Newsletter of the IEEE Power Electronics
Society
Volume 11, No. 2
April 1999
In this Issue
The President's Message
by Philip Krein
Many people have asked to learn more about the activities of the
Power Electronics Society, and want to get the best value from their
membership. The most familiar services are publicity and
publications. Through this newsletter and mailings of conference
programs, you have been receiving advance notice of a wide range of
technical conferences on power electronics and related topics. You
have been receiving the highly-respected IEEE Transactions on Power
Electronics. But there is much more to the Society. Our main
activities are to encourage open exchange of technical information,
to serve the entire engineering and scientific community through
top-quality publications, and to help support the continuing
education and professional development needs of our members. All
members have access to electronic versions of our Transactions papers
through the IEEE OPeRA system at http://opera.ieee.org.
Members are invited to join or to help form Technical Committees and
local Chapters. Our committees organize workshops in specific
subareas, such as power electronics packaging, automotive power
electronics, and computer applications. Many committees are also
active in standards development. Society members perform important
professional services such as peer reviewing and conference
organization. We work to encourage and shepherd new book proposals to
the IEEE Press. We work to recognize the technical contributions of
members through several different awards.
All of these activities are organized and conducted by dedicated
volunteers within the Society. Each conference and workshop has a
committee that sets the program and operates the meeting. Each paper
published in the Transactions has been reviewed by a group of
experts. Each Chapter meeting is arranged and conducted by a local
group. Each committee has come about because a group with common
interests has started it. Each IEEE Standard has been prepared by a
dedicated group which has come together to meet a need. I encourage
you to consider involvement as a Society volunteer. Paper reviews,
whether for the Transaction or for conferences, require only a few
hours per year from each person. Chapter activities can help you find
others nearby with common interests or engineering challenges.
Workshop or conference management is more demanding, but the rewards
are lifelong colleagues and friends. If you see something you think
should be changed, or if you can think of good new services or
activities, don't be shy. The Society is "us," not "them," and we
would be grateful for your insights and efforts. As a volunteer, you
will be asked only to help as you want to. As a reviewer, you can
decide your own work load. Please contact me directly (p.krein@ieee.org),
or our lone professional administrator, Bob Myers (bob.myers@ieee.org)
if you wish to explore the possibilities. Let us know if you have a
particular topic or task in mind.
As I write this, we have just concluded a highly successful
Applied Power Electronics Conference. If you were able to attend, you
know about the extensive technical program, the valuable exhibits,
and the many Professional Education Seminars on everything from power
electronics basics to the latest in advanced magnetic devices. The
meeting was directed by a group of about twelve hard-working
volunteers, with the help of hundreds of authors and reviewers. There
was good consensus that APEC has been true to its "applied" mission;
nevertheless the Steering Committee is determined to enhance industry
participation and value. If you were not able to join us, look for an
upcoming conference or workshop in your vicinity, or ask whether a
local chapter exists. Each year, we add to an international list of
meetings sponsored or cosponsored by the Society.
Chapters and other IEEE groups &emdash; anywhere in the world
&emdash; can request one of our Distinguished Lecturers, who can
visit and present a technical talk. And if you have interests in
setting up local or regional workshops or meetings, any of the
officers or committee chairs would be glad to help. This is your
society, and those of us who have chosen to volunteer want to make it
as valuable as possible to each and every member.
- Philip Krein
- PELS President
- University of Illinois
- Dept. of Elect. and Comp. Engrg.
- 1406 W. Green St.
- Urbana, IL 61801 USA
- TEL: +1-217-333-4732
- FAX: +1-217-333-1162
- e-mail: p.krein@ieee.org
Report from IEEE Division II Director Barry
Brusso
Here are the highlights of the February 1999 IEEE Board of
Directors meeting held in Hilton Head, S.C.
- 1998 Activities: Executive Director Dan Senese reported on the
Institute's activities in 1998, which he described as a "very good
year." IEEE membership is almost 335,000, the highest ever.
Society memberships are up more than six percent over 1997; the
five fastest-growing IEEE societies are Communications, Solid
States Circuits, Electron Devices, Microwave Theory, and Computer.
Dan reported strong growth in new products and services, most of
them Web-based. These include on-line availability of IEEE
Standards and the IEEE Computer Society; digital libraries and
digital subscriptions; continued customer growth for the IEEE/IEE
Electronic Library (IEL); and the recent introduction of the
IEEE's revitalized Web site. The IEEE ended the year with a
surplus of almost $8 million.
- New Ad Hoc Committees: The Board of Directors received status
reports on three newly-formed ad hoc committees that will focus on
strategic areas of activity. Region 7 Director David Kemp chairs
the Branding Committee; Division 10 Director Janie Fouke heads the
Streamlining Decision Making Committee; and, IEEE Treasurer David
Conner leads the New Financial Model Committee. Each committee's
recommendations will be considered later this year.
- Proposed New Bylaws: Following discussion concerning proposed
Bylaw changes about multiple candidacy and elections, it was
decided that IEEE President Kenneth Laker will appoint an ad hoc
committee to work with Secretary Maurice Papo and other volunteer
leaders to develop proposed new Bylaws. These proposed Bylaws will
be circulated to the six major IEEE Boards before being
resubmitted to the IEEE Board of Directors.
- Voting Process: The Board approved a proposal to review the
approval voting process. An ad hoc committee will review the
current voting process and, at the 2 May meeting of the IEEE
Executive Committee, will provide a recommendation on the process
to be used in 2000.
- Annual Election: For the 1999 IEEE elections, all members will
be provided with a postage-paid return envelope for the annual
election ballot. Almost 11,000 non-U.S. ballots were returned in
1998.
- Millennium Events: President-Elect Bruce Eisenstein will
spearhead a special Millennium effort aimed at creating internal
and external awareness of the IEEE and technology. The projects
approved by the Board of Directors include creating IEEE
Millennium Medals to be presented at a variety of events
throughout the year; a special event at the June 2000 Board series
in Vancouver, B.C., honoring the 30 living past presidents;
special recognition of the approximately 25 living past recipients
of the IEEE Medal of Honor; and a video oral history with
materials gathered throughout the year.
- Recognition: The Board of Directors recognized Joseph
Bordogna, IEEE Past President, for his "visionary
leadership."
- Resolution: The Board also reaffirmed the IEEE Computer
Society's resolution in memory of Michael C. Mulder, who died in
January of this year.
- Barry C. Brusso
- IEEE Division II Director
- S&C Electric Company
- 6601 Ridge Blvd.
- Chicago, IL 60626-3997 USA
- TEL: +1-773-338-1000
- FAX: +1-773-338-1957
- e-mail: bbrusso@sandc.com
Web Renewal Report
The Web Renewal Pilot was offered in response to member requests
for more convenient and efficient ways of conducting business with
the IEEE. We are pleased to report that the web renewal pilot was a
success. Here are some of the key highlights of this program:
- On 12 October 1998, the Web Renewal Pilot opened to Region 3
(Southeastern United States) and Region 8 (Europe, Africa and the
Middle East).
- On 1 December 1998 the Web Renewal Pilot was opened to all
IEEE Members and Society Affiliates, excluding Life Members. As of
month end February 1999, over 32,000 IEEE Member and Society
Affiliates have renewed via the web, over 5,400 have updated their
contact information and over 66,000 have registered for a Web
Account. In accordance with the By Laws, the 1999 membership
renewal period for members in Regions 1-7 closed the end of month
February. As a result the web renewal pilot also closed to members
in these areas. Members and Society Affiliates outside the United
States and Canada will continue to have access to the Web Renewal
Pilot until 30 April 1999. The Web Development Team is evaluating
the results of the Pilot Program and identifying areas where we
can make enhancements for the year 2000 Annual Membership
Renewal.
Members wishing to reinstate their IEEE membership or society
affiliate membership for 1999 are invited to contact Member Services
at 1-800-678-4333 (US), +1-732-981-0060 (Worldwide) or by e-mail: at
member-services@ieee.org.
If you have questions regarding the termination of the Web Renewal
Service for Regions 1-7 contact Marianne Schmidt, IEEE Member
Services, TEL: +1-732-562-5546; FAX: +1-732-562-6380; e-mail:
m.schmidt@ieee.org.
New Membership Development
The IEEE Membership Development Committee has established its 1999
membership goal at 349,000, up from the 1998 goal of 330,000. January
growth continues upward spurred on by new member Web
applications.
It appears that 1999 will be an even more successful year than
1998 for Web-based new member applications, which accounted for 54
percent of higher-grade membership applications received last year.
In January, the IEEE received 1,762 new higher-grade member
applications, 64 percent via the Web. While higher-grade applications
in January are up 11 percent compared to the same period in 1998, Web
applications are up 33 percent. IEEE membership for January totaled
339,745 for an increase of 5.2 percent or 16,772 members over January
1998. Society memberships also grew to 291,285, a 6.2 percent
increase over January 1998.
For more information, contact Jill Levy, IEEE Regional Activities,
TEL: +1-732-562-5514; FAX: +1-732-981-0225; e-mail: j.levy@ieee.org.
Half-Year Dues: Dues for new members who join the IEEE or its
societies between Monday, I March through Sunday, 15 Aug, will be
half the annual rate.
Conference Closings
As approved at the November meeting of the IEEE Technical
Activities Board, Societies that do not close their conference
financials in a timely manner and in accordance with IEEE policy will
be automatically charged a fixed dollar amount for each open
conference. The charge-back fees are as follows: Each conference not
closed by month 12; in month 13 the Sponsoring entity will be charged
$350. Each conference not closed by month 18; in month 19 the
Sponsoring entity will be charged $600. Each conference not closed by
month 24; in month 25 the Sponsoring entity will be charged $750.
An additional charge of $750. will be charged each quarter that a
conference is not closed. Charges will be in effect I January 1999,
but will be forgiven through 31 March 1999. So please, let's close
these conferences and put more money in your account.
For additional information, contact Mary Ann DeWald, IEEE
Technical Activities, TEL: +1-732-562-383; FAX: +1-732-981-1769;
e-mail: m.dewald@ieee.org.
Virtual Reading Room
The IEEE Educational Activities Department has released its Online
Education Reading Room at http://www.ieee.org/eab.
Once inside the virtual room, viewers can click on any book in the
best-selling IEEE Selected Readings series or Engineers' Guides To
Business Series, and "flip through" the full text of its pages.
Titles up for browsing include Cellular Radio and Personal
Communications, Smart Antennas, Recent Developments in Power
Electronics, Marketing for Engineers, Working in a Global
Environment, and Writing For Career Growth. The site features:
- Keyword, title, and author search options.
- Full table-of-contents displays for each title.
- Navigation tools that enable viewers to move from page to page
and section to section, and to zoom in for a closer look at
diagrams and formulas.
- Online ordering options.
For more information about the reading room contact Alan Trembly,
IEEE Educational Activities, TEL: +1-732-562-5488; FAX:
+1-732-981-1686; e-mail: a.trembly@ieee.org.
Student Branches
The IEEE Student Branches have hit a milestone. One hundred
Branches have registered for the online student-application program,
15 in February alone.
Student Branches are finding the online application to be a great
tool for recruiting new members. Since last September, more than
2,400 students have joined the IEEE online.
For more information, contact Laura Durrett, IEEE Regional
Activities, TEL: +1-732-562-5523; FAX: +1-732-463-3657; e-mail:
l.durrett@ieee.org.
IEEE-SANEWS
First Issue from IEEE Standards Association
The IEEE Standards Association recently sent out its first edition
of IEEE-SANEWS, a fast-paced, interactive e-mail "news wire" for IEEE
Standards Association members. It provides up-to-the-minute news
briefs on policies, programs and products, meeting agenda and minutes
postings, as well as notification of the need for feedback from our
members. IEEE-SANEWS will be sent out immediately following the IEEE
Standards Association Standards Board meetings and the IEEE Standards
Association Board of Governors meetings, as well as other times when
we need to share information or need member feedback.
For more information, contact Karen McCabe, IEEE Standards, TEL:
+1-732-562-3824; FAX: +1-732-981-1571; e-mail: k.mccabe@ieee.org.
APEC '99 Report
by Larry Gilbert
APEC Publicity Chair
A record number of papers (187 of 192 accepted papers) were
presented in 26 sessions divided up into five tracks starting on
Tuesday morning at APEC '99. Topics ranged from marketing to modeling
and simulation, passive and active components, inverters and
converters, to single- and three-phase AC-DC power supplies.
For the eighth consecutive year booth space in the exposition hall
was sold out. This year's exposition contained 119 booths (another
APEC record). At the request of the Trade Commission of Denmark, the
Conference Committee agreed to permit Denmark to have its own
Pavilion within the APEC Exposition. More than 30 Danish business
executives, including William Helmbaek, Project Manager, Danish
Agency for Trade; Allan Haugsted, Ministry of Business and Industry;
and Harlan Crow, CEO of Crow Holdings (and honorary Council, Denmark)
attended the Conference to promote international cooperation with
Danish companies.
The exhibitors provided attendees with free access to a broad
range of their newest components, power supplies and design tools and
had experts on hand for problem solving or general advice. As part of
the APEC tradition, all conference attendees had an opportunity to
attend ten one-hour exhibitor application-oriented seminars on
Tuesday afternoon. Topics ranged from instrumentation and software to
the latest magnetic and semiconductor devices. The Danish Pavilion
provided an overview of products designed by their participant
companies. Looking toward next year, before the day for signing up
for APEC '00 was over, all 104 booths for were reserved with at least
four firms on a priority wait list.
Another annual APEC highlight, the Micro Mouse contest, was very
popular again this year. A field of thirteen mice, including nine
from foreign teams, competed in this year's 13th Annual APEC contest.
An audience in excess of 150 people watched as Kwa Gwang, designed by
Roh Chang Hyun of Korea "squeaked" by CUQEE III, the winner of last
year's APEC competition. Kwa Gwang (which means "sound of lighting"
in Korean), is a stepper-motor-driven mouse utilizing an AMD 188 ES
processor.
The planning for the 14th annual Applied Power Electronics
Conference and Exposition started out with a huge challenge. At the
last minute, the Dallas Hyatt Regency Hotel, our original site, could
not guarantee that their renovation would be completed prior to the
Conference week. The Conference committee then scrambled to locate
suitable replacement facilities at the new Adam's Mark Hotel Dallas,
Texas' biggest hotel. When you consider that our peak overnight
lodging exceeded 700 rooms, and the hotel has only 1825 guest rooms,
and was supporting three other Conferences, you can gain a better
appreciation for the challenge that we confronted and overcame.
This year's Conference and Exposition was attended by more than
1700 attendees from over two dozen nations. Over 1000 of these
individuals paid to attend the Professional Education Seminars,
Technical Sessions, or both, setting new records in all three
categories. The records established this year reflect the continuing
strong support of the APEC sponsors&emdash;the IEEE Power Electronics
and Industry Applications Societies (PELS and IAS), and the Power
Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA)&emdash;and the dedication of
more than 200 volunteer representatives of the Conference and Program
Committees.
The Conference opened on Sunday morning with five of the fifteen
half-day Professional Education Seminars being presented by seasoned
industry and academia professionals. Once again the topics were
selected to appeal to the widest possible cross-section of APEC
attendees. This year's seminar topics included power electronics for
the nonspecialist; electronic environments; high-efficiency
rectification techniques; selection and application of adjustable
speed AC drives; packaging; converter design using power
semiconductors; EMI avoidance; cross-regulation mechanisms; DSP motor
drive controls; high-speed MOSFET gate drive techniques; computer
aided algebra analysis and design; passive lossless snubbers; planar
magnetic design; vector-controlled induction motor drives; and
patents, prior art searching, and intellectual property.
With 657 paid attendees, APEC's technical registration surpassed
the 1998 record set for this segment of the Conference. This total
does not include booth staff who were also granted access to the
technical sessions.
Prior to opening the Plenary Session, PELS President Philip Krein,
IAS President Ira Pitel and PSMA Chairman Ed Sidor presented awards
to General Chair Dong Tan, Program Chair Bob White and Finance Chair
Herman W. "Butch" Hill, Jr. for their contributions to the APEC
Conference.
Dr. Raymond F. Askew, Special Advisor to the International Space
Station, gave a keynote address entitled "Keeping the International
Space Station up to Date Technologically." Other plenary session
presentations included the evolution of power electronics; power
conversion; the prosperity machine; the semiconductor road map; the
current status of power electronics packaging for power supplies;
building compliant elements for servers; and AC drives, Y2K and
beyond.
Tuesday evening's rap sessions gave the attendees and exhibitors
an opportunity to challenge and question the panelists on four
relevant issues ranging from "Profit margins" to "Where is power
electronics technology going and who will take us there" to the very
first APEC call-in radio show (except it's in person)' to "Is APEC
serving the needs of its constituents and living up to its name?" As
a follow-up to this last rap session, a straw poll taken the next day
indicated that roughly 75-80 % believe that our papers are both
"practical and applied."
On Wednesday evening upwards of 500 paid attendees were taken on a
"Fantasy train trip through Texas" buffet. In addition to a wide
selection of sumptuous food and desserts, attendees had an
opportunity to have their photos taken on a live bull or could
participate in an old western fast draw competition as a gunslinger
(using blanks of course). Live music and western dancing capped off
this memorable evening.
In his greetings letter to APEC '99, Texas Governor George W. Bush
clearly recognized what we are all about when he stated that "your
annual Conference offers an important forum for free exchange of
technology information between engineers, academics and manufacturing
professionals throughout the world. As a national technical
professional society, your knowledge and skills in developing
industrial, commercial, and military electronic systems have the
potential to enhance the quality of life for millions of people. I
commend you for your commitment to your profession and for
encouraging students and young professionals by providing mentors and
educational seminars."
Looking ahead, APEC '00 will be held Feb. 6-10, 2000 at the
Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. APEC '01 will return
to the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California, USA. Anyone
interested in submitting a technical session proposal of "practical"
importance in any area of power electronics should submit a 50-word
abstract and a 3-5 page digest (via mail ONLY) to APEC '00, 2000 L
Street NW, Suite 710, Washington, D.C. 20036 USA. The deadline for
submission of abstracts and digests is July 16, 1999. We are also
seeking half-day professional education seminar proposals. For
additional information on any aspect of APEC please refer to our web
site at http://www.APEC-conf.org
or contact our conference management at TEL: +1-202-973-8664, FAX:
+1-202-331-0111 or via e-mail: APEC@courtesyassoc.com
- Larry Gilbert
- TEL: +1-949-581-8688
- FAX: +1-949-581-8688
- e-mail: LGPwr@aol.com
Note: Additional photos of APEC '99 will be added to this report
on our web site.
Photos from APEC '99 in Dallas
Left, the Administrative Committee of the Power Electronics
Society had its spring meeting at the beginning of APEC '99. Right,
Janie Fouke moderated an Intersociety (IES, IAS, PES,PELS)
Cooperation Meeting at APEC.
Left: Plenary session keynote speaker Raymond Askew, Special
Advisor to the International Space Station
Center: Plenary session. Right: Tom Wilson, Sr., spoke on the
evolution of power electronics.
Two views of the APEC Exposition area of 119 booths plus the
Danish Pavilion
Left: Newsletter Editor Harry Owen demonstrates how to handle the
bull. Right: Galveston, Amarillo and San Antonio specialty foods
highlighted the Texas buffet.
PELS Standards Committee
Report
The IEEE P1515 Working Group is developing a Recommended Practice
for Electronic Power Distribution Subsystems: Parameters,
Definitions, Test Methods, and Test Conditions. The working group is
jointly sponsored by the IEEE Power Electronics Society and
Department of Defense's Joint Task Force on Open Systems. The purpose
of this recommended practice is to allow manufacturers and users to
utilize the same set of terminology that enables systems developers
to acquire cost- and time-effective electronic power subsystems.
The working group was established in 1997 by the Standards
Committee of PELS. The working group now has more than 30 active
participants and over 200 people on the mailing list. We have
identified 106 parameters that are commonly used in industry and
hence need to be defined. Among them, 93 are being developed. There
have been more than three working versions of the draft that were
written by the working group. A final draft is being written in
compliance with IEEE standards.
In the past year, the working group on P1515 held regular meetings
to discuss the draft and to resolve issues. We had respective
meetings at APEC '98 in February, NAECON in July, INTELEC in October,
and DASC (Digital Avionics Systems Conference) in November.
We have scheduled a meeting at APEC '99 in March of 1999 to work
on the final draft of P1515. This finalized version is then to be
submitted for balloting process. The balloting group is in the
process of being formed with the assistanceof IEEE Standards Board
staff and the working group chairman, Dr. F. Dong Tan. We are
targeting to have the draft go through the entire approval process by
the end of 1999.
- Report submitted by Dong Tan
- PELS Member, IEEE P1515 Working Group
- e-mail: Dong.Tan@trw.com
Four Societies Meet to Plan
Cooperation
Contributed by Bob Lorenz, IAS Secretary
Representatives of four IEEE Societies, the Industrial Electronics
Society (IES), the Power Engineering Society (PES), the Power
Electronics Society (PELS), and the Industry Applications Society
(IAS) met Monday, March 15, 1999 for an Intersociety Cooperation
Meeting. The meeting was held at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Dallas,
Texas, site of the 1999 Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC).
The meeting, which included a breakfast and luncheon, was hosted by
by Jim Hung, President of IES. The meeting was moderated by Janie
Fouke, Division 10 Director. Here is a brief informal summary of the
activities of the cooperation meeting transcribed from notes taken by
Bob Lorenz:
- A introduction to the IEEE History Center at Rutgers
University was presented by Michael Geselowitz. This was followed
by a presentation by Janie Fouke on a book project entitled
"Engineering Tomorrow." This project involves a large number of
engineers and others who try to imagine what the future will bring
to engineering. Delivery of the book is scheduled for January 1,
2000 at a cost of $59.95.
- Jim Hung, IES President, provided a historical perspective for
his society. The first IECON was held in 1975; in 1986 Fumio
Harashima became the first international President; membership is
now at 4,858 with one-half outside of USA; IES Transactions Editor
Joachim Holtz (Germany) has expanded power electronics to 70% of
their Transactions.
- Discussion of a possible joint publication of a special issue
on power quality. Perhaps a special issue of the IEEE Proceedings.
Maximum circulation amongst members is desired, i.e., not IEEE
Proceedings via its normal, limited distribution. Action: Form an
Editorial Board with one member from each Society (Jerry Hudgins,
Tom Jahns, Hiro Haneda, Leo Grigsby-temp, possibly Rik DeDoncker
representing EPE ?). A plan is to be developed identifying the key
metrics, schedule, etc. for report at next Intersociety
Cooperation Meeting.
- Report on the development of an Operating Agreement on a joint
International Electric Machine and Drive Conference by Philip
Krein. Action: A draft Operating Agreement was amended to include
IES and was approved by vote of the group. Future of the
conference, co-location of conference on a permanent basis needs
to be discussed, perhaps at next Intersociety Cooperation
Meeting.
- Discussion of another name for this intersociety cooperation
group. "Power and Electronics Systems Group" was suggested as a
name. The strong consensus of those present was that no change in
name is needed for the group.
- Presentation on a Joint Distinguished Lecture Program was made
by Barry Brusso. There is information on the program on the
Internet at http://info.distlec.ieee.org
and info.distlec.hbk@ieee.org.
PELS, IAS, IES, and PES have different policies for funding,
organization, and coordination Action : Development of a common
plan (perhaps a common Distinguished Lecturer program) with one
member from each Society. Kevin Peterson, Jaime Arau, Ben
Mehraban, Hiro Haneda are to report at next meeting.
- Discussion of a possible joint publication of a special issue
on "Reliability" and "Distributed Generation" in 2000. These
topics were proposed as follow-up issues after the first joint
issue on power quality discussed above.
- Discussion of cross publications such as magazines and
transactions. Should the societies bundle newsletters, selected
articles, and magazines? Should membership advertisements be put
in each other's journals? How to have Transactions access and
topical cross linking? Should there be cross publications of prize
papers? How to promote conference CDROMs and records at sister
conferences. The IEEE Bookbroker program is not involved with
conference CDROMs. This program currently handles hardcopy
conference records Action: Bob Myers will organize this
interconference CDROM sales effort.
- Discussion of membership application to other societies. A
proposal of joint membership in all four societies, with a cost
reduction. Preparation of membership could be facilitated via
cross-CDROM sales.
- Discussion of web page advertising. Hotlinks to advertisers on
our webpage. Test advertising method for future on-line magazines.
Each Society will have the same advertising page. A Webpage
organizational manual is to be developed by IAS. Review this
status at next meeting of Intersociety Cooperation Meeting.
Action: Janie Fouke will investigate the hotlink protocol for
Society website to advertisers.
- Sharing services such as advertisement, publication, meeting
arrangements. On outside services, could the four societies share
an executive director. PES currently has a seven-person staff with
about $700k per year cost. The benefits achieved allow them to pay
for themselves.
- Conference publication sharing. The Bookbroker program handles
conference publications now - no action needed.
- Schedule for next meeting: IAS will host and sponsor during
the IAS Annual Meeting, in Phoenix, October 3-7, 1999. IAS will
set exact date and apprise all participants. IEEE staffer Mary
Ward Callum will be invited to discuss IEEE staff services, with
specific examples of staff models in use and evaluation of their
effectiveness. APEC 2000 was tentatively selected for the
following meeting.
Tricks of the Trade: Guesstimating
Inductance of Wire Loops
Contributed by Marc Thompson, System Design Consultant e-mail:
marctt@aol.com
Parasitic inductance can drastically affect the operation of
high-speed power electronics circuits. For instance, in MOSFET
switching the gate and source inductance can lower the switching
speed and increase switching losses. High gate inductance can cause
ringing in the gate circuit which exceeds the maximum gate-source
voltage specification. Drain inductance can overstress the MOSFET due
to induced voltage spikes. In amplifier circuits, parasitic
inductance can result in bandwidth reduction and/or oscillation.
Therefore, a method for estimating these various inductances is a
valuable tool.
Guesstimating the inductance of a length of wire and its return
path, or of a wire loop can be done by applying a useful
rule-of-thumb. This note provides a brief theoretical background in
order to get order-of-magnitude estimates of wiring inductance, and
points the user to several references that can be used if more
accurate results are needed. The bottom line is that a wire loop has
approximately 0.5-1 microhenries of inductance per meter of length,
depending on the wire-wire spacing, wire diameter, shape of the loop,
etc. For wire spacing large compared to the wire diameter, the
inductance of the loop is a weak function of wire diameter (which
makes physical sense, if you think about it).
For instance, a circular loop of wire with loop radius a and wire
radius R has the approximate inductance [Wheeler]:
L0= m0a (ln
(8a/R) - 2) in H
Using this formula, the inductance of a 1 meter circumference loop
of 14-gauge wire is 1.07 mH; for 16-gauge
wire it is 1.12 mH; and for 18-gauge wire
it's 1.16 mH. Note the weak dependence of
inductance on wire diameter. This is due to the natural log in the
expression. So our guesstimate of 0.5-1 mH
per meter of length is a pretty good starting point. A crude
approximation to the Wheeler formula for circular loops is [Lee,
p. 56]
L0= m0p
a in H
which predicts an inductance of 0.63 mH
for a 1-meter circumference wire loop.
For two parallel wires, spaced d meters apart, each wire with
radius R and with line length l meters the inductance of the loop is
[Wheeler]:
L0= (m0l /
p) ln(d/R-1) in H
For l = 0.5 meter and a wire-to-wire spacing d =1 cm, results are
L0= 0.485 mH for 14 gauge;
L0= 0.53 mH for 16 gauge and
L0= 0.58 mH for 18 gauge.
Therefore, for the parallel-wire line with closely-spaced conductors,
the inductance is approximately 0.5 mH per
meter of total wire length.
We can hone the guesstimate further by applying a little physical
reasoning. For the parallel-wire case with close wire-to-wire
spacing, the close magnetic coupling between the wires reduces the
inductance of the loop; (this is why twisted-pairs have lower
inductance than parallel wires). So, for wires that are close
together (i.e. our parallel line case, 0.5 meter long with total wire
length 1 meters) the inductance will be approximately 0.5
mH/meter or less. For "fat" loops, there
is more area enclosed by the loop and the inductance is higher.
An excellent reference (which, unfortunately is now out of print)
is the Frederick Grover book listed below. Grover spent most of his
professional life calculating inductances, and many useful examples
and tables are given for loops of interesting shapes and sizes.
The goal of these rules-of-thumb is to get order-of-magnitude
estimates of inductance. If more accurate results are required, you
can use the more complicated closed-form solutions, or in the last
resort, use finite-element analyses (FEA). How ever, it's difficult
to do FEA analysis on the back of a napkin at lunchtime!
REFERENCES
- F. W. Grover, Inductance Calculations: Working Formulas and
Tables, Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1946.
- Thomas H. Lee, The Design of CMOS Radio Frequency Integrated
Circuits,
- Cambridge University Press, 1998.
- F. E. Terman, Radio Engineers' Handbook, McGraw-Hill, New
York, 1943.
- Harold A. Wheeler, "Formulas for the Skin Effect," Proceedings
of the I.R.E., September 1942, pp. 412-424.
Changes in PELS Constitution
At the March meeting of the AdCom the Power Electronics Society
Constitution was amended to align it with earlier changes made in the
PELS Bylaws. The change recognizes that the PELS Administrator,
Robert Myers, is serving the function of Secretary. The amendment has
now been aproved by the Technical Activities Board Chair. The changes
that are shown below take effect 6o days following publication in
this Newsletter, provided that objections are not received by five
percent or more of the Society members.
In what follows, the present wording of the Constitution is shown
first and the wording of the amendment comes after, with the new
portion shown in bold.
Article V
Administration
Section 4. The Officers of the Society shall be the President,
Vice-Presidents, the Secretary and the Treasurer, each having a term
of one year as defined in the Bylaws.
Section 6. The incoming President shall appoint a Secretary and a
Treasurer on or before the first of January of the year in which each
takes office. All appointments shall be made with the advice of the
members of the new Administrative Committee and subject to
ratification at its first meeting. The Secretary and Treasurer
appointments need not be made from among the members of the
Administrative Committee. The Secretary and Treasurer will have
voting privileges on the AdCom.
Article V
Administration
Section 4. The Officers of the Society shall be the President,
Vice-Presidents, and the Treasurer, each having a term of one year as
defined in lite Bylaws.
Section 6. The incoming President shall appoint a Treasurer on
or before the first of January of the year in which each takes
office. All appointments shall be made with the advice of the members
of the new Administrative Committee and subject to ratification at
its first meeting. The Treasurer appointment need not be made from
among the members of the Administrative Committee. The Treasurer will
have voting privleges on the AdCom.
PELS Officers for 1999
President Philip Krein, Vice-President for Operations Thomas
Habetler and Vice President for Meetings Kevin Fellhoelter were
elected as officers of the IEEE Power Electronics Society in the fall
of 1998. The Treasurer for is appointed by the incoming President..
Photographs of the officers for 1999, which were not available for
publishing in the January 1999 issue of this newsletter, appear
below.
Left, President Phil Krein; right, Vice President for Operations
Tom Habetler
Left, Vice President for Meetings Kevin FellHoelter; right,
Treasurer Dick Bass
(note: Tragically, Dick
Bass was killed in an auto accident on April 13, 1999)
LA Council Chapter News
by F. Dong Tan, PELS-35 Chair
At our October 1998 meeting, the following officers were elected
for the PELS Los Angeles Council Chapter: F. Dong Tan, Chair; Steve
Freeland, Program Chair/Newsletter; Bob Gourlay, Secretary; Jerry
Foutz, Treasurer; and Craig Elder, Membership/Publicity.
The PELS-35 has been holding its monthly meetings regularly ever
since its founding in 1991. We have had a total of 50 meetings. This
year was no exception. We have been continuing our tradition of
holding monthly meetings regularly. Here is a list of the
meetings.
- January 28, 1998: Mr. Bob Mammano, Unitrode Corporation,
"Power Conversion Topologies: Moving Beyond Buck, Boost, and
Flyback."
- February 25, 1998: Mr. Scott Smyser, Tektronix, Inc., on
"Power Electronics Measurements."
- March 25, 1998: "Tools of the Trade" as used by Michael
Knights of Jasper Electronics, Ralph Griffin of TRW Spacecraft
Technology Division, Jerrold Foutz of SMPS Technology, Robert D.
Gourlay of RDG Engineering, and Zhe Zhang of TESLACO.
- April 22, 1998: Dr. James F. Lazar, Braxton Engineering,
"Intuitive PWM Switch Models."
- May 27, 1998: Dr. Kasemsan Siri, Aerospace Corporation,
"Current-Sharing Approaches in Parallel-Connected DC-DC Converter
Systems - Part I."
- September 23, 1998: Dr. Kasemsan Siri, Aerospace Corporation,
"Current-Sharing Approaches in Parallel-Connected DC-DC Converter
Systems Part II."
- October 28, 1998: Chuck Mullett, Condor DC Power Supplies,
Inc., "Power Electronics: A Technology Perspective."
- December/November, 1998: Dave Lux, NASA Dryden Flight Research
Facility, "Research & Development of the National Space Launch
Industry and Its Commercialization, with Details on the Linear
Aerospike SR-71 Experiment (LASRE)."
- January 27, 1999 Meeting - Bob Mammano, Unitrode Corporation,
"The Great Divide: Closing the Loop on Isolated Power
Converters."
- February 24, 1999 Meeting: Michael Knights, Transistor
Devices, Inc., "The Controlled Transformer."
- March 24, 1999: John Millen, TRW, "Bulletproofing the SPICE
Implementation of the Vorpérian Large-Signal Model," and
Stephen Incledon, The Boeing Company, "A Large-Signal Model of a
Buck-Derived Power Converter."
- Coming in May, 1999: Dr. R. D. Middlebrook on "N Extra Element
Theorem: It's neat!"
Engineers Can Prepare for P.E. Exam with Two
IEEE New Video Courses
by Christy Bouziotis, Outreach Communications Coordinator for IEEE
Educational Activities
c.bouziotis@ieee.org
PISCATAWAY, NJ, - P.E. licensure opens doors to better career
opportunities for engineers of all disciplines, and especially those
interested in consulting. New from the IEEE is the P.E. Review, two
video tutorials that will help engineers prepare for the Power
Engineering portion of the Professional Engineering Licensing
Examination.
In the first program, presenter Dr. Randy Collins, P.E., reviews
the Transmission and Distribution section of the exam. In the second
program, Collins focuses on the Machinery and Applications exam
section. State licensing boards use examinations prepared by the
National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES).
Expanding on the sample problems put forth in the NCEES's Principles
and Practice of Engineering (PE), these video tutorials cover the
following topics:
- The format of the exam
- The knowledge that is tested on the exam
- Exam preparation strategies
- Solution and analysis techniques for use on the exam that
apply to power engineering
- Electrical power system transmission and distribution
engineering problem solving
- Symmetrical components and balanced system calculations
- Applications of electrical power engineering
- Balanced circuit analysis
- Per-unit analysis
- And much more!
These tutorials can be used for individual viewing or group
sessions. Both the Individual version of the P.E. Review and the
Industry version come with the tapes and presentation notes.
Additionally, the Industry version includes five NCEES sample books,
PC computer disk of the PowerPoint presentations, and an instructor's
guide for tailoring the video for a training program. The latter
version authorizes multiple users of the videos.
Since engineering licensure specifications vary from state to
state, candidates should refer to their own state licensure board for
requirements and regulations. To order this video course, use the
following product numbers:
(Individual version)
For the P.E. Review: Transmission & Distribution use
HV7026-QVE; Member price: $124; List price: $199. For the P.E.
Review: Machinery and Applications use HV7028-QVE; Member price:
$124; List price: $199.
(Industry version)
For the P.E. Review: Transmission & Distribution use
HV7032-QVE; Member price: $799; List price: $799. For the P.E.
Review: Machinery and Applications use HV7033-QVE; Member price:
$799; List price: $799.
Order from the IEEE Customer Service, 445 Hoes Lane, PO Box 1331,
Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331, USA. For single sales, call 1-800-678-IEEE
(1-732-981-0060 outside the USA and Canada); for company or
institutional sales, call 1-800-701-IEEE; or fax 732-981-9667.
Shipping and handling charges apply.
Meetings of Interest to PELS
Members
1999 IEEE Transmission and Distribution Conference and
Exposition, sponsored by the Power Engineering Society, will be
held April 11-16, 1999, at the Ernest N. Moriat Converntion Center,
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. For more information, visit http://www.99ieeet-d.org.
INTELEC® 99, the 21st International
Telecommunications Energy Conference, is set for June 6-9, 1999
at the Falconer Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. See http://www.teledanmark.dk/intelec99/menu/start.htm
for additional information.
PESC® '99, 30th Annual IEEE Power Electronics
Specialists Conference, will be held June 27-July 1, 1999, at the
Charleston Place Orient-Express Hotel, Charleston, South Carolina,
USA. PESC '99 is sponsored by the IEEE Power Electronics Society.
Visit the conference web site at http://www.pels.org/PESC99.html
to download conference registration and hotel reservation forms.
ISIE '99, 1999 IEEE International Symposium on Industrial
Electronics, will be held in Bled, Slovenia, 12-16 July 1999. The
symposium is sponsored by the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society and
the Slovenia Ministry of Science and Technology. Paper summary
submissions were due by 1 December 1998. Visit web site http://www.ro.feri.uni-mb.si/ISIE99/
for additional information.
PEDS '99, Power Electronics and Drive systems, is scheduled
for July 26-29 in Hong Kong. It is organized by the IEEE Hong Kong
Section and the Joint Chapter of the IEEE Power Engineering, Industry
Applications and Power Electronics Societies, in cooperation with the
IEEE Singapore Section and the IEEE Power Electronics Society.
EPE '99, 8th European Conference on Power Electronics and
Applications, sponsored by the European Power Electronics and
Drives Association, is scheduled for September 7-9, 1999, in
Lausanne, Switzerland.
COBEP `99, 5th Brazilian Power Electronics
Conference will take place September 19-23, 1999, in Foz do
Iguaçu, State of Paraná, southern Brazil. It is
organized by the Brazilian Power Electronics Society (SOBRAEP) and by
the Federal University of Paraná and Federal University of
Santa Maria, Brazil. For more information, visit the conference web
site at http://www.sobraep.ufsc.br/cobep99.
AFRICON '99, "Electrotechnical Services for Africa,"
sponsored by Region 8 of the IEEE, is scheduled for September 29 to
October 1, 1999. Visit the conference web site at http://www.ieee-sa.sun.ac.za/africon.
APEC® ' 00, 15th Annual IEEE Applied Power
Electronics Conference, sponsored by the IEEE Power Electronics
and Industry Applications Societies and the Power Sources
Manufacturers Association, is set for February 6-10 at The Fairmont
Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Prospective authors should send
eight copies of a double-spaced fifty-word abstract and a
double-spaced three- to five-page digest to APEC 2000, 2000 L Street,
NW, Suite 710, Washington, DC 20036, USA, by July 16, 1999. Other
contacts for APEC '00: TEL:+1-202-973-8664, FAX: +1-202-331-0111,
e-mail: apec@courtesyassoc.com,
website: http://www.apec-conf.org.
IPEC-Tokyo, International Power Electronics Conference,
will be held April 3-7, 2000 at Keio Plaza Hotel, Tokyo, Japan in
cooperation with the IEEE Power Electronics Society. The deadline for
prospective authors for five copies of an extended summariy is
September 15, 1999. Send summaries to Secretariat of IPEC-Tokyo-2000,
c/o International Communications Specialists, Inc., Sabo-Kaikan
Annex, 2-7-4 Hirakawa-cho, Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-8646, Japan. For more
information, visit the conference web site at http://www.iee.or.jp/ias/ipec/
or contact General Chair Professor Ohnishi, e-mail: ohnishi@sd.keio.ac.jp
PESC® '00, the 31st IEEE Power Electronics
Specialists Conference, sponsored by the Power Electronics
Society, will be held June 18-23, 2000, at the National University of
Ireland, Galway, Ireland. See pages 8 and 9 of this newsletter for
the Call for Papers. For advance information of this conference visit
the conference web site at http://pesc00.nuigalway.ie/.
IPEMC '2000, 3rd International Power Electronics and Motion
Control Conference, sponsored by the China Electrotechnical
Society and the National Nature Science Foundation of China, in
cooperation with the IEEE Power Electronics Society and the IEEE
Beijing Section, is set for August 15-18, 2000, at Tsinghua
University in Beijing China.
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