Science and Engineering Council of Santa Barbara
April Luncheon
at
The Elephant Bar Restaurant
Thursday, April 13, 2006 12:00-1:30 PM

ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE (EMI) ON A CONTINENTAL SCALE:
How the Sun Could Create a Power Blackout

As presented in a recent Discovery Channel television show entitled "Perfect Disasters", technological systems, can undergo perturbations resulting from solar activity. While sunspots have been studied for centuries, only recently have we begun to understand the impacts of the sun's high-energy radiation. Monitoring satellites and improved modeling have yielded improved information about the solar processes that create disturbances on Earth. This talk will focus on the process of how the U.S. power grid could be interrupted by space weather in the future.

------PRESENTER------

William A. Radasky, PhD., P.E.
President, Metatech Corporation
www.metatechcorp.com

Dr. William Radasky is the President of Metatech Corporation, which he founded in Goleta in 1984. Metatech provides research and development services to government and industry with emphasis on the protection of electronic equipment from the effects of transient electromagnetic fields. Over the past eight years the company has evaluated the impact of solar storms on electric power grids throughout the world.

Dr. Radasky holds a B.S. from the U.S. Air Force Academy, an M.S.E.E, from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from UCSB, with a specialization in electromagnetic theory and applications. In addition, Dr. Radasky is licensed as a Professional Electrical Engineer in the State of California. He was recently presented with the Lord Kelvin Award from the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for his work in standardizing protection methods for commercial equipment from electromagnetic interference.

------OTHER INFO------

$14 for SEC members; $19 for non-members.
Information: Barbara Keaney (E-mail: scieng@silcom.com or call 805-684-4927).
Reservations NOT required.
Elephant Bar Restaurant: 521 Firestone Road.
Website: http://www.scieng.org

From the President: This month we welcome Hans Koellner of Santa Barbara as a new Individual member. Thanks again to all of you who have renewed your memberships and donated to SEC's scholarship fund. Also, we are still accepting contributions for our scholarship fund, and encourage you to be generous in supporting our local students. Please join us in April and see the SEC's web site www.scieng.org to find out more about upcoming events.

Tim Murphy