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| October 29, 2008 | ||||||||||
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From the President:
Also, mark your calendars for EuCAP 2009 in Berlin, Germany from March 23-27, 2009. As in the past two events, AMTA will have a strong presence, thanks to our AMTA Vice President, Carlo Rizzo and the volunteer leadership group in Europe. We are continuing to make process in making AMTA more than a one-time yearly event by improving our website presence. Much of what’s going on is behind the scenes, but Scott Wood with Milestone Marketing, as AMTA Webmaster, has developed a page about AMTA for Wikipedia (gotta compete with those darn massage therapists). We anticipate it being posted any day now, but the meat of the Wikipedia article is on the AMTA website. Go ahead and look. I've got plenty of time. Again, at the 2008 Winter Board of Directors Meeting, the AMTA Board of Directors discussed strategic plans for the next five years. After those discussions, here's what I envision where AMTA is right now.
From the picture above, you can see I view AMTA as consisting of multiple entities that have limited interaction with each other. Of course, the big event that pulls us together is the annual Symposium. What I envision AMTA evolving into over the next five years is this.
In this vision, AMTA is a more integrated group that communicates to itself and to the world through the website, under the direction of the BoD, vendors, and volunteers. The challenge is to have better and more interaction between all of the entities on a regular basis. While I believe we're continually making progress, we can always use more suggestions (and help!). The four major issues that the BoD is addressing are:
Under item #1, we have three strong candidates for the Board of Directors for 2008. The three candidates will be 1) Kim Hassett from NSI in Baltimore; 2) Gabe Sanchez from AEMI in San Diego; and 3) Javier Marti-Canales from ESTEC in Noordwijk, The Netherlands. All three candidates bring energy and unique talents to AMTA, and I hope you'll consider each candidate before voting. We don't have absentee voting, so make sure and show up for the Business Lunch on Tuesday. Under item #2, AMTA has hosts for the next four Symposiums, so we are doing extremely well. I may set a record as President for most hotel contract signings in one year. (I've called Guinness; I’ll keep you updated.) Under item #3, as Milestone Marketing continues to improve the AMTA website, I invite you to log into the AMTA website at www.amta.org and look around. Both Jeff Guerrieri and I will be available at AMTA 2008 for anyone who is having problems logging in, or you can contact Scott Wood at milestone@bellsouth.net or Jeff Guerrieri at secretary@amta.org. While I'm getting close to lame-duck status as President, I encourage you to find something within AMTA that interests you and let someone on the BoD know. You can always e-mail president@amta.org with comments, questions, and suggestions. Jeff Kemp Technical Coordinator's Report Well, the papers have all been submitted and the last minute changes and corrections made (I hope so!). At this point, everything is at the printers and being published. About all that is left to do from my perspective is to get on with the show; but actually, there is still a great deal left to do. When the preliminary program was released, I thought I was going to have to squeeze 106 papers into a week. This is on top of making room for the Business Meeting, the Exhibitor Lunch, workshops, technical and Board meetings, and all of the exciting evening activities that were planned. However, due to various reasons, the final number of papers is coming in at 89. So the final program is different then what you may have received earlier. We have several special sessions or workshops planned this year. On Thursday at 3:15 pm a panel discussion of FCC licensing will be held. This is a continuation and an update from the FCC licensing paper presented in 2007. The panel discussion will be led by Jeffrey E. Rummel of Arent Fox PLLC, Tracy H. Johnson of BAE Systems, Inc., and our AMTA President Jeffrey Kemp of GTRI. Mr. Rummel plans on opening the session with a quick presentation on FCC Licensing of Ranges. Following the Panel Discussion, there will be a workshop on RCS Range Uncertainty Analysis in the Terrace Room. This workshop is actually part of the annual meeting for the Range Certification Team. It will be led by Dr. Byron Welsh of AFRL and Roger Davis of NAVAIR (RSBP, LLC). As a forerunner of this workshop, make sure you don't miss Session 8 on Tuesday afternoon (actually, you should not miss any of the sessions!). We will be again hosting Student Day on Tuesday. This is being organized by Professor Daniel Schaubert of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The students will arrive in the afternoon to participate in the Tuesday afternoon sessions. After the sessions, we are hoping that they will get to meet some of you, discuss antenna measurements, and see some exhibits. Dan is working very hard on the exact details and will have opportunities for you to contribute. So, if you see him headed your way, or if you identify his call on your caller ID; don’t run or hide. Volunteer! Meet the future of this industry. AMTA Technical Corner Ed Urbanik AMTA LA - A Big Success!
AMTA's 2008 regional event was held in the greater Los Angeles area September 15 at the Marriott Hotel in Manhattan Beach – the heart of Southern California's aerospace community. Supported by the local IEEE Antennas and Propagation and Electromagnetic Compatibility Societies, the meeting attracted engineers from as far north as Fremont, as far east as Palmdale, and as far south as San Diego. Companies such as Northrop Grumman, Lockheed, Raytheon and The Aerospace Corporation were well represented among the attendees. In all, over 80 people from industry, academia and government organizations attended. Of these, AMTA registered a total of 44 new members, plus reactivated 12 expired members. The highlights of the day included the outstanding technical program, the generous support of the 23 participating exhibitors, and the excellent networking opportunities. Speakers included Dr. Vince Rodriguez of ETS-Lindgren, Tim Harris of Rohde & Schwarz, Distinguished Professor Yahya Rahmat-Sammi of UCLA, Dr. Dean Mensa of the Navy Point Mugu, John Aubin of Orbit/FR, and Greg Hindman of NSI. Topics addressed included anechoic chamber design and analysis, instrumentation, near-field measurements and diagnostics, and image formation processes. The day began at 8:00 am with continental breakfast inside one large meeting/exhibit room. Following breakfast, Jeff Fordham of MI Technologies, the popular "Master of Ceremonies", took the stage and kept things moving on schedule throughout the day. Given the beautiful weather, lunch was set up outdoors overlooking the hotel's golf course. There were mid morning and mid afternoon breaks. A reception ended the day with heavy appetizers served and drink tickets offered for the hosted bar. With the abundance of food included in the registration fee, AMTA upheld its tongue-in-cheek acronym as "Another Meal To Attend." A raffle held at the end of the reception featured some great gift cards and prizes from MI Technologies, Orbit/FR, AR RF/Microwave Instrumentation, Ophir RF, Rohde & Schwarz, AMTA and IEEE. Many thanks are due to the organizers who helped make this event a big success, including Gene Taylor of Altamont Technical Services for handling the registration, Scott Wood of Milestone Marketing for creating the marketing material for this event, Dan Janning of the AFRL and AMTA Treasurer for managing the event finances, and last but not least, Charlie Jackson of Northrop Grumman and Ray Adams of The Boeing Company, our IEEE liaisons, for their assistance in promoting this event within the local IEEE community. Thanks also to the lunch sponsors - FEKO, Fischer Custom Communications, and Instruments for Industry – as well as the reception sponsors AR RF/Microwave Instrumentation and Chamber Services – for their generous contributions to the success of the event. Click here to see some photos from AMTA LA and the good time that was had by all who attended. Planning is underway for next year's regional AMTA event. If you have a city to suggest, please contact Janet O'Neil at janet.oneil@ets-lindgren.com. Janet O'Neil What Image Are You Portraying? In a few short days, Americans will be heading to the ballot boxes to cast their votes in what promises to be a closely watched Presidential election around the world. American citizens have endured months of election campaign ads, debates, interviews, photo opportunities, and television/radio commercials about the candidates, all of which are carefully crafted to help shape the 'Image' of the candidate that will be the United States President and Executive-in-Chief. Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama has worked to portray himself as the candidate of change, a man who, despite an atypical background, Is uniquely American and offers a deep understanding of what American families face now and in the future. Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain has worked to portray himself as a patriot and a reformer, a man whose decades of service to his country in the military and in politics, and his years in a Vietnamese POW camp, make him the best choice for the Presidential office. Many may argue that the presidential campaigns today are excessively focused on Image (which may or may not turn out to be authentic). The elections nonetheless demonstrate how critical the entire notion of image can be outside of politics and in the workplace. Regardless of the level of your current occupation, or how strong or weak the "spotlight" is shining on you, every day, what you say and what you do, builds your professional image. This professional Image will contribute to how you are perceived and what your ability is to advance in your career. We should always be mindful of the way we project ourselves; Image is not something we just polish up for job interviews. In fact, your effectiveness as a leader is directly linked to the perception that others form of you as a result of your impression on them. …. i.e. your image… According to a recent Center of Creative Leadership survey, and guidebooks of several experts, (such as Corey Criswell and David Campbell) "If you’re not in an occupation that requires leadership, you can still demonstrate that you have leadership potential." The survey's results would suggest that your ability to advance to a leadership role directly correlates with the image you portray, even in entry level positions. Many career development experts are now focusing on the crucial role personal branding plays in advancing one's career. Just read some popular CEO blogs (and CEOs with large twitter followings) to see this discussion thread picked up over and over again. I am not sure the notion of "who you are" is more important than what you do day-to-day in your professional life, especially in the world of non-presidential candidates. Image management is not about being superficial or creating a picture that is untrue. It's more along the lines of being cognizant of how people perceive you, recognizing your strengths, and being deliberate in the way you communicate those strengths. Who will be the next president? We'll know soon. For now we can be sure that Image will play a large role in that decision. As for the rest of us, while we may be far removed from the glare of the national spotlight, we’re still on a professional stage. What successes may come our way will be, in part, a result of the image we convey. Lawrence L. Mandeville
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Heading into the home stretch for AMTA 2008, it’s time go to the whip. If you haven't registered for AMTA 2008 in Boston, MA, USA from November 16-21, 2008, time is running out. Head on over to 
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