NEWSLETTER of the IEEE Power Electronics Society
July
1997, Volume 9, Number 3 
The President's Message
Every five years, the Power Electronics Society (PELS) prepares a report that summarizes its activities, finances, publications, and membership statistics during that time. This report is given to an oversight committee within the IEEE Technical Activities Board (TAB). It provides an opportunity to reflect on progress and shortcomings, adjust long-term goals, and make improvements to the Society. This article will focus on excerpts from the most recent report, finished this past June, that gives a view of the Society from 1992 to the present. A word about the 1997 Power Electronics Specialists Conference and the Inter-Society Cooperation Meeting are included at the end of the report excerpts.
Finance
The PELS annual income and expenses, from 1992 through 1996, have been rising steadily as the Society has become more active. Income has gone from 737.4 k$, in 1992, to 1,040.6 k$, in 1996. During this same time the Society expenses have risen from 698.4 k$, in 1992, to 906.6 k$, in 1996. The net surplus for the five-year window was 287.6 k$ (an average growth of 57.52 k$ per year). The budgeted income for 1997 is 973.8 k$ with an associated budgeted expense of 950.9 k$. A breakdown of the 1997 budgeted Society income shows that technical meetings account for 64% of the total income while 33% is derived from the Transactions on Power Electronics. A similar breakdown of 1997 budgeted expenses shows the larger portions are associated with the technical meetings (55%), transactions (25%), and technical committees (11%). The cash flow through the Society is about 1,000 k$ per year. The Society net worth has grown from 310 k$ in 1992 to 561 k$ in 1996. The financial goals for the Society include: (i) lowering, or at least containing the cost of Transactions expense, (ii) more formal budgeting procedures and time-lines for technical and administrative committees, (iii) expanded chapters support, and (iv) controlled growth of Society conferences (translates to increased income and expense).
Governance
The major governing body is the Administrative Committee (AdCom) which has a total of 18 elected members-at-large, Society officers (President, Technical Vice President, Administrative Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary), the two immediate past Presidents, Society Liaisons, and Chairs of technical and administrative committees. At this time the AdCom membership is 49. Four members-at-large are from Region 8, three from Region 10, and the remainder from Regions 1-7. The Society officers are presently from Regions 1-6. Two Liaison positions on the AdCom are filled with members from Region 9 and 10. The third Liaison position is filled with a member-at-large from Region 8. Members from Regions 1-7 currently fill other AdCom positions. The AdCom meets three times each year (February, June, and October) in association with one of the PELS major conferences. This provides opportunity for the AdCom meeting sites to move around the world as the conferences change location from year to year. The PELS uses the services of a professional administration firm: Myers/Smith Inc.
Technical Committees and Sub-Groups
The PELS technical committees are: (i) Automotive Power Electronics, (ii) Computers in Power Electronics, (iii) Electronics Transformers, and (iv) Power Electronics Packaging. The only technical subgroup in the Society is the Telecommunications Energy Systems Sub-Group. All the technical committees are very active in the power electronics discipline. The Automotive Power Electronics and Computers in Power Electronics Committees each sponsor successful workshops in their subdisciplines every other year. The Electronics Transformers Committee is active in standards development and holds meetings several times a year separately from other Society activity to handle their business. The Power Electronics Packaging Committee is jointly sponsored by the IEEE Power Electronics, IEEE Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology Societies, and the Power Sources Manufacturers Association. The Packaging Committee was approved by the PELS AdCom about one year ago, and is planning a workshop to be held in 1998. The Telecommunications Energy Systems Sub-Group is responsible for steering, planning, and promoting the annual International Telecommunications Energy Conference (INTELEC).
Chapters
The 30 PELS Chapters are located as listed below. Several chapters are cosponsored by the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES), Industry Applications Society (IAS), Power Engineering Society (PES) and the PELS. Other chapters being developed are indicated in italics.
Regions 1-6 (USA)
Atlanta, Georgia; Boston, Massachusetts; Chicago, Illinois; Dayton, Ohio (IES-IAS-PELS); Los Angeles, California; (Princeton) Central New Jersey; Rock River Valley, Illinois; San Diego, California; Santa Clara Valley/Oakland East Bay/San Francisco; Seattle, Washington; Southeastern Michigan (IES-PELS); Student Chapter at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York; Student Chapter at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia.
Region 7 (Canada)
Saint Maurice, Quebec; Vancouver, British Columbia.
Region 8 (Europe, Middle East, Africa)
Allauch, France; Central and Southern Italy (PELS-IAS); Geneva, Switzerland; Northern Italy (IES-IAS-PELS); Plymouth, United Kingdom; Vienna, Austria; Warsaw, Poland (IES-PELS); Lisbon, Portugal (IES-IAS-PELS); Johannesburg, South Africa (IES-IAS-PELS-PES); Ukraine (IES-PELS-PES).
Region 9 (Latin America)
Concepción, Chile (IES-IAS-PELS); Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
Region 10 (Asia and Pacific)
Beijing, China; Hong Kong; Gujarat, India (IES-IAS-PELS); New South Wales, Australia; Seoul, Korea; Taipei, Taiwan (IES-PELS); Tokyo, Japan.
Membership
The annual membership fee has been $20 USD since 1994 (up from $15 USD). This fee provides subscriptions to the Transactions on Power Electronics and the PELS Newsletter. The Transactions are published six times per year while the Newsletter is published quarterly. The membership showed a 12% increase in 1995, followed by less than a 1% increase in 1996. The total number of student members, as of 30 April 1997, is 689 (32% in Regions 1-6, 3% in Region 7, 27% in Region 8, 18% in Region 9, and 20% in Region 10). The total higher-grade members, as of 30 April 1997, is 4,369 (52% in Regions 1-6, 5% in Region 7, 19% in Region 8, 5% in Region 9, and 19% in Region 10).
Meetings
The PELS sponsors three major conferences annually, the Power Electronics Specialists Conference (PESC), the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC), and the International Telecommunications Energy Conference (INTELEC). PESC and APEC are moving publication of the conference record to CD-ROM format and plan to phase out hard copy production as quickly as can be accommodated by the audience and book broker program demands. The PELS also sponsors or cosponsors several workshops that occur biennially. Many conferences, symposia, and workshops are supported worldwide by the PELS in a cooperating status with no financial involvement.
Transactions on Power Electronics
The PELS now publishes the Transactions on Power Electronics bimonthly. Prior to 1994, the Transactions were published quarterly. They present a balanced mix of theoretical and practical applications papers in power electronics technology. The geographic distribution of principal authors by region is shown in the table below for each year from 1992 through 1996. The number of published papers indicated in the table below is about half the number of papers submitted in a given year.
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Newsletter
The Society publishes a quarterly newsletter that is received by every PELS member. The newsletter has grown from its original four pages to twelve pages the past several years. It contains news articles of interest to the members dealing with Society business (e.g. AdCom meetings), technical committee activities, information and reports of sponsored conferences and workshops, and calls for papers for upcoming meetings, etc. The Society President and Division II Director have columns in each issue. In addition, the Society has an Electronic Media Editor whose activities will greatly increase over the coming years.
Transnational Activities
The Power Electronics Society has, from its beginning, been an international Society with an international perspective. Two of the three major conferences sponsored by the Society, the Power Electronics Specialists Conference (PESC) and the International Telecommunications Energy Conference (INTELEC), are held outside North America every other year. Many regional conferences (regions 8-10) are supported with the PELS acting either as a technical cooperating Society or as a cosponsoring Society with other technical organizations. Non-North American Society members serve as elected members of the AdCom and also fill some key Administrative Committee Chairs. AdCom meetings are held in conjunction with conferences outside the USA to allow greater participation of members in Regions 8, 9 and 10. The PELS actively promotes chapter formation in Regions outside 1-7. In locations that may not support a separate PELS chapter, the Society has sought to cooperate with other IEEE societies such as the Industrial Electronics and the Industry Applications Societies to form joint chapters. Throughout its history, the PELS has sought cooperative dialogue with sister entities such as the European Power Electronics and Drives Association (EPE). Coordination on the timing of the IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference in Europe was specifically identified so as not to compete directly with the EPE Conference. Dialogue and coordination was started in 1990 through a group called the International Council on Power Electronics Cooperation (founded by the PELS). The Council was composed of representatives from various power electronics related organizations, primarily from the USA, Europe, and Japan. Members of the Council met for approximately four years at various locations to exchange meeting information and to begin forming an international policy on cooperative activities. This dialogue is being renewed through initiatives recently coordinated by the IEEE IAS. The PELS was asked to participate this past May at an Inter-Society Cooperation Meeting involving representatives from IEEE IAS and PELS, the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), the Italian Association of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (AEI), and the European Power Electronics and Drives Association (EPE). Sharing and supplying of publications is desired. Publication of yearly events in calendars and newsletters of each organization is also of interest. The PELS would also like to promote joint sponsorship of conferences and symposia with other organizations within IEEE and around the world as has been done with APEC and, in particular, regional meetings in Region 10.
Standards
The PELS has several standards activities in process under the Standards Committee Chair. Eleven standards or recommended practices are being developed, revised, or discussed. The Project Authorization Requests (PAR) P1461-Recommended Practice for Power Electronics Module Interface and P1464-Recommended Practice for Test Procedure for IGBT Circuit Simulator Model Validation were approved on March 21, 1996, by the IEEE Standards Board. The standards working groups for both projects have been formed. Other activity specifically involves the Electronic Transformers Technical Committee (ETTC), which is responsible for maintaining eleven IEEE standards regarding transformer testing. Early in 1994, the IEEE Standards Board reaffirmed Standard 295 "Electronics Power Transformers" and Standard 390 "Pulse Transformers." Standard 111 "Wideband Transformers," Recommended Practice 389 "For Testing Electronic Transformers and Inductors" and Standard 449 "Ferroresonant Voltage Regulators" are on track to be balloted soon. Other issues that the ETTC is considering under the new PAR for Recommended Practice 389 include measurement techniques for "Hot Spot" temperatures, and test parameters and techniques relative to three-phase transformers. A proposed update to Standard 449 was circulated. This update is for the inclusion of a description and schematic diagram of a magnetically-coupled tuned regulator (MCTR). A revised Project Authorization Request for Standard 393 "Test Procedures for Magnetic Cores" will be resubmitted to the IEEE Standards Board. The core-test working group has identified areas of merit for inclusion in the next addition of Standard 393. These additions include: test circuits for power loss testing, calibration standards, control of test temperatures, thermal aging of cores, core-loss tests for low-power-factor materials, rectangular excitation, EMI suppression, and core characterization above 1 MHz. The Ad Hoc Working Group for Surface Mount Magnetics presented a questionnaire that will be sent out to magnetic component users in order to establish a need for a standard or recommended practice for surface mount magnetic devices. Action is required for Standard 436 IEEE "Guide for Making Corona (Partial Discharge) Measurements on Electronic Transformers." Revisions to Standard 388 for "Transformers and Inductors in Electronic Power Conversion Equipment" are due soon.
Education
The PELS has had a Distinguished Lecturers Program for several years. In 1996, the PELS AdCom approved the appointment of Lecturers in three geographic areas of the world: two Lecturers for the Americas, two for Europe/Africa, and one for Asia/Pacific. PELS representatives also participated in an IEEE Workshop on Power Electronics Education in Melbourne, Australia, during July 1995, and in an NSF-sponsored workshop on power electronics education at the University of Central Florida in March of 1996. The Chair of the Education Committee sends to every Conference Chair of a PELS-sponsored meeting a letter explaining and encouraging them to offer Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for short courses, tutorials, professional seminars, and workshops. The three major conferences sponsored by the PELS as well as many other meetings and symposia cosponsored by the Society offer tutorials. The PELS has become more active in working with IEEE press. In 1996 two books were cosponsored by the PELS. A liaison has been appointed and has established a group of Associate Editors for specialty publications in the following areas: (i) Power Semiconductor Technologies, (ii) High-Power Converters, (iii) Power Quality, (iv) High-Frequency Magnetics, (v) Switching Power Supplies, (vi) Converter Modeling and Control, (vii) Power Systems in Commercial Applications, (viii) Adjustable-Speed Drives, (ix) Computer Telecommunications Power Systems, and (x) Motion Control and Servo Drives.
Long Term Goals
The long-term goals of the PELS include: (i) Establishing a standing committee for long-term planning, (ii) Expanded number of chapters and delivery of Society services to members via chapters, (iii) Increase PELS membership via active campaigns, particularly in Regions 8-10, (iv) Increase student-oriented activities, including student chapters, contests, and participation in technical conferences, (v) Electronic publishing of conference records, (vi) Access to conference and tutorial material through the Society web page, (vii) Minimal publication delay for the Transactions, and (viii) Diversification of AdCom membership.
PESC '97 and Inter-Society Meeting
My thanks and compliments to Phil Krein and Arthur Kelley for the great conference in St. Louis at the end of June. The attendees enjoyed the first ever student photovoltaic cannon competition at PESC. Congratulations to the team from the University of Picardie, Amiens, France, on their winning performance. The team from Georgia Tech is also to be congratulated for their entry and fine performance as well. Other firsts include the conference record being provided on CD-ROM as well as the traditional paper versions.
I would also like to congratulate the winners of the Society's Annual Awards, three of which are new this year. The winner of the 21st William E. Newell Power Electronics Award was Pierre A. Thollot. The new Distinguished Service Award went to Harry A. Owen, Jr. and Vlatko Vlatkovic received the first Outstanding Young Power Electronics Engineer Award. Prize Paper Awards were made to coauthors Martin Florez-Lizarraga and Arthur F. Witulski; to coauthors Dragan Maksimovic, Yungtaek Jang and Robert W. Erickson; and to coauthors Fu-Yuan Shih, Dan Y. Chen, Yan-Pei Wu and Yie-Tone Chen. These last three awards are the first ever given by the Power Electronics Society and are justly deserved by the recipients.
Based on the great tradition built by the preceding PESCs, and continued by PESC '97, I am looking forward to another fine and unique meeting at the 1998 PESC in Fukuoka, Japan. I attended an Inter-Society Cooperation Meeting this past May that included participants from the IEEE Industry Applications Society, the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), the Italian Association of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (AEI), and the European Power Electronics and Drives Association (EPE). Discussion items included: (i) Barrier-free access to standards, (ii) Implementation of cooperative conferences, (iii) Strong interest in having access to publications via the internet, (iv) CD-ROM versions of conference records made available for sale at other venues, (v) Homepage links between IEE - Power Division, EPE, IAS, AEI, and PELS, (vi) Give preferred conference registration rates to EPE, AEI, and IEE members (i.e. same rate as IEEE members), (vii) Information for each conference calendar in IAS Magazine, PELS Newsletter, EPE Journal, and IEE Journal, (viii) Possible columns or articles written by editors of other publications, (ix) List of information on web home page concerning purchase or ordering of conference records, journals, tutorial notebooks, etc., (x) Calls for Papers for every sponsored conference on home page , and (xi) Ask for Technical Cosponsorship or cooperation in "World Conference on Industrial Applications of Electrical Energy" in Rome in 2000. Details of this important meeting and items from the June AdCom meeting will be included in my next column.
Jerry Hudgins, President
IEEE Power Electronics Society
ECE Dept., University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208 USA
TEL: +1-803-777-5174, FAX: +1-803-777-8045
e-mail: hudgins@ece.sc.edu
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