ELECTROSTATICS NEWSLETTER

November/December 1999 No.147

In the last issue of the ESA Newsletter, I offered a summary of where electrostatics has taken us over the past half-century. In this issue, I'd like to provide my view of where the field is headed as we cross the millenium boundary. I believe that the ESA, as a premier voice for electrostatics, is at an important crossroads. Many of the topics that defined the forefront of research over the past several decades -- most notably electrophotography, electrostatic precipitation, dielectrics and insulation, computational methods, and electrostatic coating -- have matured into standard, commercial technologies. Newer areas of research and technology that rely on the same core fundamentals of electrostatics have appeared in their stead, but most individuals working in these areas are not part of the ESA community. A look at the attendance figures at our most recent annual meetings, as well as those of our sister organization, the Electrostatic Processes Committee of the I.E.E.E. Industry Applications Society, might lead one to ask, "are these groups on the decline?" Fifteen years ago, one could expect between eighty and one hundred attendees at any given meeting. Today, the typical ESA meeting, at least for one that is not held jointly with the Institute of Electrostatics-Japan, brings no more than sixty attendees. An individual submitting a conference abstract in 1985 could realistically expect that it might not be accepted simply for lack of space in the program. In 1991, the ESA meeting at MIT ran for four days and included a Saturday session to handle the paper overflow. The more likely scenario today is that the meeting will run for two and a half days. Often the program chair must proactively solicit non-ESA speakers in order to round out the program. While the practice of identifying speakers new to the ESA is certainly to be encouraged as a way of bringing in new members and perspectives, the fact that it has become a necessary practice might suggest that perhaps our numbers are, indeed, dwindling. A sampling of the median age of the ESA membership might also lead one to this same conclusion.

Lest we conclude that electrostatics itself is a dying field, I can assure you that it is not. The topic of electrostatic discharge continues to be a hot area, and one that falls squarely within the realm of the Electrostatic Discharge Association . The ESD Association can boast meeting attendances in the many hundreds, and it maintains a full-time staff to run daily operations. The health of this organization suggests that the topics of ESD and charge mitigation continue to thrive as important areas in electrostatics.

Papers on other topics related to electrostatics abound in the recent literature. In preparation for this article, I ran a search on the keyword "electrostatic" on the Community of Science database (a Internet-based service which lists researchers from numerous fields) and also on the Web of Science (a service that lists science and engineering abstracts.) I surveyed over 300 citations for individual researchers or papers in electrostatics and found large numbers in the areas of biotechnology and micro- or nano-technology. Biotech papers dealt with everything from the electromechanics of particles for DNA sorting and molecular interactions to the use of electrostatics for drug delivery and gene splicing. Still other papers or research topics focused on micro-electromechanical systems, or MEMS, involving the study of electrostatic forces or effects on the microscale. While several of my search hits bore the familiar names of ESA members, most did not. In some cases, researchers appeared to be rediscovering knowledge that has been well known to the electrostatics community and the traditional membership base of the ESA for years.

Where does the ESA fit into the emerging evolution of electrostatics? I believe that we must endeavor to bring into our fold those individuals who work with electrostatics but probably have never heard of the ESA. Though still strong, the links we have formed to industry and academia over the past twenty years are, indeed, dwindling as the key problems in electrostatics shift to other industries and disciplines. We must reach out to the biotech and nano-technology research communities to let them know that a vast body of knowledge already exists in the areas of particle electrostatics, field-force interactions, materials research, and electrohydrodynamics. We should invite individuals in these emerging fields to come to ESA meetings, perhaps as featured or invited speakers, so that they may interact with our members and share our accumulated body of knowledge. I also believe that we must continue to retain the characteristics that have earned us our reputation as "The Friendly Society". The non-threatening discourse, open-minded forums, and free exchange of ideas that occur at our meetings are unique to the technical community. While should always embrace the broad spectrum of talks and presentations that has sustained our society since its inception. The friendly, non-threatening atmosphere of our meetings is one of our best features. We might, however, consider combining forces with other electrostatics groups, so that the intellectual strength of the electrostatics field will continue to flourish. Only by evolving, changing with the times, and seeking new members and liaisons will we be able to guarantee the continued strength of our society and the unique character of the ESA.

Mark Horenstein

ESA President

In the Next Newsletter: A Call to Educators

The ESD is presenting this conference in conjunction with the 22nd Annual EOS/ESD Symposium on September 26-28, 2000 in Anaheim, CA. Subject areas are:

Plastics, Film/Extrusion/Molding Textiles

Graphic Arts/Printing Munitions/Explosives/Pyrotechnics

Chemical/Oil/Petroleum/Pharmaceutical Aircraft/Space/Avionics/Medical

Coating/Painting Non-electronic static electricity considerations

The Call for Papers indicates that the deadline for submission of papers is January 20, 2000. Further information may be obtained from:

ESD Association Headquarters Phone: 315-339-6937

7900 Turin Road Fax: 315-339-6793

Building 3, Suite 2 E-mail: osesd@aol.com

Rome, NY 13440-2069

Dave Swenson will complete his two year term as President of the Electrostatic Discharge Association in December and Ed Weggeland is the incoming Vice President.

Carlton Speck was elected a Fellow of the IEEE for "The Application of the Theory and Practice of Electrostatic Effects in the Automotive Industry".

Dan Hays was awarded one of the Electrostatic Processes Committee’s James Melcher Prize Paper Awards for his paper entitled "A Finite-Element Analysis of the Electrostatic Forces on a Uniformly Charged Dielectric Sphere Resting on a Dielectric-Coated Electrode in a Detaching Electric Field" that appeared in the January/February issue of the IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications.

The 1999 Chair of the Electrostatic Processes Committee is Shesha Jayaram.

The quality control department of a chocolate factory notes that one machine out of the ten in service line is producing candy bars weighing 8.1 grams instead of the specified 8.0 grams. It is not known which of the ten machines is faulty. Can you describe one measurement that can be made with a scale to determine which machine needs maintenance?

ESA member, Dick Bergen, sent us the following article which appeared in a Rochester, NY newspaper on October 11, 1999. I was written by Kevin Williams who is president of Weather Track, Inc. and director of meteorology at WHEC-TV.

The new site is at: www.soton.ac.uk/~wolfson and carries the company’s newsletter. For further information, contact them by e-mail at: wolfson@soton.ac.uk