The committee's choice for the 1978 award is William
McMurray, Electrical Engineer in the Solid State Power control
Branch, Power Electronics Laboratory, Corporate Research and
Development Division, General Electronic Company, Schenectady, New
York. He is well-known and respected for his original work in
power electronics and was confirmed as one who best represents the
criterion for this award.
Bill McMurray's citation is for his outstanding circuit work in
power electronics, especially the well-known "McMurray Commutation
Circuit", his many patents and publications in professional
journals, his book, The Theory and Design of
Cycloconverters, published by MIT Press in 1972, and for his
many contributions and service to the Power Electronics
Specialists Conference as session chairman, for technical paper
reviews, and his liaison with the Industry Applications Society's
Static Power Converter Committee.
After his early education in Los Angeles, Bill's collegiate
education was international in scope, as he received the Bachelor
of Science degree in Engineering from Battersea Polytechnic in
London, England, in 1950, and his Master of Science degree from
Union College in Schenectady, New York, 1956.
McMurray first joined the General Electric Company Corporate
Research and Development Division in 1953. He is presently
Electrical Engineer in the Solid State Power control Branch of the
Power Electronics Laboratory. He has been responsible for the
development of solid-state power control and conversion circuits,
including inverters, dc/dc converters, power supplies and
regulators with thyristors and transistors, as well as
electromagnetic control devices. He also worked in the areas of
advanced power systems, motor drives, and computer simulation of
converter circuits.
Bill McMurray is the holder of 14 U.S. Patents and has
published many technical papers. He is the author of the book,
The Theory and Design of Cycloconverters, and was a major
contributor to the book, Principles of Inverter Circuits. A
Senior Member of IEEE, he is chairman for Technical Paper Reviews
for the Static Power Converter Committee of the IEEE Industry
Applications Society. He is an Associate Member of the Institution
of Electrical Engineers in England and is a Licensed Professional
Engineer in the State of New York.
The 1978 Power Electronics Specialists Conference salutes
William McMurray as the second recipient of the William E. Newell
Power Electronics Award, and expresses appreciation to the
Westinghouse Electric Corporation for its generous sponsorship of
the award for 1978.