EPE'97 : MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN

"Power Electronics for Sustainable Growth" 


The EPE Conference in Trondheim is the seventh of the series. Even after the success of Brussels, Grenoble, Aachen, Florence, Brighton and Sevilla, this EPE conference will offer you more. A record number of synopses have been received (more than 950), where the increase from industry is especially significant and has encouraged us to work very hard in organising numerous new activities and events. These will give each EPE conference participant the feeling of being the right person in the right place. We have also accepted a record number of papers, 733. I am proud to present this detailed programme for what promises to be a highly-successful conference. 

Think of the motto: "Power Electronics for Sustainable Growth". These are no empty words. This is really what we are aiming at. The technical programme is full of results directed towards that goal: energy savings, rational and safe use of energy, new energy sources, renewable energy systems, EMC, electric and hybrid vehicles, locomotives to mention only a few of the obvious topics. 

The opening and keynote sessions will be newsworthy. Mr Odd H. Hoelsæter, president & CEO of Statnett will explain his view on the evolution of energy supplies in Europe. Norway is the second-largest oil exporting country in the world (only after Saudi Arabia): In our sector, three newHVDC connections will be built between Norway and the continent. This will be a huge investment that surely will have important consequences on our future.

If you turn to page 22, you can see other topics that will be presented: Integration of power components, what will change in our daily work? New areas of applications for power electronics: you will be challenged by the authors. The electric vehicle; a silent revolution, however an exploding technology. But this was not enough! 

We wanted more from this conference, so, we are organising a competition. The topic? To write an essay on either "How to Teach Power Electronics for Sustainable Growth" or "How to Develop New Power Electronics Products to Promote Sustainable Growth". The prize? NOK 6.666 and a publication in the EPE Journal. More details are given on page 9, so gather your best ideas. Since we are organising this competition, Gro Harlem Brundland, our former Prime Minister, decided to patronize the Conference. Gro Harlem Brundland has been head of the World Commission on Environment and Development and she hopes that our initiative will spread and open new horizons. In the UN-report "Our Common Future" it is strongly recommended that the ideas agreed on in the report should be taught in universities all over the world. Please send the information about the competition to your power electronics colleagues, especially the younger ones, all over the world. You might influence the future! Before the conference, there will be 11 tutorials where all the new, hot topics will be taught. Nine will be on the NTNU campus on 6 and 7 September. Those who register will get the written documentation from all the tutorials and will be allowed to move from one tutorial to another. We are most enthusiastic about the two tutorials on "High power Motor Drives" and "UPSs" which will start by touring the Troll Gas Terminal at Kollsnes close to Bergen and continue on the newest coastal express ship (built in 1996). These tutorials will be combined with a cruise of the west coast of Norway and the ship arrives in Trondheim on Monday morning 8 Sept. a few hours before the conference starts! 



Do you want to hear more? There is a lot to say:
The exhibition will be greatly extended. We expect more than 50 exhibitors (there is room for 100 and we will work hard to get 100). The area for the exhibition will be much more integrated in the conference than before, with coffee-serving included in the same area. For the first time, there will be several product presentations by exhibitors; these will be presented before an informal meal on Sunday 7 September in the evening, which is combined with the opening of the exhibition in the evening. Further, a lot of Discussion Sessions will be organisedat at the end of the Dialogue Sessions. The new developments in power switches will be throughly discussed and include themes like: "Application Specific Power Modules", "The Relationship Between Product Developers and Device Manufacturers", "High Power Integration", "Smart Power - in various applications", "Impacts of Integration" and "GTOs versus IGBTs". After the conference, on Thursday 11 September there will be three Post-Conference Technical Visits. 



1) A typical Norwegian hydropower plant with the generators inside the mountain. The station is within the city limits of Trondheim (!) and is owned by Trondheim Power Utility. 



2) Siemens power electronics factory and a converter station feeding the 16 2/3 Hz for the Norwegian State Railways. 



3) ADtranz charter train to the Stømmen factory close to Oslo. We will learn about the new tilting trains that the Norwegian State Railways has ordered. At the factory there will be a press conference where a new train will be presented. The attraction to get the press there will be increased by our presence. ADtranz will provide buses for a one hour drive to Oslo airport.



So, those who start at Kollsnes close to Bergen and return from Oslo after the train trip across mountain plateaus and glaciated valleys must sign up fast. First come, first served. There is a special offer from SAS for the air-ticket. We have worked hard. But with the expected success, it is a pleasure for us to welcome you to the EPE '97 conference in Trondheim. At the end I will like to mention how enthusiastic ABB and other Norwegian and Danish companies have generously sponsored the conference, so the fee to participate is the same as in Seville in 1995! The companies are listed in the provisional programme, and you will learn more from those companies at the conference and by looking at the front page of the EPE'97-WWW pages.



Tore Undeland, Conference Chairman 
Norwegian University of Science and Technology