1. APEC 2015 Plenary Session to Feature Latest Update to PSMA Power Technology Roadmap
   
2. 2014 PSMA Planning Meeting in Charlotte, NC
   
3. Meet Your Directors
   
4. About Our Members
   
5. Welcome to PSMA
   
6. Why Should Your Company be a Member of PSMA?
   
7. Nobel Prizes for Physics: Blue LED & the Photoelectric Effect
   
8. Power Electronics and Electrical Challenges for Energy Efficient Buildings Workshop Report is Available Now
   
9. Report From PowerSoc2014 - 4th International Workshop On Power Supply On Chip
   
10. INTELEC 2014 - ‘Resilient Communications Energy for our Connected World’ - Conference Wrap Up
    
11. Solar Energy Stock Index Q3 2014
    
12. Solar Energy DealReader Q3 2014
    
13. EMS Stock Index Q3 2014
    
14. EMS DealReader Q3 2014
    
15. Events of Interest – Mark Your Calendar

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.

Previous issues of update: Q1_2014 | Q2_2014 | Q3_2014

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PSMA UPDATE is published and distributed via e-mail quarterly by the Power Sources Manufacturers Association. Send editorial information and comments to:

Permission to reprint information and articles as published is granted: a courtesy line is appreciated.

Membership in PSMA is open to any organization or corporation involved in the power sources and supplies industry. For membership information, visit our website or contact us by fax, telephone or email.

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.

 

PEC is billed as “The Premier Event in Power Electronics” and every year, just as winter weather gives way to spring, the global power electronics community converges to share knowledge and insights into this ever-important technology sector. The Applied Power Electronics Conference, which will convene March 15-19, 2015 at the Charlotte North Carolina Convention Center, continues the longstanding tradition of addressing issues of immediate and long-term interest to the practicing power electronics engineer.

An important part of this event is the report from the PSMA on its on-going Power Technology Roadmap project. Roadmap chairs, Eric Persson and Aung Thet Tu (who also serves as APEC 2015’s General Chair) have conducted numerous webinars and the active involvement of industry leaders as they assembled the information for this latest edition. A summary of the results will be presented on Monday afternoon, March 16th as part of the APEC 2015 Plenary Session. This session is open to all attendees and is simply not to be missed. So mark your calendars now. Go to www.apec-conf.org and register.

APEC 2015 will provide:
• The best power electronics exposition.
• Professional development courses taught by world-class experts.
• Presentations of peer-reviewed technical papers covering a wide range of topics.
• Time to network and enjoy the company of fellow power electronics professionals in a beautiful setting.

In addition to a world-class program offering attendees over 500 high-quality technical papers, APEC will again offer a slate of Professional Education Seminars on Sunday and Monday. In addition, there will also be 15 Industry Sessions where important and timely industry developments will be introduced. The ever-popular Micro-Mouse Contest will be held on Monday night after the opening exhibit area. On Tuesday evening, after the exhibits close, everyone is invited to sit in on one of the three engaging Rap Sessions that always generate a lot of dialog.

The Wednesday evening Gala will be held at the NASCAR Hall of Fame where attendees will enjoy an evening of fun and games, gourmet food, music and unique entertainment. All night long, attendees will have unlimited access to this historical multi-level venue, interactive exhibits and historical artifacts. In addition, there will be a unique opportunity to join us in the driver’s seat for racing simulator games and a pit crew challenge! You will also be treated to a meet and greet with a current pit crew chief

As you prepare your 2015 fiscal year budgets, be sure include funding for APEC 2015. If you are involved with power electronics, it’s a must.

Provided by Greg Evans, APEC 2014 Publicity Chair

he 2014 PSMA Planning Meeting was held on September 20 at the Westin Charlotte in Charlotte, NC with 22 attendees. The purpose of the Planning Meeting was to review where the Association is today, discuss issues and to identify possible programs and projects that promise to bring value to the membership.

PSMA Chairman Ernie Parker led the meeting and reviewed his vision for the organization and provided an overview of the general health of the organization as well as membership statistics and the changes since the 2013 Planning Meeting. He emphasized that the technical committees are the heart of the organization and it is in these committees that the real work of PSMA is done. In discussing some of the areas of concern to the organization he highlighted the need to continue to invest in projects that will bring value to our members, increase the effort to develop more and deeper involvement by member companies and continued commitment to bring more industry content to APEC.

Ernie Parker leading the meeting

Michel Grenon, Secretary/Treasurer, prepared a 6-Quarter financial forecast that indicated that the levels of expenses are expected to increase moderately while income from membership dues will have modest growth and the APEC surpluses continue at recent levels. He forecast that the Association will remain in good financial position which will allow funding to support Special Projects that should bring value to the membership.

There was a report from each of the technical committees which summarized their accomplishments in the past year and ongoing programs and projects. Seven of the technical committees have submitted proposals for Industry Sessions at APEC 2015.

• The Alternative Energy Committee provided an update on committee members and plans for a four presentation Industry Session at APEC 2015. In addition, the committee is considering holding a workshop as a follow up to the Engineering Efficient Buildings Workshop held prior to APEC 2014.

• The Capacitor Committee provided a report summarizing their 2014 activities. The committee is organizing a seven presentation Industry Session for APEC 2015 updating the latest technical advances in capacitors.

• Ed Herbert, Co-Chair of the Energy Efficiency Committee, reported that the committee is organizing a seven presentation Industry session for APEC 2015 focusing on Mission Critical Power Systems. The committee also oversees the Energy Efficient data base on the PSMA website and recommended the effort to maintain and update the data base be continued for the next year.

• The Energy Harvesting Committee organized a seven presentation Industry Session at APEC 2014 on the technical details of key technologies that are driving successful commercialization in the areas of: Energy Harvesting transducers, energy conversion, energy storage, power management, ultra-low power microcontrollers, sensors and wireless radio solutions. In addition, at the end of the session there were working demonstrations of energy harvesting systems. However because of a number of issues, the committee will be dormant until there is more support from interested members.

• Judy Horzepa reported that the Industry-Education Committee is again participating in the Student Travel Support for APEC. Together with PELS and IAS the program will provide up to a total of $40,000 to student authors. This program provides up to $1,000 in travel reimbursement per student whose technical abstract was selected for presentation and who attends the conference.

• Ed Herbert, Magnetics Committee Co-Chair, reported that the committee continues to be active, but since it alternates with the Capacitor Committee on Industry Sessions, they will not organize an Industry Session on magnetics issues for APEC 2015. The committee is considering holding a workshop on magnetics issues together with PELS prior to APEC 2016.

• Frank Cirolia, Co-Chair of the Marketing Committee, reviewed the recent activities of the committee including plans for APEC 2015. For the third year, the committee is proposing to sponsor a “PSMA Passport Game” to increase visibility and traffic to PSMA member exhibit booths during APEC. Frank also presented an analysis of the financial results from past APECs and highlighted the factors that appear to have had a significant impact on the surplus available to the sponsors.

• Chuck Mullett, Nanotechnology Committee Co-Chair, reported that the Nano 300 course was released and will be offered to students at universities with the opportunity for students to submit a report on possible applications of nanotechnology and compete for a financial award. For APEC 2015 the committee is organizing a four presentation Industry Session focusing on state and federal activities in nanotechnology.

• Brian Narveson, Packaging Committee Co-Chair, reported that the committee has started Phase 2 of the Special Project on 3D Power Packaging which focuses on embedded technology used for PCB scale products, both complete power supplies and power stages capable of delivering up to 1 kW. The committee is also organizing a seven presentation industry session titled “Substrate Embedded Components Enabling High Density 3D Power Packaging”. Finally, the committee is co-sponsoring the PwrSoC14 Workshop scheduled to be held in the Boston MA area October 6, 7, and 8 2014.

• Carl Blake, Semiconductor Committee Co-Chair, reported that the committee had been dormant for several years, but has reorganized and has been meeting monthly with 5 to 10 attendees. The committee has organized a seven presentation Industry Session for APEC 2015 to provide an overview of the latest technologies in power semiconductors in an unbiased view.

• Ralph Taylor, Transportation Power Electronics Committee Co-Chair, reported that the committee meets each month and has averaged 6 to 8 people per meeting. The committee is focused on the key issues in Vehicle Power Electronics and is organizing a seven presentation Industry Session for APEC 2015 focused on components and systems technologies related to transportation power electronics.

Joe Horzepa, Aung Thet Tu, Brian Zahnstecher, Carl Blake and Eric Persson at Roadmap meeting

• Eric Persson, Committee Co-Chair, reported that the 2015 Power Technology Roadmap committee met prior to the PSMA Planning meeting with 20 attendees. The committee has conducted a number of one hour webinars presented by industry experts on topics relevant to the latest applications and technology trends. A total of 15 webinars are expected to be completed by mid-December. A number of teams have been organized to focus on specific segments of the roadmap with the final report scheduled to be introduced at APEC 2015.

Following the committee reports Ernie Parker led an interactive “brain storming” session to list the possible activities and focus for PSMA over the next year (and beyond) that will bring benefit to the membership.

PSMA members can view the minutes of the Planning Meeting on the “Members Only” section of the PSMA web site.

Although a lot was accomplished during the busy weekend, it was not all work. Participants at the Planning Meeting joined members of the APEC Technical Program Committee at Bentley’s on 37 for dinner that evening.

PSMA

The APEC Technical Program Committee met on Sunday and were joined by several of the PSMA members. Based on the results of their work we can all look forward to a very interesting and a successful APEC 2015.

our members of the PSMA Board of Directors are elected at the Annual Meeting held every year during the APEC conference. Each Director serves a three year term and is eligible to be reelected for one additional term.

In this issue, we would like you to meet Michel Grenon, who was elected to his second term in 2012 and Ed Herbert, who was elected to his first term in 2012.

Michel Grenon started his professional career at Motorola, in Canada, in the late nineteen seventies after studying Business Administration and Marketing at the University of Quebec. When the interconnection to the PSTN was finally allowed in Canada, Motorola became a VAR for NEC, Toshiba, and Mitel, and others. Michel managed over 100 employees in both the sales and service sectors with revenue growth of close to 40 million dollars. The company was sold in late 1980.

In 1980, Michel joined a company selling products, engineering and installation services to the main Telco’s in Canada and in the United States. They sold the Siemens (Stromberg-Carlson), Alcatel, Nortel, Marconi’s products and systems, such as Central Offices, SONET systems and power systems to all the major telephone companies. Michel supervised both the sales and purchasing departments, with gross sales revenue of fifty million dollars and a staff of 300 plus employees.

Michel joined Gaïa Converter in 2006, managing the North-American Operations where the main focus is to expand our presence both in the United States and Canada. Gaïa Converter’s goal is to become an important player in the power industry with a sole focus on the DC to DC converters niche market. They are totally dedicated to the Hi-Rel type applications with a major emphasis on military projects.

Michel was first elected to the PSMA Board of Directors in 2007 and has served as Secretary/ Treasurer since 2009.

Provided by Michel Grenon, General Manager, Gaïa Converter Inc.

Ed Herbert has been an active participant in PSMA for several years and currently serves as co-chair of the Magnetic Committee and co-chair of the Energy Efficiency Committee.

Ed received a BEEE from Yale University in 1963 and worked as a design engineer, a project engineer, an engineering supervisor, then as engineering manager until 1985. Since then, he has been independent, promoting his patented technologies for license.
 

Provided by Ed Herbert, Independent Inventor

From its background as a Technology Development Center of Virginia’s Center of Innovative Technology (CIT) from 1987-1997, and as an Engineering Research Center for the National Science Foundation from 1998 - 2008, CPES has continued to work towards making electric power processing more efficient, more exact, and more affordable in order to conserve energy -- from battery–operated electronics to vehicles; from regional to national electrical distribution systems.

CPES focuses its research to meet industry needs and enables industry to profit from the Center’s research and outputs. To date, more than 150 companies worldwide have benefited from the industry partnership program.

The CPES program enables its Principal Plus Members to sponsor graduate fellowships and provides the opportunity to direct research in areas of mutual interest. It allows the Center to pool resources and focus on developing pre-competitive technologies to address common challenges and share research results among sponsoring members. Presently, three CPES mini-consortia are established:

PMC (Power Management Consortium): Initiated in 1997 at the request of Intel, CPES established this mini-consortium to address the issue of power management for future generations of microprocessors. As a result of this focused research, the CPES team has developed a multi-phased voltage regulator (VR) module and related technologies, including 25 U.S. patents for power delivery architecture, modularity and scalability, control and sensing, current sharing, integrated magnetics, and advanced packaging and integration. The multi-phase VR is easily scalable to meet ever-increasing current consumption, clock rate, and stringent voltage regulation requirements. Today, every PC and server microprocessor in the world is powered with this VR. These technologies have been further extended to high-performance graphical processors, server chipsets and memory devices, networks, telecommunications, and all forms of mobile electronics.

Currently, the scope of research has been expanded to include power management for distributed power system architectures, EMI/EMC, power quality, high-frequency/high-density AC/DC and DC/DC converters for tablets, notebooks, desktops, servers, networking products, telecom equipment, solid-state lighting, battery systems, PV systems and other electronic applications. Since its inception, over 30 companies have participated in the PMC mini-consortium.

HDI (High Density Integration): Over the past two decades, CPES has developed unique high-temperature packaging technology critical to the future power electronics industry. In the HDI mini-consortium, the goal of high power density is pursued following two coupled paths, both leveraging the availability of wide-bandgap power semiconductors, as well as high-temperature passive components and ancillary functions. The current HDI scope of work encompasses integration technologies; high-frequency, high-density packaging; components; module‐level integration; and system‐level integration.

REN (Renewable Energy and Nanogrids): The main objective of the REN mini-consortium is to expand CPES’s expertise in autonomous electric power systems (already established for transportation and IT), into the areas of renewable energy and storage system integration in the electric grid through power electronic converters, while providing competitive research and education in that area. CPES-REN research directions include dc-nanogrid operation and performance, power management for sustainable homes and buildings; energy storage systems; grid connected multi-level inverter and converter topologies and control; modular multi-level converters for high-power, high-voltage grid applications; and other power electronics applications for enhanced grid performance and resource integration.

CPES Principal-level members also gain the competitive edge of early access to intellectual properties generated collectively by mini-consortium research. This is offered via the IPPF (Intellectual Property Protection Fund), a unique IP access mechanism available automatically, and at no additional cost, to Principal Plus and Principal Members. IPPF members meet quarterly with inventors to discuss invention disclosures and jointly decide which technologies to protect, with patenting costs covered by IPPF. Once a technology is protected, IPPF members are granted a royalty-free, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the technology. The Center has been cited by National Science Foundation (NSF) as a model Engineering Research Center (ERC) for its industry collaboration and technology transfer, education, and outreach programs.

Presently, CPES comprises 5 core faculty members, 11 technical and support staff, over 50 graduate students and more than 20 visiting scholars from industry and academia worldwide. This year, the Center has more than 80 industry consortium members contributing over $2M in funds, along with $3M in contract research that includes 22 research projects sponsored by 16 sponsors, such as DOE ARPA-E, ONR, NSF, ABB, Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Safran, Panasonic, UTAS, Halliburton, and Toyota. Over the years, the Center has granted 283 graduate degrees (130 Ph.D., 153 M.S.); published over 3000 technical papers, theses and dissertations; filed 231 invention disclosures, and has been awarded 85 U.S. patents.

Provided by Dr. Fred C. Lee, CPES Director

ince 1949, Magnetics is one of the most recognized names in the electronics industry as a manufacturer of soft magnetic components. They specialize in research, design and production of a broad range of high-quality ferrite cores and tape wound cores with specialty in powder cores. Toroids are available in numerous sizes, and shapes such as blocks, E-cores, pot cores, and U-cores are also available. With such an extensive product selection, Magnetics can respond to most soft magnetic application needs.

Magnetics Powder Core Materials

Kool Mu®

Kool Mµ® materials exhibits low loss and relatively high saturation level (1.05 Tesla) as well as near zero magnetostriction, ideal for eliminating audible frequency noise in inductors.

MPP

MPP cores possess many outstanding magnetic characteristics, such as high resistivity, low hysteresis and eddy current losses, excellent inductance stability after high DC magnetization or under high DC bias conditions and minimal inductance shift up to 2000 gauss under AC conditions.

High Flux

High Flux cores offer the highest biasing capability of all powder core materials. They have high saturation flux density (1.5 Tesla) and relatively low losses.

XFLUX®

XFLUX® cores offer an economical high saturation (1.6 Tesla) solution for use in low and medium frequency inductors and chokes. The high saturation is advantageous in applications where inductance under load is critical.

Amoflux®

AmoFlux cores have the same excellent properties, including soft saturation, as Magnetics other powder core materials. What makes this amorphous powder core material unique is the combination of low core loss, high DC bias, and high saturation flux density (1.5 Tesla).

Numerous Applications

These cores are used in chokes, inductors, filter transformers, and power supply components to provide efficient energy conversion in the following industries:
• Renewable energy
• Automotive and Electric Vehicle
• Railway
• Telecommunications
• Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS)
• Aerospace and Defense
• Oil and Gas

Global Initiative

To meet global customers’ needs for ongoing production, the company has manufacturing complexes in Xiamen and Haicang, China, as well as warehouses in Hong Kong and East Butler, PA. Magnetics is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA. From relatively small production runs to large-scale, ongoing, time-sensitive manufacturing, Magnetics has the flexibility and agility to deliver high-quality products at cost-effective rates.

A recognized leader in quality and reliability, Magnetics’ products are manufactured to conform to international standards for electrical, dimensional and visual requirements. In addition, Magnetics' products comply with global environmental initiatives such as Reach, ROHS, GADSL, and SGS. Our manufacturing facilities in Haicang and Xiamen, China are ISO 9001:2008 certified.

Excellence in Design

With one of the most knowledgeable engineering staffs in the industry, Magnetics has expertise in developing innovative solutions for customer applications. Magnetics’ technical support is a resource for technical knowledge and innovative thinking can shorten the design cycle, move through prototype testing and deliver high-quality products that fill specialized needs.

The Magnetics website, www.mag-inc.com, contains helpful design tools such as inductor design, transformer design, curve fit equation, and a ferrite core loss calculator. The selection guide is useful for finding the correct Magnetics’ product lines for your specific application, and the technical documents database contains Magnetics’ product catalogs and other informative design articles. From the design phase to full-scale production, Magnetics can assist with all your needs.

Provided by Grace Murtoff, Marketing Specialist, Magnetics

Editors Note: We would like to feature your company in a future issue of the Update. Please contact the Association Office for information about how to submit an article for consideration.

Acopian Power Supplies
Alex Karapetian
131 Loomis Street
Easton, PA 18045
E-mail: alex@acopian.com

Acopian Power Supplies was founded by Sarkis Acopian in 1956. They are headquartered in Easton, PA with manufacturing operations in Melbourne, FL. Their mission is to manufacture versatile, high-quality power supplies and systems and to provide superior customer service and technical support for them.

Acopian manufactures millions of reliable AC-DC and DC-DC power supplies that are shipped within 3 days. Products include Programmable, Switching, Linear, Rack Mount, Wall Mount, DIN Rail Mount, Redundant Systems, High Voltage & Custom Power Supplies all made in the USA. They offer every voltage from 1 volt to 30kV & up to 2400 watts.

Allegro MicroSystems, LLC
John Vigars
955 Perimeter Road
Manchester, NH 03103
Telephone: 603-626-2615
E-mail: jvigars@allegromicro.com

Allegro MicroSystems, LLC is a leader in developing, manufacturing and marketing high-performance semiconductors. Allegro's innovative solutions serve high-growth applications within the automotive market, with additional focus on office automation, industrial, and consumer/communications solutions. Allegro is headquartered in Worcester, Massachusetts (USA) with design, applications, and sales support centers located worldwide.

Allegro develops integrated circuit solutions focused on motor control, regulation, and magnetic field sensing applications. We provide highly integrated mixed-signal ICs, adding more components and greater functionality. Allegro's line has extensive product breadth and depth, with standard "plug and play" products.

Artesyn Embedded Technologies
Conor Quinn
7575 Market Place Drive
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
Telephone: 952-392-6631
E-mail: conor.quinn@artesyn.com

Artesyn Embedded Technologies is a global leader in the design and manufacture of highly reliable power conversion and embedded computing solutions for a wide range of industries including communications, computing, healthcare, military, aerospace and industrial automation. For more than 40 years, customers have trusted Artesyn to help them accelerate time-to-market and reduce risk with cost-effective advanced network computing and power conversion solutions.
Artesyn’s Embedded Power business is one of the world’s largest and most successful power supply companies and embraces the well-known Astec brand. The company has an extensive standard AC-DC product portfolio. Widely acknowledged as an industry leader in distributed power applications, Artesyn produces an exceptionally wide range of DC-DC power conversion products.
Artesyn’s engineering and technical support is backed by world-class manufacturing that can significantly reduce time-to-market and help customers gain a clear competitive edge. Headquartered in Tempe, Arizona, Artesyn has over 20,000 employees worldwide across nine engineering centers of excellence, four world-class manufacturing facilities, and global sales and support offices.

Ali Bazzi
University of Connecticut
371 Fairfield Way, Unit 4157
Storrs, CT 06269
E-mail: alibazzi@ieee.org

Dr. Ali Bazzi is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Connecticut (UConn). He received his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Urbana, IL, USA. He received the B.E. and M.E. degrees in electrical engineering from the American University of Beirut (AUB), Beirut, Lebanon. He was a Visiting Assistant Professor at UIUC during spring 2011, and an engineer with Bitrode Corporation during the summers of 2008 and 2009. He was with Delphi Corp. as a Sr. Power Electronics Electrical Engineer before joining UConn.

PowerRox, LLC
Brian Zahnstecher
3225 Cropley Ave.
San Jose, CA 95132
Telephone: 508-847-5747
E-mail: bz@powerrox.com

Freelance consulting to contribute experience in power design, integration, systems applications, and OEM market penetration to those seeking to establish or enhance their position in the power electronics marketplace. Specialization in enterprise-level applications and customers, though not exclusive to this market.

Masahiro Yamaguchi
Tohoku University
6-6-05 Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku
Sendai, Miyagi 9808579
Japan
Telephone: 022 795 7077
E-mail: yamaguti@ecei.tohoku.ac.jp

Masahiro Yamaguchi received the B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. (Dr. Eng.) degrees in electrical and communication engineering from Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, in 1979, 1981, and 1984, respectively. Dr. Yamaguchi was an associate professor with the Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University from 1991 to 2003. In 1995 he was a visiting associate professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, the United States. Since 2003 he has been serving as professor in the Department of Electrical and Communication engineering, Tohoku University. He is also with the New Industry Creation Hatchery Center (NICHe), Tohoku University, since 2010.

His research interest covers (1) RF permeability and FMR measurements for magnetic thin films, (2) RF magnetic field measurements for IC chips to analyze and countermeasure electromagnetic interference, and (3) application of soft magnetic materials for on-chip RF devices including thin film inductor, noise suppressor and skin-effect free multilayer conductor for telecommunication and micro power-conversion technologies. Prof. Yamaguchi established and served as the general chair for the International Workshop on High Frequency Micromagnetic Devices and Materials (MMDM, 2002-2008). He has served as the IEEE Magnetics Society Japan-Sendai Chapter Chair (2007), Co-editor-in-chief for the Magnetics Society of Japan (2007-2010), and board member of Japan Institute of Electronics Packaging (2008-2010). He is currently the chairman of the committees on On-Chip RF Magnetics of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan (2011-2014).

he PSMA is a not-for-profit organization incorporated in the state of California whose purpose is to enhance the stature and reputation of its members and their products, to improve their knowledge of technological and other developments related to power sources, and to educate the entire electronics industry, plus academia, as well as government and industry agencies as to the importance of, and relevant applications for, all types of power sources and conversion devices.

By joining with other leaders in the Industry, you and your company will have a greater voice and influence on the directions of the Power Sources Industry. Some specific benefits of membership include:

• Networking: The opportunity to meet and interact with counterparts in other companies on an ongoing basis
• Involvement: The opportunity to be involved with the planning and managing of APEC—the Applied Power Electronics Conference-- sessions that focus on the specific interest of members
• Participation: The opportunity to participate in committees, workgroups and studies to derive a better understanding of market trends, industry trends and better operational procedures to improve performance
• Discounts: Individuals from PSMA member companies receive discounts on registration fees for attending APEC
• Industry Trends: Increase awareness and knowledge of trends and factors that can impact your career and provide valuable inputs for product planning
• Company Profile: All member company profiles are listed on the PSMA Web Site together with a hyperlink directly to the company Web Site
• PSMA Publications: Regular and Associate member companies receive a copy of all new PSMA publications and reports with discounts for additional copies. Affiliate member companies can purchase PSMA publications at a discount
• Employment Resources: Post job openings on the PSMA website and browse student resumes
• Benchmarking: The opportunity to participate in benchmarking studies with other companies in your industry
• PSMA Newsletter: Receive “Update” the quarterly newsletter of the PSMA, with informative articles on activities in the industry and a calendar of upcoming industry events
• Spotlight Banner: Your company’s products can be featured as a banner on the PSMA Home Page

PSMA membership dues are modest in comparison to the benefits offered. Is your company a member of PSMA? If not, why not? You can find the membership application on the PSMA web site at http://www.psma.com/webforms/psma-membership-application.

We look forward to receiving your application in the near future so you can take advantage of the registration discount at APEC. The 2015 Power Technology Roadmap will be available in mid March and all Regular and Associate members of PSMA will receive a free copy of the report as a benefit of membership. Affiliate members will receive a discount on the Roadmap and other PSMA reports.

his year's Nobel Prize for physics was awarded to Mr. Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano of Japan and Shuji Nakamura of University of California, Santa Barbara, for "the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources."

These three scientists working together (Japanese team) and separately (UCSB), developed new technology to produce blue light from semiconductors in the early 1990s. Though others had produced red and green LEDs, the blue LED from which white light is produced, had eluded scientists. And even though red and green LEDs are extensively used in many displays of clocks and calculators, it is the blue LED that is expected to change the lighting world in the 21st century.

The blue LEDs will revolutionize the lighting world because they consume less energy/power/electricity for the same amount of lumens or illumination, when compared to incandescent light bulbs or compact fluorescent light (CFL) light bulb. LEDs consume one tenth of electricity compared to incandescent light bulbs and half of CFLs. In addition, LEDs last for longer times, more than 40 times incandescent light bulbs and seven times the CFLs. From the electricity consumption standpoint and its longer lasting nature, blue LED is a significant invention.

This is truly a deserving Nobel Prize that fulfills the original intention of Alfred Nobel which stated that the prize should be awarded to an invention that benefitted mankind. By some accounts, almost 25% of the electricity is used to illuminate world. So a widespread use of LEDs will have significant impact in energy saving: in terms of power generation and consumption.

The widespread use of LEDs will also have a significant impact on the power electronics, as all LEDs need drivers/power supplies to power them. If the rosy projections for the LEDs materialize, then LED drivers/power supplies will emerge as single largest category of power supplies, even surpassing the external power supplies (EPS) for portable electronics. As LEDs are expected to change the lighting world, LED drivers/power supplies will change the shape and structure of the power supply/ electronics industry.

Interestingly, there is equally important other side to the current Nobel story: In 1921, the Nobel Prize for physics was awarded to Albert Einstein* "for his services to Theoretical Physics and especially for his discovery of laws of the photoelectric effect". Photoelectric effect is the fundamental physics behind the electricity generation using solar cells.

So these two Nobel Prizes in physics, awarded about 90 years apart, have the reverse physical phenomena:

• Photoelectric effect, a basis for solar cells is about producing power/energy using a light source, thus generating pollution free electricity
• Light Emitting Diodes (Blue LEDs) is about producing light using electricity, thus generating light very efficiently.

These two inventions are already changing the way electricity is generated and used, not only in rich countries but in poorer parts of the world as the New York times states, "...In Africa, millions of diode lamps designed to run on solar power have been handed out to replace polluting kerosene lamps".

These two 20th century inventions will change the nature of electricity generation, electricity usage and nature of power electronics in the 21st century, for the generations to come.

* Albert Einstein did not receive the Nobel Prize for the Theory of Relativity, a subject of significant controversy in 1921 with many different explanations. He actually received the prize in 1922, but did not attend the ceremony. Einstein wanted the prize, not for its prestige as he was already famous, but for the money. He had promised his divorced wife, Mileva, that he would give her the prize money as settlement, if and when he received the prize.

Provided by Mohan Mankikar, President, Micro-Tech Consultants

he PSMA and IEEE PELS jointly sponsored an energy efficiency workshop titled “Power Electronics and Electrical Challenges for Energy Efficient Buildings". The workshop, which was jointly organized by the PSMA Alternative Energy Committee and the IEEE PELS Emerging Technologies Technical Committee, was held at the OMNI Hotel in Fort Worth prior to the start of APEC 2014. The report on the workshop is now available. It is our sincere wish that this report provides the same in-depth knowledge the participants in the workshop enjoyed.

The PSMA strives to bring awareness, education and action to the subjects of Energy Efficiency and Power Electronics. Seventy percent of the global energy is consumed in commercial and residential buildings. Power electronics is a major component in the effort to efficiently utilize the energy consumed.

The workshop Steering Committee was led by Phil Krein, who not only formulated the concept and outline of the workshop, but led the process of creating the topics and organizing them into a cohesive flow. The members of the workshop committee from PELS and PSMA gathered seven experts to seed the workshop with a level of expertise that enabled the workshop participants to discuss topics ranging from planning large energy efficient buildings, life cycle costing and analysis, AC-DC nanogrids, DC nanogrids, energy monitoring and an overview of two large energy efficient buildings at NREL and University of Illinois.

A copy of Power Electronics and Electrical Challenges for Energy Efficient Buildings – A Report on the Energy Efficient Workshop has been sent to workshop participants and to PSMA Regular and Associate member companies as a benefit of their membership. Additional copies may be purchased at the member price of $US100. PSMA Affiliate members may also purchase the report for $US100. The report is available to non-members for purchase on the PSMA website (www.psma.com) for the price of $US1,090.

Workshop on little power supplies a BIG success!

he 4th International Power Supply on Chip (PwrSoC) Workshop convened October 6, 7, and 8 in Boston MA. The PwrSoC Events are sponsored by PSMA Power Electronics Packaging Committee and IEEE/PELS and have been held every two years since the first workshop in Cork, Ireland in 2008. We are pleased to report that the 2014 Workshop was a splendid success with a record 190 attendees. A majority 72% of attendees were from US/Canada, 20% from Europe and 7% from Asia. It was great to see many commercial companies contributing to our Workshop with a 65/35 balance between industry and academia participants.

Hosted by NUCOE

Arnold Alderman of Anagenesis, this year’s General Chair, opened the Workshop with a welcome to the attendees and stated that, “We are fortunate to have Northeastern University College of Engineering (NUCOE) host our Workshop. Our activities will be held on multiple levels of the Curry Student Center in the heart of the university campus.” Professors Nian Sun and Brad Lehman both of NUCOE provided additional opening remarks to welcome the participants to hospitality and diverse activities of Boston and to take advantage of the enthusiasm of the university environment. The workshop opening was highlighted by a welcome from NUCOE Dean Nadine Aubry, wishing us a very creative and exciting three days at Northeastern University. We expressed our delight to have the additional support from Platinum Partner Altera Corporation, and Silver Partner Mag Layers, Inc.

Outstanding Technical Program

The Workshop success can be attributed to our outstanding Technical Program of 33 invited presentations (http://pwrsoc2014.org/presentations.html) and 32 posters (http://pwrsoc2014.org/poster.html). This year we included a plenary session appropriately chaired by Cian O’Mathuna. We heard visionary talks by Bruno Allard from Ampere-Lab, Lyon, France; Seth Sanders from UC Berkeley, and Francesco Carobolante from Qualcomm. The technical sessions, led by Matt Wilkowski, Program Chair, started with identifying strategies that address system, topology and circuit approaches to meet the requirements of both present and emerging applications. It included responding to the demand ever-greater current density, optimized control, form factor reduction, higher efficiency, while reducing cost.

Accordingly, the remainder of the workshop focused on the integration of both modular and granular commercially successful miniature power converters that include magnetic and capacitor power passive elements designed for multiple applications. Presentations on power semiconductors, device packaging, and manufacturing filled out the rest of the sessions with an eye towards on-die integration and integration within package.

The presentations and e-posters will be downloadable from a password protected section of the Power Supply on Chip Workshop website beginning in late November. After June 2015, the presentations and e-posters will be downloadable from a publically accessible section of the website.

We believe the workshop’s success was also largely derived by the incredible increasing global interest in power supply on chip development and commercialization. That interest level was validated by the boundless interactive dialogue during the Q&A portion of the technical sessions that spilled over into the breaks and the reception on Monday night.

New – E-posters

We always complement our technical sessions with a poster session that provides an opportunity for many more participants to share their ideas and work that encompasses all of the PwrSoC technical disciplines. This year we upgraded our poster session with interactive flat-panel displays. The posters session of the technical sessions allowing in-depth one-on-one dialogue between the attendees and the presenters using the synergy of e-posters as a vehicle to initiate discussion for thirty plus relevant topics over a three-hour period.

Our Tour

Additionally, Professors Nian Sun and Brad Lehman organized tours of electrical engineering laboratories acquainting attendees with the many relevant and significant research programs ongoing at Northeastern University capably and enthusiastically presented by NUCOE’s next generation power electronics engineers and scientists.

Awards and Recognitions

The PwrSoC Workshop has had strong leadership from its beginning. The PwrSoC Events Steering Committee, fully recognizing this, surprised Dr. Cian O'Mathuna with the PwrSoC Events Founder's award for all of his effort to create the PwrSoC Workshop and nurture it into a mainstream event. The Steering Committee also presented an award of appreciation to Dr. Seth Sanders for his strong leadership as General Chair of PwrSoC 2012 Workshop. The success of PwrSoC 2014 is owed to the tireless efforts of the members of our Organizing and our Technical Program Committees. These committees were represented by Altera, Ampere–Lab, Anagenesis, Analog Devices, AT&S, Dartmouth University, GLOBAL FOUNDRIES, Infineon, Lion Semiconductor, LTEC, Maxim, MIT, Northeastern University, Qualcomm, Tyndall National Institute, UC Berkeley , University Polytechnic Madrid, University Polytechnic Catalunya, , University of Toronto, and the US Army Research Laboratory.

Making Our Next Workshop Even Better

At the end of the workshop technical sessions, the organizing committees completed an assessment of the current workshop based on feedback and comments from the attendees. The assessment would form a basis for improvements for future workshops. Past assessments led to: our having more networking time at various points throughout the workshop; a Monday evening reception; interactive dialogue during the Q&A portion of the technical sessions; continuing a bi-annual agenda; holding the workshop multiple global regions; and staying with the workshop format rather than moving on to a conference format.

To Madrid Next

Then, we started planning for our next workshop. The PwrSoC Events are alternately led by IEEE/PELS and PSMA. Accordingly, the next workshop will be held in the fall of 2016, in Madrid Spain led by IEEE/PELS, with José Cobos from the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) as general chair. PSMA will be leading the PwrSoC Workshop in 2018. Location yet to be determined.

PELS Papers Opportunity

In the interim between the current workshop and the 2016 workshop, IEEE/PELS is organizing an editorial team to create an issue of the Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics (JESTPE) dedicated to Power Supply on Chip focusing key papers written on the technologies enabling PwrSoC development. Although this journal is not directly associated with the PwrSoC workshop series, it complements the PwrSoC workshop series, allowing presenters and attendees the opportunity to formally publish their ideas and realizations.

We strongly believe that interest and participation in the PwrSoC workshop series will continue to grow as PwrSoC technologies are commercialized based on the ideas, interactions and networking that are cultivated by these workshops. Our thanks to both PSMA and PELS for their support in making these workshops possible and to all of the members of the steering, organizing and technical committees which is best expressed as the following quote from Cian O’Mathuna: “it was great to participate in the workshop again this year. It was an excellent event. Congratulations to everyone who made it happen. ”

Provided by Matt Wilkowski, Altera Corporation, Program Chair
and Arnold Alderman, Anagenesis Inc., General Chair

he 36th annual conference was held, from September 28 - October 2, at the Vancouver Convention Center in Vancouver. This year's program included daily keynote addresses from industry leaders such Alex Tang, a leading consultant on earthquake engineering of telecommunications and electric power lifelines, as well as Victor Goncalves, P.Eng, FEC (Chief Technology Officer Alpha Technologies LTD), Dr. Ewart Blackmore (Senior Research Scientist, TRIUMF), and Power Electronics legend Bruce Carsten (President, Bruce Carsten Associates). Their insights and perspectives were an exhilarating start to each day’s programs.

Intelec was attended by over 450 delegates from 46 countries and over 150 exhibitors. The workshops, commercial, oral, and poster technical presentations provided educational and relevant updates on the newest technologies and solutions for our industry. The Tutorials that provided relevant technical training were attended by over 75 people.

INTELEC©, the International Telecommunications Energy Conference, is the annual world-class technical forum which presents the latest developments in communications energy systems and related power-processing devices and circuits. The 2014 conference in Vancouver was a great success and well attended by the industry who’s who. Physically Vancouver provided attendees with beautiful weather and great views of the Northwestern landscape and city.

Full details of the program can be found at www.intelec2014.org

We look forward to seeing everyone at INTELEC 2015 in Osaka Japan October 18 – 25th 2015. Full details of this program can be found at www.intelec2015.org

Provided by John P. Gagge, Jr, INTELEC 2014 Publicity Chair

incoln International’s Renewable Energy Group is pleased to present the latest Q3 2014 Solar Energy Stock Index Report, which tracks relevant solar company metrics in this growing industry.

The Solar Energy Stock Index Report, published by our Renewable Energy team each quarter, provides you with information on the following:

• Quarterly performance of the Solar Energy Stock Index versus the S&P Index
• Relative market valuations of each Solar Energy Category
• Current financial data for each company in the index

solar_stockindex_q32014.pdf (564k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

incoln International is pleased to present the latest DealReader from our global Renewable Energy Industry group. This will provide you with:

• Q3 2014 deal volume comparison by total transactions, deal type, geography, and target company sector
• Recent Solar Energy transaction announcements
• Margin Performance in the Solar Energy Industry

solar_dealreader_q32014.pdf (594k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

incoln International is pleased to present the Q3 2014 EMS Stock Index from our global Electronics industry group. This report will provide you with:

• Quarterly performance of the EMS Stock Index versus the S&P Index
• Relative market valuations of each EMS Tier
• Current financial data for each company in the index

ems_stockindex_q32014.pdf (376k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

incoln International is pleased to present the latest EMS DealReader from our Global Electronics Industry Group. This will provide you with:

• Q3 2014 deal volume comparison by total transactions, deal type, geography and size
• Recent EMS transaction announcements
• An analysis of growth trends affecting the EMS industry

ems_dealreader_q32014.pdf (439k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.