Academics

Penn State Harrisburg to host 2016 Symposium on Signal Integrity

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — The Center for Signal Integrity at Penn State Harrisburg will host the 10th Central Pennsylvania Symposium on Signal Integrity from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, April 22, in the Capital Union Building on campus. Signal integrity involves the quality of electrical signals passing through connectors used in electronic devices like computers or cellular phones. 

Participants will have the opportunity to learn from international experts about the latest developments in signal integrity and have the opportunity to exchange ideas with them, as well as other professionals and local business leaders.

This year, the format will include speakers and hands-on workshops. The following speakers are scheduled to present in the symposium:

  • "25Gbps and beyond Ethernet channel specifications — Channel Operating Margin (COM)": Brandon Gore, signal integrity engineer, Intel Corporation's Packaging and Interconnects Group.
  • “Signal Integrity Tips and Techniques Using TDR-VNA Modeling”: OJ Danzy and Russ Kramer, application engineers, Keysight Technologies
  • “Advanced SI Analysis - Layout Driven Assembly”: Tom MacDonald, Ansys application engineer
  • "RF Old School Microwave Structures and their application for modern signal integrity": Alfred Neves, CTO Wild River Technologies
  • "Forensic analysis of closed eyes- how do you debug a high speed serial link": Eric Bogatin, dean of Lecroy/Teledyne SI Academy, and author of the hugely successful book, "Signal and Power Integrity Simplified"
  • "The Ethernet Rate Explosion": John D'Ambrosia, senior principal engineer, NA IP Standards Team, Futurewei, a subsidiary of Huawei; chair of the IEEE P802.3bs 400 Gb/s Ethernet Task Force
  • "Modeling Complex Structures in Electromagnetics using a Hybrid Algorithm": Kapil Sharma, FCI signal integrity engineer
  • “28 GBaud PAM4 Characterization in Preparation for 400G”: John Smith, applications engineer, Tektronix

The Center for Signal Integrity is housed within the campus' School of Science, Engineering, and Technology and is the only academic unit in the region that is dedicated to partnering with the area’s connector companies in product development through faculty and student research and collaboration. 

The Center for Signal Integrity assists central Pennsylvania’s numerous connector companies with product development by fostering collaborating between them and the campus' engineering faculty and students. The center is partially funded by Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Pennsylvania, Penn State Harrisburg, ANSYS, FCI, Samtec, TE-Connectivity, Innovation Transfer Network, and Keysight Technologies.

Known as the “connector capital of the world,” the Harrisburg metropolitan area is home to more than 25 electrical connector companies. Sedig Agili and Aldo Morales, co-directors of the center and electrical engineering faculty members at Penn State Harrisburg, estimate that the region holds 80 to 90 percent of the U.S. connector market and about half of the market worldwide. 

The cost for the symposium is $190 for the general public, $152 for member companies and $10 for students. The fee includes lunch. For registration or information please visit http://harrisburg.psu.edu/center-signal-integrity/symposium or contact Aldo Morales at awm2@psu.edu or Sedig Agili at ssa10@psu.edu.  

IEEE Susquehanna section is partially sponsoring this year’s symposium. 

Last Updated April 19, 2016