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APEC® `97 Breaks Attendance Record

By Bill Peterson, Publicity Chair, APEC `97

The 1997 Applied Power Electronics Conference was held February 23-27, 1997, at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. A record 1100 participants took part in this conference which is sponsored jointly by the Power Electronics Society and the Industry Applications Society of the IEEE and the Power Supply Manufacturers Association. The conference this year was one of the best yet, with 546 people attending 24 technical sessions to hear 153 papers presented. The technical sessions covered a full range of topics of interest to the power supply engineer, manufacturer and manager. There were sessions on single- and three-phase power-factor correction, including active filters. Motor drives were covered with sessions on induction, DC and switched-reluctance motors. DC-to-DC converters, both soft-switched and hard-switched, were presented as well as electronic lamp ballasts, semiconductor devices, EMI prediction and control.

The professional education seminars were expanded to a total of 15 this year. Nearly 400 people heard topics from power supply design basics to advanced topics on high-frequency circuit layout. Two sessions featured an introduction to power converter design by Rudy Severns. For the first time at APEC, Bruce Carston presented two packed seminars on switchmode design and layout techniques. Two sessions dealt with integrated magnetics design and one session presented modeling of magnetic components. There were two sessions covering AC motor drives and the problems that they introduce. There was a session on single-phase power-factor correction and one on power electronics packaging. Sessions on power systems design and on powering the information superhighway were presented as well as a session on practical applications of the internet and on practical guidelines for market segmentation.

A comprehensive trade show exhibiting the latest advances in components, equipment and services was presented on Monday through Wednesday. Seventy-eight vendors exhibited the latest in their technology, and presented seminars on the applications of their technology.

Wednesday evening was the setting of a gala Mardi Gras with the tastes, sights, and sounds of New Orleans at the Apparel Mart Atrium.

Next year, APEC will be held at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California, on February 15 through 19.

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