• The APEC Organizations
• The Sponsor's Agreement
• The Paper Review Process
• Volunteering To Review Papers
• Choosing APEC Locations
• APEC MicroMouse Contest Rules

More About APEC:
The APEC Organizations

There are several organizations that contribute to and support APEC. Each has an important role in the continuing operation and success of the conference.

APEC'S SPONSORS

APEC is sponsored by three organizations: the Power Sources Manufacturer's Association (PSMA), the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) and the IEEE Industry Application Society (IAS).

The sponsors provide the financial backing for the conference. They share equally in providing funding for each year's conferences. They also share equally in any surplus that the conference generates. If the conference has a deficit, which has happened once early in the conference's history, the sponsors absorb the loss equally.

The surpluses generated by APEC are used by the sponsors to help fund their other activities. For the IEEE societies, the funds help support the publishing of Transactions and Society magazines. For the PSMA, the funds help support workshops and special projects.

THE STEERING COMMITTEE

The Steering Committee oversees APEC policy, strategy and affairs that affect multiple and future conferences. For example, the Steering Committee chooses the locations of future conferences. The Steering Committee is also responsible for soliciting bids for the management of the conference and selecting the Conference and Exhibition Management firms. The Chair of the APEC Steering Committee, also known as the APEC Administrator, signs all contracts on behalf of the conference.

The Steering Committee consists of up to nine members:

• Two members appointed by the PSMA
• Two members appointed by the IEEE PELS
• Two members appointed by the IEEE IAS
• The next General Chair
• The current General Chair
• The past General Chair

Because the General Chair "rotates" among the three sponsors, this arrangement of Steering Committee assures that the sponsors are equally represented.

The Chair of APEC Steering Committee is chosen by election at the Steering Committee meeting held at each APEC. In most cases, the outgoing Conference Committee General Chair is elected as the Steering Committee Chair for the coming year.

THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

The Conference Committee is responsible for the planning and operation of each year's APEC. Typical members of the Conference Committee include:

Each committee member takes charge of their area of responsibility. For example, the Rap Session Chair is responsible for developing topics for the Rap Sessions and finding moderators and panel members for the discussions.

Because the sponsors want APEC to have the same "look and feel" year to year, the makeup of the conference committee changes slowly. Most of the chaired committee members serve at least three years.

THE GENERAL CHAIR

The APEC General Chair is responsible for the entire conference, overseeing and coordinating the activities of the Conference Committee, the Conference Management and the Exposition Management.

The General Chairs are appointed by each sponsor in turn. To help assure continuity in the operation of the conference, the General Chair is a multi-year appointment. The appointee starts by serving one year as the Assistant Program Chair with responsibility for that year's Plenary Sessions. The next year, they serve as the Program Chair with responsibility for the Technical Sessions. The third year, they become the General Chair.

It is customary that after serving as General Chair of one year's APEC, the person is chosen as the Chair of the Steering Committee for the year after their conference.

As mentioned above, the General Chair rotates among the sponsors. For example, Bob White, representing the PSMA was chosen in 1997 to the General of APEC 2000. He started by serving as the Assistant Program Chair for APEC 1998 and Program Chair in 1999 before becoming the General Chair for APEC 2000.

The following year, 1998, Mark Nelms was appointed by the IAS to be the General Chair for APEC 2001 and started his rotation as the Assistant Program Chair for APEC 1999. In 1999, PELS chose Joseph Thottuvelil to be the General Chair for APEC 2002. This rotation of the General Chair is another way to assure that the sponsors are equally represented in operation of APEC.

THE PROGRAM COMMITTEE

The Program Committee is the people who review the abstracts and digests submitted for the APEC Technical Sessions. There are typically about 250-300 reviewers for each year's conference.

The Program Committee Meeting is held in mid to late September before the conference. At this meeting the Program Chair's recommendations are reviewed, papers with middle ground scores are accepted to declined, and the accepted papers formed into sessions. The Professional Education Seminar Chair typically presents their recommendations for a seminar program and gets feedback from the committee.

While all reviewers, Conference Committee members and Steering Committee members are invited to this conference, it is fortunate that only about 25-30 people actually show up. This is enough people to get the work done but not so many as to create chaos.

The Program Committee Meeting is held, if possible, in the conference venue. This allows the people attending the meeting to tour the facilities and get to know the space available for the sessions.

THE CONFERENCE MANAGEMENT

The members of the APEC Conference and Steering Committees are assisted in their work by professional conference managers. These hired professionals do most of the real work associated with the conference, such as:

• Working with the hotel on all matters from meeting room setup to catering,
• Working with the printers of the proceedings and seminar workbooks,
• Conference registration,
• Working with off-site facilities that host the conference banquets and
• Supporting the Steering Committee in its search for locations for future APECs.

THE EXPOSITION MANAGEMENT

The Exposition Management company is responsible for marketing and selling the booths to exhibitors. They are also responsible for overseeing the firms hired to set up, maintain and tear down the Exhibit Hall.