A practical approach to EMC education at the undergraduate level

In view of the importance of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), universities worldwide are paying more attention to training electronic engineers with good EMC design knowledge. As part of the EMC training, a practical printed circuit board (PCB) layout project has been offered as an elective to the undergraduates in the authors´ universities. The project requires the students to design the PCB layout of a standard digital circuit twice, the first time with no EMC consideration at all, and the second time with careful EMC consideration. The significant difference in the levels of radiated emissions of the two layouts allows the students to appreciate the importance of EMC design at an early stage of product development.