The 24th annual Components for Military & Space Electronics Conference (CMSE 2021), the industry’s premier forum designed to present the best practices for component and project engineers, quality assurance and supply chain personnel engaged in military and space electronic systems, will be held virtually April 19–23.
The event will feature a comprehensive programme consisting of four in-depth tutorial sessions and more than 35 technical presentations delivered by experts from industry, government, and academia, as well as a series of three keynotes, two panel discussions, an European Union COTS-focused session, special interactive student sessions, and an invited address from Robin Brown, Obsolescence/Diminishing Manufacturing Sources & Material Shortages (DMSMS) and Parts Management Program Manager for the Department of Defence.
“With the increasing emphasis on the use of commercial components in military and space systems, both government and industry professionals have recognised the need for a specialised technical conference dedicated to best practices for the use of COTS components in military and aerospace systems,” said CMSE 2021 Programme Chairman Thomas J. Green. “Now in its 24th year, CMSE has expanded its program with high-quality technical talks, keynote addresses, and panel discussions that provide the maximum opportunities for attendee participation and interaction, even in the virtual format. We’ve also recognized the need to foster the development of the next generation of component engineers by expanding our student programmes.”
The CMSE 2021 virtual conference provides an opportunity for design engineers, government project managers, and Department of Defence procurement professionals to exchange technical information on a comprehensive range of topics relating to military and COTS components, including:
Three industry-leading experts will deliver keynote addresses as part of the conference programme.
On Friday, April 23, the last two tutorial sessions will include: “Volatiles Control in Hermetic Electronic Components,” presented by Thomas Green, TJ Green Associates, LLC, and Robert Lowry, Electronics Materials Consultant, from 10:30 a.m. to 2pm; and the “Capacitor Reliability Seminar,” presented by Dr Yuri Freeman, KEMET, and Ron Demcko, AVX, from 2pm to 5:30pm.
The virtual CMSE conference will include six technical sessions, comprising a total of 25 presentations from experts in industry, government, and academia. The technical sessions will focus on topics, including passive components for military and high-reliability space systems, GaN for RF and power, reliability, and supply chain and security.
The conference’s first panel discussion, “Status, Risks and How to Use Alternate Grade Products for Military and Space Application,” will be presented on Tuesday, April 20, at 1:30pm, and will examine the various alternate grade parts that are potentially available (i.e. automotive grade, COTS, and PEMs) and the risks/rewards associated with them versus established military- and space-grade parts, such as Class S microcircuits or MIL-PRF-55365 capacitors. Discussion points will include: different types of alternate grade parts; strategies for use of automotive grade and plastic encapsulated microcircuits (PEMs) for military and space applications; and the pros and cons of alternate grade parts. The discussion will be moderated by Sultan Lilani, Integra Technologies, and the panellists include Allyson Yarbrough, Aerospace Corporation; Yuri Freeman, KEMET; Mark Porter, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab; and David Locker, US Army.
The second panel discussion, “Gallium Nitride (GaN) Technology for Power and High Frequency Components,” will be held on Wednesday, April 21, at 2pm. This interactive discussion with industry experts will explore how military and space applications can take the advantages GaN technologies, which is used in power semiconductor devices as well as RF and high frequency microwave components, and is emerging as a technology for military and space applications, to develop more efficient and higher performance electronic systems. The discussion will be moderated by Gary Lerude, technical editor of Microwave Journal, and the panellists include Paul Hebert, International Rectifier HiRel Products, Inc.; John Scarpulla, The Aerospace Corporation; and Keith Benson, Analog Devices, Inc.
A technical session focused on COTS standards in the European Union will be held on Thursday, April 22, and will be chaired by Dr Tomas Zednicek, EPCI European Passive Components Institute.
Presenters include:
Special events for students include:
The CMSE 2021 Advance Technical Program and schedule of events are available online at https://www.tjgreenllc.com/cmse/2021-advance-program. Registration for the CMSE 2021 is also now open online at https://store.tjgreenllc.com/product-category/cmse2021.