in January 2004, as their Program Manager for Field Evaluations. He is tasked with bringing together the various entities within UL doing field evaluations to provide rapid response and consistent operations for the North American region. Chuck has been a principal member of the NEC Code Making Panel 5 since 1996. He is a nationally recognized speaker on the NEC, grounding and bonding, high voltage power systems, and electrical safety.
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| Presentation Materials |
Presentation coming soon!
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| Date | October 26, 2004 |
| Program Title | Getting Medical Products to the EU is not all about Product Safety |
| Program Synopsis | The speaker takes a look at the requirements of the Medical Device Directive (MDD). How are the requirements different from other directives such as the LVD? The presentation discusses the documentation required to get yourmedical product into the EU and some of the many aspects called “safety” -- not just a Product Safety report. The topic includes Notified Bodies, their roles in getting medical products to the EU, and why they are not all the same.Finally, the speaker looks at the role that ISO 13485 plays for Medical Devices in market access to the EU.
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| Speaker | Amanda Pack, Underwriters Laboratories Inc. |
| Speaker Biography | Amanda Pack is the Primary Technical Contact for Medical Device Conformity Assessment Services at Underwriters Laboratories Inc., Santa Clara office, assisting manufacturers in the global certification requirements for Medical andIn-vitro Diagnostic devices. Currently, she is an ISO 13485, CDMCAS, MDD and IVDD accredited auditor, a Technical File assessor and also an FDA 510(k) Third Party Reviewer. She speaks as |