News Release

Symposium on Signal Integrity April 14

March 19, 2009

The third annual Symposium on Signal Integrity at Penn State Harrisburg April 14 will focus on current and cutting-edge research developments impacting the vast regional connector industry.

Aldo Morales, director of the sponsoring Center for Signal Integrity at the college, says, “Building on the success of the first two events, the day-long gathering is directed to engineers and other professionals in the electrical connector and interconnect industries, students, and researchers.”

Known as the “connector capital of the world,” the Harrisburg metropolitan area is home to more than 20 electrical connector firms. It is estimated that the region holds 80 to 90 percent of the U.S. connector market and as much as half of the market worldwide.

“We chose the topics and internationally recognized presenters in order to again bring the latest developments in signal integrity – and what’s on the horizon -- to the region’s companies and professionals,” Morales adds. The range of topics includes “Jitter” and “Via and Via Array Modeling.”

In the realm of high-speed digital design, signal integrity has become a critical issue and is posing increasing challenges to design engineers. Signal integrity addresses two concerns in the electrical design aspect – the timing and quality of the signal. Does the signal reach its destination when it is supposed to? And when it arrives, is it in good condition?

Headquartered in the college’s School of Science, Engineering, and Technology, the Center for Signal Integrity is the only academic unit in the region dedicated to partnering with the area’s connector companies in product development through faculty and student research and collaboration. The center also provides employee training and serves as a clearinghouse for the latest research in the field. The center is partially funded by Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Tyco, Amphenol, FCI, Santec, Yazaki North America, Phoenix Contact, and Agilent.

Presenters at the symposium and their topics include:

• Dr. Jan Fan, Missouri University of Science and Technology, “Via and Via Array Modeling on Crosstalk.”
• Howard Heck, Intel Research and Development, “USB 3.0 Electrical Challenges and Solutions.”
• Dr. Raj Mittra, Penn State University Park, “Gems: a General-Purpose Electromagnetic Solver for Emi/Emc Problems Arising in Electronic Packages.”
• Dr. Ransom Stephens, Writer, Physicist, Public Speaker, “Jitter.”
• Jon Martens, Anritsu Company Engineer, “Improved De-Embedding for Highly-Couples Multiport Fixtures.”

The cost for the symposium is $125 which includes lunch. For registration or information, phone 717-948-6538 or e-mail blf3@psu.edu.