Physics at EMS

Necessity is the mother of invention and it is best understood if you are an engineer working in a defense industry. I was amazed at the excitement, energy, focus and enjoyment displayed by these engineers to push technology and produce new devices to meet tougher specifications. 

I was blessed to spend over 7 years with Electromagnetic Sciences Inc. We had a large group of design engineers who developed electronic and microwave devices that required the courage to innovate to be able to build devices that pushed the envelope. The original market for EMS was space and flight hardware. We designed, built and tested all of our devices.

Engineers are originally trained to learn the limits of the laws of physics and EMS was a place where the job was to defy the laws of physics by adding additional components that allowed the devices to meet specifications and then refine the designs to be elegantly simple.

My favorite was the design for the radar component for the A-12 stealth fighter. The final design was a piece of ferrite the size of a popsicle stick with a wire attached. They were tested with a laser. This was a phase shifter and was typically a $5000 box full of waveguide and electronics. Our cost was $100. We had our own materials lab and made our own ferrite.

My work as a consultant since 1993 allowed me to see this kind of engineering accomplishment at the many defense electronics companies and the commercial electronics companies I served.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader