JanuaryFebruary 2002

News and views for members of the ESD Association News bits THRESHOLD TM E LD Volume 18, No. 1 January/February 2002 Corporate sponsor program ... 1 From the Threshold chair ....... 2 ESD design seminar ................ 3 Calendar of events ................. 3 Connect in Charlotte .............. 4 From the President ................. 6 Local doings in Mexico .......... 7 RF technology and ESD .......... 8 Letters to the editor .............. 10 In this issue Three earn certification Three individuals have joined the ranks of certified ESD Control Engineers. Fred Tenzer, Desco; Shigeru Ohki, Texas Instru- ments Japan, Ltd.; and Terttu Peltoniemi, Nokia Networks, passed their October certification exams and completed the other requirements to achieve profes- sional certification. Seven other individu- als also passed the certification exam in October, but still need to complete their other requirements. Threshold appointments The ESDA has appointed two persons to oversee the preparation of Threshold during 2002. Leo G. Henry, Ion Systems, has been reappointed as Threshold chair. Mike Chaine, Micron Technology, Inc., will be the new BOD sponsor. Mike Brandt, Marketing Resources, Ltd., con- tinues as editor. Although professional organizations such as the ESD Association are founded on individual participation and member- ship, the activities and influ- ence of such organizations go well beyond the individual members themselves. For ex- ample, an individual attend- ing an ESDA sponsored tuto- rial program not only in- creases personal knowledge and skills, that knowledge and skill also reverts to the individual’s company as im- proved job performance, pro- duction efficiency, higher product quality, and perhaps even enhanced profitability. Similarly, these companies support the activities of the Association in a variety of ways, for example, by permitting their employees to become actively involved in activities such as standards development. Thus, the benefits of professional associations ac- crue not only to the individual members, but also to their companies. One of the challenges for many profes- sional membership organizations is how to effectively allow for increased company participation and recognize their support yet still retain the essential individual nature and structure of the organization. Many organizations have turned to some type of corporate sponsorship program to accomplish these goals. In introducing a new corporate spon- sor program, the ESD Association aims to provide opportunities that benefit the companies, the individual ESDAmembers, New corporate sponsor program provides significant savings and the Association itself. The new ESD Association corporate sponsorship pro- gram is differentiated from many other sponsorship programs in that it returns significant value to its corporate sponsors in exchange for the company’s support. Increased participation, reduced costs “The corporate sponsorship program recognizes the support of our various companies, as well as providing them with a means of increased participa- tion at reduced costs,” explains, Kay Adams, chair of the Association’s Member Services commit- tee that developed the program in con- junction with other Association business units. “It is designed for OEMs and con- tract manufacturers as well as suppliers of ESD products and services who have an ongoing interest in the benefits technol- ogy, standards, services, and education that the Association has to offer.” Customized packages In actuality, the corporate sponsorship program is two separate packages custom- ized specifically for OEMs and contract manufacturers and for suppliers of static control products and services. The pro- gram provides a number of services and benefits such as multiple individual mem- berships in the ESD Association at a total cost that is substantially less than if the individual components were purchased Kay Adams Continued on page 7 Log in to the Members Only section www.esda.org