Thursday, August 06, 2026
Meeting Time: 7:00 pm
Online event (via Zoom): Please register on meetup.com to obtain the Zoom link.
Lecture
Electromagnetic disturbances are a well-recognized cause of errors, malfunctions, and failures in electronic systems, yet they are often treated as a compliance issue rather than as a functional safety concern. As machinery and industrial systems become increasingly dependent on electronics, software, communications, and programmable control systems, electromagnetic resilience must be considered as part of the overall safety lifecycle.
This presentation introduces IEEE Std 1848™-2020 and explains how it bridges the disciplines of electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and functional safety. Rather than introducing an entirely new engineering methodology, IEEE 1848 builds upon the proven techniques and measures already familiar to functional safety practitioners through standards such as IEC 61508. The standard identifies which of these established techniques are effective against EMI-induced failures and explains how to adapt them to improve electromagnetic resilience throughout the system lifecycle.
The presentation demonstrates why immunity testing alone cannot provide sufficient confidence for safety-related systems, illustrates how electromagnetic disturbances lead to ordinary engineering failures that can be detected and managed using established functional safety techniques, and shows how electromagnetic resilience must be maintained from concept through decommissioning.
Attendees will gain a practical understanding of how IEEE 1848 complements existing functional safety standards and provides a structured framework for managing electromagnetic disturbances as contributors to safety-related risk.
Speaker Bio:
Doug Nix is co-owner of Compliance InSight Consulting Inc., located in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
His background includes more than 30 years of engineering technology experience, including product testing, industrial control system design, and machinery safety. Since 1997, he has specialized in machinery safety and risk assessment methods and processes, studying, applying, and teaching risk assessment and functional safety principles and processes.
Doug has written extensively for industry trade magazines, the OACETT Technologist, and the IEEE PSES Newsletter. He has also published several papers privately and in academic journals on risk assessment, functional safety, and machinery safety.
Doug currently chairs the Canadian Mirror Committee to ISO/TC 199, IEC/TC 44 and IEEE P1848.1 and is an expert member of several CSA, IEC, ISO and IEEE technical committees.
Doug writes the Machinery Safety 101 blog on machinery safety-related topics.
Notes
There is no cost to attend this meeting, however, if you are a NYS Professional Engineer and would like to receive Professional Development Hours (PDHs) of continuing education credit, then payment of a $15 fee is required. PDHs will be granted based upon the actual duration of the lecture including any demos and Q&A. You must stay to the end to receive credit. You will also have to properly fill out an Evaluation Form to prove that you attended this lecture.
Click here to open the Evaluation Form. Simply fill it out and click on the “Submit” button.
See these detailed instructions on how to receive PDHs for this lecture.
