IEEE Power Electronics Society History
Formal Beginnings

Summary of the formal beginnings of the IEEE Power Electronics Society
 

In an editorial, Power Electronics - Keeping Pace With Society, in the first issue of the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Dr. William W. Burns, III, the first president of the IEEE Power Electronics Council, which later became the IEEE Power Electronics Society, gives the background leading to the Power Electronics Council. [1]

The Council got its start in early 1980 through the efforts of Paul Pittman, Bob Corbett, and Dave Borst who wrote the Power Electronics Council Constitution and By Laws. These were approved by the IEEE Technical Activities Board establishing the Council in 1983.

The Council took over the sponsorship of the IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference and by the spring of 1984, ten IEEE societes had joined the council.

In June 1984 the Council ADCOM voted to pursue publishing an archival journal, and the transactions were approved by IEEE in early 1985, and the first issue of the Transactions on Power Electronics were published January 1986.

Professor John G. Kassakian, the second president of the Council, in another editorial in the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, continues the history. [2]

The IEEE Technical Activiites Board approved the formation of an IEEE Power Electronics Society at the Board's meeting on June 20, 1987 and the new Power Electronics Society formally come into being January 1, 1988.

Professor Kassakian discusses what it means to members to be their own society. First, having your needs represented to IEEE by power electronics professionals, second, influencing the selection of these representatives, third, having a society dedicated to your field that you can join, and finally, forming local chapters to address specific regional needs in power electronics.

[1] Burns, W. W., Power Electronics-Keeping Pace With Society, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, January 1986, Volume PE-1, No.1 pp. 1-2.

[2] Kassakian, John G., Editorial [on Formation of an IEEE Power Electronics Society], IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol. 3, No. 1, January 1988. pp. 2.

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