NovemberDecember 2000

News and views for members of the ESD Association News bits THRESHOLD TM One for the record books One for the record books ......... 1 Threshold redesign................... 2 Paper awards ............................ 3 Friendship award...................... 3 Calendar .................................. 3 Gibson honored ....................... 4 Association volunteers .............. 5 20.20 certification .................... 6 Symposium in photos .......... 8-9 Standards update ............. 10-11 Mr. Static on volts .................. 12 Letters to editor ..................... 13 Texas ropes ‘em in.................. 13 ESD Northwest cited .............. 13 New directors, officers ........... 14 Certification exams ................ 14 2001 Symposium scheduled The 23rd annual EOS/ESD Symposium, sponsored by the ESD Association, is scheduled for the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon, September 9-13, 2001. For more information, visit the Association’s web site at www.esda.org or contact Association headquarters. Certification exam set for September 14, 2001 The ESD Association will sponsor the ESD professional certification exams in con- junction with the 2001 EOS/ESD Sympo- sium in Portland, OR. The ESDC engineer and ESDC technician exams are sched- uled for Friday, September 14. Watch for additional details on the exams and edu- cational tutorials later in the year. Volume 16, No. 6 November/December 2000 2000 EOS/ESD Symposium Symposium week was bigger than ever... Koen Verhaege While Olympic athletes competed “down under,” the 2000 EOS/ESD Sym- posium smashed all kinds of records in Anaheim, California. All the signs were there, starting in January with the paper submissions. The trend continued over the summer as early registrations poured in and the Dis- neyland Hotel filled up. As the Symposium steering committee reviewed the early data, last year’s general chair Tom Diep was fidgeting in his office over an attendance challenge he issued to Koen Verhaege, the 2000 general chair. Who would wear the Mickey Mouse ears? Be- fore on-site registration even opened, the question was answered and Tom ap- peared at the Sunday night ESD Associa- tion volunteer recognition dinner sport- ing new headgear. Coping with the overflow Meanwhile, Symposium volunteers and staff were working diligently with the hotel and convention center to accom- modate the higher than anticipated at- tendance. Hoping to minimize any po- tential inconvenience to the attendee, the effort was started well in advance, but feverish behind-the-scenes activity continued on site: more tables and chairs for meeting rooms, extra buses for tours, relocating lun- cheons, and praying for good weather to accommodate outside functions. Some activity was more visible as As- sociation board members and Sympo- sium steering committee members were pressed into extra duty at the registration desk and the Association booth. As gen- eral chair Koen Verhaege commented, “The most amazing experience was as- In this issue continued on page 7