Test engineers can hone their skills and knowledge by attending one or more specialized meetings aimed at their specialties. For those in the United Kingdom and Europe, the recent ARMMS RF & Microwave Society conference, coordinated by Malcolm Edwards of Applied Wave Research (Hitchin, Hertsforshire, England), featured 15 high-quality presentations and set an attendance record with more than 80 attendees. The talk by consultant and amplifier designer Steve Cripps, "De-classifying the Class E Mode for Microwave PA Design," won the award for best presentation, while the talk by Peter Ladbrooke of Accent Optical Technologies (Fulbourne, Cambridge, England), "Device Characterization for Large-Signal Circuit Design," was voted the runner-up. Additional presentations included Tim Carey of Aeroflex International Ltd. on RF test solutions using PXI instruments, Liam Devlin of Plextek (Essex, England) on RF filter design using coupled coaxial resonators, and Tom Cantle of Eudyna Devices Europe with a review of solid-state microwave power devices, including gallium nitride (GaN) transistors.
The next ARMMS meeting is scheduled for November 1-2, 2004 at the Hotel Elizabeth in Corby, Northamptonshire, England. For more information on the ARMMS RF & Microwave Society, contact JJ Heath-Caldwell at (44) 1962 761 565 or by e-mail at jj@jjhc.co.uk.
For those in the United States, the upcoming Automatic RF Techniques Group (ARFTG) meeting scheduled for June 11, 2004 in Fort Worth, TX in conjunction with the annual IEEE Microwave Theory & Techniques Symposium (MTT-S). This 63rd meeting of the measurement group, with a theme of "on-wafer characterization," offers technical presentations on semiconductor and passive device characterization as well as a small exhibit area for suppliers of test equipment and measurement software. For more information on ARFTG itself or on attending the 63rd meeting, please visit the website listed below.
ARMMS --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eA0JtlqC0Gth0BIUw0A3
ARFTG --> http://lists.planetee.com/cgi-bin3/DM/y/eA0JtlqC0Gth0BIUx0A4