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Editorial
IT GIVES ME great pleasure to report to you that the IEEE
Technical Activities Board approved the formation of an IEEE Power
Electronics Society at the Board's meeting June 20, 1987. The
Society's field of interest is
the development of power electronics technology. This
technology encompasses the effective use of electronic components,
the application of circuit theory and design techniques, and the
development of analytical tools toward efficient electronic
conversion, control, and conditions of electric power.
Although I was privileged to make the motion and present the
arguments, success was largely due to Trey Burns, who, as my
predecessor as Council President, laid the foundations for this
favorable decision. A constitution for the Society is presently being
drafted by an ad hoc committee consisting of Bob Corbett, Tom
Grau, and Tom Wilson, Sr., and it is expected that this constitution
will be approved by the IEEE Executive Committee at its November
meeting. The new Power Electronics Society will formally come into
being on January 1, 1988.
But what does this mean to us? First of all, it means that our
needs and interests will now be represented within the IEEE by
colleagues who are power electronics professionals. Secondly, it
means that you can now influence the selection of these
representatives. Thirdly, it means that there is now an organization
dedicated to your field, that you can join. And finally, it
means that we can form local chapters of the Power Electronics
Society to address specific regional needs of power electronics
engineers.
The new society needs our support. Many of you have expressed a
desire to have local chapters. Now you can volunteer to lead the
formation of one in your area. The Transactions needs
reviewers. The Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) and the
Power Electronics Specialists Conference (PESC) need organizing and
program committee members. The Administrative Committee of the
Society also needs members to volunteer for service to several
standing or ad hoc committees: Publications, Meetings, Awards,
Membership, Chapters, Intersociety Relations, and others as the need
arises. If you are interested in serving the new Power Electronics
Society, drop me a line telling me what you would like to do.
The field of power electronics is populated mostly be engineers
responsible for turning out a product. Perhaps the product must meet
extensive and rigorous specifications for military applications, but
be manufactured in relatively small numbers. Or perhaps the specs are
somewhat looser, but the production volumes are so large that design
for efficient manufacturing becomes a dominating concern. Or maybe
it's a "one-off" that represents a substantial capital investment and
cannot first be bread-boarded. These challenging tasks are being
addressed at a time when technology is changing so rapidly that
keeping up with it can be a full-time occupation. It is the diversity
of challenges and tasks that makes our field dynamic and exciting. It
is my hope, and that of those of your colleagues who are working with
me to structure this new Society, that through publications,
conferences, exhibitions, and other means, the new Power Electronics
Society will be responsive to the diverse needs of the
membership.
If you have ideas about how the new Society can best fulfill its
mission, and would like to share them with those of us presently
charged with guiding the Society, please write me a note describing
thoughts and suggestions.
John G. Kassakian
President, IEEE Power Electronics Society
Room 10-098
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA 02139
Copyright © 1986 Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers. Reprinted, with permission, from IEEE
Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol. 3, No. 1, January
1988.
Internal or personal use of this material is permitted.
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