Welcome Letter

The EPE Conference Committee invites you to come to EPE'11 ECCE Europe, the 14th European Conference on Power Electronics and Applications (and Exhibition), to be held in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The conference follows previous successful conferences which have been held in major university cities across Europe since 1985. This time EPE'11 ECCE Europe will take place in a city that has been central to industry and the arts since the start of the industrial revolution.

Europe is a world leader in the field of Power Electronics, with well known research and industrial companies and many large academic laboratories in all main European countries. Since 1985, the EPE Conference has grown to become the largest in this field, regularly attracting the foremost technical contributors from industry and academia worldwide.

Power Electronics is increasingly important and is the basis for many industrial processes, such as the rational use of energy and new technologies, including automotive and mass transportation. These processes all need new concepts in order to fulfil cost, reliability, miniaturization and extreme environmental requirements. The improvements of Power Semiconductor technology, together with new advanced topologies and embedded systems, are pushing Power Electronics towards higher switching frequencies and smaller, cheaper, and more efficient topologies, resulting in the widening of possibilities for new applications. Due to the new rules published by the EC on electrical energy production, transport and distribution, and also due to the technical problems arising from the interconnection of different kinds of distributed energy production systems, controllers with high precision and reliability are needed. EPE'11 ECCE Europe will have special sessions, with round table meetings and presentations by top industrial experts, in order to focus on future developments in semiconductors, materials and components, topologies and embedded systems. The Conference will complement the regular program with new or emerging topics of particular interest to the power electronics systems community which may also cut across and beyond disciplines traditionally represented.

One of the purposes of this Conference is to enable the presentation and discussion of developments in the field of Power Electronics, with attendees coming from all over the world. The Conference is a shop window, where up-to-date research activities and products are presented. A characteristic trend from previous EPE Conferences has been an increasingly large industrial participation, which allows for enhanced exchanges between academia and industry.

We are certain that the atmosphere in Birmingham will provide a stimulating work environment to engender companionship between scientists, students, and engineers from industry and academia. By attending the conference and, hopefully, by adding some extra days in order to access the great sightseeing and recreation opportunities around Birmingham, you will be able to exchange scientific ideas, obtain information about new developments, extend your business activities and strengthen international friendships in a charming and pleasant atmosphere.

Birmingham's international airport provides links to major cities within Europe, while its central position within England makes Birmingham a hub for motorway and railway connections. It is therefore possible to travel to cities such as London, Manchester and Bristol within one hour. Many sight-seeing excursions are also available, from historic Stratford on Avon with its associations to Shakespeare, to the Ironbridge Gorge - now a beautiful tree lined valley, where iron and steel smelting originated on an industrial scale and gave rise to the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries.

We invite you to come to Birmingham, to explore and admire a truly remarkable, forward-looking city. Birmingham - a vibrant city that offers a magnificent backdrop to the meeting and exchanging of ideas at the unique, international event of EPE'11 ECCE Europe.

We look forward to welcoming you to Birmingham !

Yours sincerely,

Phil Mawby, Pat Wheeler, Colin Oates