Professional Education Courses

Basic Antenna Concepts – Basics is the first part of a two-part series.  The Basics class provides a fundamental and intuitive understanding of how antenna systems work.  The class explores the basics of electromagnetic fields and radiation, how antennas radiate and receive, how the physics works for different architectures, and why we build different antennas for different applications

Basic Antenna Concepts - Advancedis the second part of a two-part series.  The Advanced class provides insight into how we computer simulate antennas, and how we measure the real performance of hardware antennas.  The class includes a live demonstration of an antenna pattern measurement.  It includes a brief introduction into restrictions of use and human safety calculations with real-world examples.  The course concludes with system-level example cases of specifications that drive solutions for the selection and use of antenna systems. 

Failure Prevention – Designing to Prevent Mechanical Failure 

“Failure is not an option” is how the famous expression goes, but how is failure prevented?  Especially applicable when the penalty for failure is high, such as aerospace & defense, this course shows the ways in which you can prevent failure.  Learn the design process including requirements, design, analysis, testing, and the end product.  Learn about failure modes, material behavior under load, design approaches, safety factors, fatigue, fracture mechanics, inspection, and testing.  Experience concepts firsthand with interactive labs.  This is a crash course to give designers, engineers, technicians, maintainers, and managers what they need to ensure parts don’t fail when it matters most.

Fundamentals of Radar Signal Processing  is a thorough exploration for engineers and scientists of the foundational signal processing methods for interference suppression, detection, imaging, and tracking that are at the core of most modern radar systems. It also provides a solid base for studying advanced techniques, such as radar imaging, advanced waveforms, and adaptive processing in greater detail.

Fundamentals of Synthetic Aperture Radar Signal Processing  focuses on the digital signal processing algorithms commonly employed for forming SAR imagery, improving image quality, and extracting (retrieving) information about the imaged scene.

Introduction to MIL-STD-1553

Gain a working knowledge of MIL-STD-1553, the communications standard used by Air Force, Navy, Army, NASA, and others for high-reliability communication applications. In this course, discover all you need to know to effectively use this communications standard in your applications. Understand the important physical and protocol requirements set forth by the standard. Learn how to correctly lay out the physical topology of a MIL-STD-1553 data bus. Discover the dos and don’ts as you use MIL-STD-1553 to move data between systems connected to the bus. Finally, understand and apply five rules that help ensure your MIL-STD-1553 data bus design operates efficiently.

Gain a working knowledge of MIL-STD-1760, the communications standard that defines the electrical interface between a military aircraft and its carriage stores. This course will show how stores use MIL-STD-1760 through weapons, fuel tanks, countermeasures, and reconnaissance pods. The course teaches the five main types of MIL-STD-1760 signals, as well as the physical connector and pin requirements for the aircraft and stores. You will explore communication options across the MIL-STD-1760 interface, as well as standards for those common communication schemes, such as MIL-STD-1553.

Introduction to Reliability Engineering of Electronic Systems for the DoD

Gain a practical, hands-on introduction to all of the essential elements of an effective reliability engineering program for electronic products within the Department of Defense (DoD). In this course, learners follow the process for developing reliability deliverables using an example system that, though fictional, contains many of the same elements found in a real system. System reliability is critical for any device or program that supports warfighters and DoD activities. However, improving reliability comes at a cost, and a systemic approach is required to design a system that cost-effectively meets all reliability requirements.

The MOSA Standards and Implementation  course provides a fundamental understanding of the complex engineering activities associated with applying open standards to Department of Defense (DOD) military vehicle platforms and systems with a focus on avionics and sensor systems. The course will also provide system implementation considerations and guidance for existing open standards

The OSA Application to Defense Systems  course provides a fundamental understanding of the complex engineering activities associated with applying OSA to DoD systems. The course will provide how existing open standards such as HOST, SOSA, and FACE are applied to defense systems. It will also provide a focus on how to apply OSA specifically to EW systems. Exercises and demonstrations help reinforce some of the basic concepts presented in the lectures.

Space-Based Radar  explores theory, applications, and orbital considerations for both synthetic aperture radar and moving target indication modes. Engineers, scientists, and managers working with space-based radar will benefit by examining space-based radar technology issues, including electronically scanned antennas, waveforms, and on-board processing. Plus, a focus of the coursework will be on actual space-based radar systems to understand design choices and be able to better apply them in the field.

ESD Class