President’s Message: IEEE PELS Continues on a Path Envisioned by Our Late Past President Braham Ferreira

September 1, 2021 by Liuchen Chang

Early in the summer, our power electronics community was deeply saddened by the sudden passing on 16 May, 2021 of Prof. Jan Abraham (Braham) Ferreira, past president of IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) (2015–16), after his courageous and brief battle with cancer. A leader, educator, mentor, and friend to so many in our community, Braham was a true gentleman of great accomplishments, and inspired us all through his boundless energy, curiosity and life- long commitment to engineering (Figure 1). Braham made tremendous contributions through his three decades of volunteering services and leadership to our Society, including PELS Strategic Plans, Empower a Billion Lives (EBL), and IEEE Southern Power Electronics Conference (SPEC), to name a few. Braham received the IEEE PELS Harry A. Owen Jr. Distinguished Service Award 2021 at a virtual award ceremony in early May when many PELS colleagues and his family congratulated Bra- ham for his achievements.

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IEEE Power Electronics Magazine publishes peer-reviewed articles related to power electronics and its applications which encompass the effective use of electronic components, application of control theory and circuit design techniques, and the development of analytical tools used in efficient and effective energy conversion, control, utilization, and conditioning of electric power. The IEEE Power Electronics Magazine is limited to the field of interest of the IEEE Power Electronics Society. Topics also include publication of new trend technologies that are being pursued by industry, design practices and case studies, significant amount of state of the art surveys tutorials, and non-technical contributions: news about society activities, interviews, and historical articles.

APEC Organizers, Vendors
Take Virtual Route to Reveal Latest Trends in Power Technologies and Products

A cancelled conference taps alternate methods to disseminate cutting-edge information

With the growing concerns of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, the IEEE Power Electronics Society/Industrial Applications Society (PELS/IAS) and Power Supply Manufacturers Association-sponsored 2020 Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC 2020) in New Orleans, Louisiana, was cancelled for the safety of the attendees. While it was a difficult decision, the health, safety, and welfare of the community was paramount for the organizers and sponsors of the 15–19 March 2020 conference. Although this was the first such cancellation in APEC’s 35-year history, the organizers were quick to offer a virtual conference to those registered. In addition, peer-reviewed papers accepted by the conference committee were submitted to IEEE Xplore and are available to all.

Despite the challenges and adversities of COVID-19, the organizers worked diligently to virtually bring the conference and its presentations to the registered community via the APEC 2020 app and the eventScribe web portal. As a result, I was given a password (access key) to access the site and view a variety of the sessions. Before I go through the conference papers and sessions, I would like to take the opportunity to mention the vendors who promptly called IEEE Power Electronics Magazine and presented the latest trends in technologies and products online. The unbelievable situation created by the COVID-19 outbreak did not deter the vendors and emerging companies from taking their latest advances and developments to editors and reporters via phone and virtual meetings and booths. As a result, I was lucky to talk to a variety of power semiconductor companies, passive component suppliers, and power electronics experts, including marketing analysts, and gather the latest advances in power electronics technology.