Each team will select or construct a working electronic “gadget” that performs a clearly defined function. Examples might include a microcontroller-based sensor system, LED display or lighting system, motor controller, wireless device, or other small embedded electronic system.

Teams will:

1. INSPIRE – Explore/Develop the System
   Select/develop a working electronic system and develop an experimental plan for investigating its EMC characteristics.
2. MEASURE – Discover Significant EMC Behavior
   Measure and characterize significant emissions or coupling phenomena associated with operation of the device. Teams should identify features in the measured data that warrant further investigation rather than simply producing a broadband spectrum.
3. FIND THE PATH – Explain What Is Happening
   Select at least one significant EMC phenomenon and develop a technically supported explanation of its dominant source → coupling path → radiator/receptor mechanism. Teams must experimentally test their hypothesis. Examples might include near-field probing, cable-current measurements, operating-mode comparisons, component substitution, cable removal or repositioning, or other controlled experiments.
4. MITIGATE – Make It Better
   Implement at least one engineering modification intended to reduce the identified EMC problem while preserving the intended function of the gadget. Teams must measure the system before and after mitigation and quantitatively demonstrate the effect of the modification.

Teams should identify and investigate significant behavior within this range rather than attempting exhaustive characterization at every frequency.

Where appropriate to the selected gadget and available instrumentation, teams are encouraged to investigate behavior in the 2.4 GHz ISM region as an optional extension. Investigation at 2.4 GHz is not required and the use of higher-frequency or laboratory-grade instrumentation will not, by itself, result in a higher score.

The competition is intended to reward experimental reasoning and understanding—not access to expensive EMC facilities or instrumentation.

Teams are encouraged to be creative in their measurement approaches. Commercial laboratory instrumentation may be used, but low-cost and student-developed measurement techniques are equally welcome. Examples include software-defined radios, low-cost spectrum analyzers, near-field probes, current probes, VNAs, home-built fixtures, and other appropriate measurement approaches.

Judges will emphasize:

• quality and rigor of the experimental approach;
• ability to identify meaningful EMC behavior;
• understanding and experimental verification of coupling mechanisms;
• repeatability and interpretation of measurements;
• effectiveness and validation of mitigation;
• creativity and engineering judgment; and
• ability to clearly communicate what was learned.

A sophisticated measurement system without meaningful interpretation will not necessarily score higher than a simpler measurement system used thoughtfully and rigorously.

Your Gadget. Your Investigation.

Teams are encouraged to choose their own working electronic gadget. The choice of device is intentionally open-ended and is part of the challenge.

The gadget may be something the team designs and builds, a commercially available product, a development platform, or another electronic system that presents an interesting opportunity for EMC investigation. Examples might include embedded controllers, sensors, displays, LED lighting, motor controllers, power converters, wireless devices, electronic toys, computer peripherals, or other electronic products.

The gadget must perform a clearly identifiable function, and that function must remain available for evaluation throughout the project. Beyond that, there is no prescribed circuit, architecture, or application.

Teams should choose thoughtfully. A successful gadget is not necessarily the most complicated device. It is one that allows the team to discover interesting electromagnetic behavior, develop and experimentally test hypotheses about its sources and coupling paths, and demonstrate meaningful mitigation.

The selection of the gadget is therefore part of the engineering challenge.

Teams returning from a previous competition are welcome and encouraged to participate. However, each entry must represent a substantially new EMC investigation. Teams may reuse general-purpose instrumentation, software, measurement fixtures, and knowledge developed through previous competitions, but may not simply resubmit or incrementally refine a previous competition project.

Judging will emphasize what the team discovers, how convincingly it explains and verifies the underlying EMC behavior, and what it learns through mitigation—not the sophistication or cost of the gadget selected.

The project should be achievable with a modest student budget. A target project cost of approximately US $300 is anticipated, excluding instrumentation and general-purpose laboratory equipment already available to the team.

Teams will not be penalized for using inexpensive instrumentation or student-built measurement fixtures. Creativity in developing accessible and reproducible measurement techniques is encouraged.

The team must consist of 2 to 5 students, and at least 50% of the team members must be undergraduate students by the end of July 2027. For a 5-year Bachelor-cum-Master degree program, students in years 1 to 3 are considered undergra

Each team should be advised by one professional mentor who is a member of the IEEE EMC-S, but the work needs to be done primarily by the students.

No student or mentor should be involved in more than one team.

Teams will initially submit a brief registration and description of their proposed gadget and investigation.

A preliminary technical report will subsequently describe the team’s measurement approach, experimental setup, initial measurements, and technical findings. Based on review of these reports, a limited number of finalist teams will be selected.

Finalists will submit:

• a final technical report;
• a short video describing and demonstrating the project; and
• a final project package as specified by the competition organizers.

Finalists will be invited to demonstrate their work during the 2027 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Signal & Power Integrity (EMC+SIPI) July 12-16, 2027.

Projects will be evaluated on the complete EMC engineering process, including:

The EMC Student Hardware Design Competition is intended to provide students with the opportunity to experience EMC as practicing engineers do:

Observe something interesting. Measure it. Ask why. Find the path. Change something. Measure again.

The objective is not simply to produce the quietest gadget or the most sophisticated measurement system. The objective is to demonstrate understanding through experiment.