PSMA Chairman Carl Blake introduced the Executive Team and members of the PSMA Board and presented an overview of the membership statistics and accomplishments since the last Planning Meeting. He reemphasized that the technical committees are the heart of the organization and it is in these committees that the real work of PSMA is done.

Some of the PSMA Planning Meeting attendees

Secretary/Treasurer Michel Grenon provided the latest 6-Quarter financial forecast which indicates that the Association will remain in good financial position and can provide funding to support Special Projects that promise to bring value to the membership.

Each of the technical committees summarized their accomplishments in the past year and ongoing programs. Six of the technical committees have submitted proposals to organize an Industry Session at APEC 2013.

• The Alternative Energy Committee is organizing an Industry Session “Evolving Alternative Energy to Mainstream Energy” which focuses on the market forces and technology advancements that will enable alternative energy to be economically and technologically feasible for widespread adoption.

• The Capacitor Committee is organizing an Industry Session that focuses on “Advances in Capacitors for Power Electronics”.

• The Energy Efficiency Committee is organizing a seven presentation Industry Session on energy efficiency and planning a joint workshop with EPRI: “Are You Smart Enough for the Smart Grid?” scheduled for the Saturday before APEC 2013.

• The Energy Harvesting Committee is organizing a seven presentation Industry Session: “Forging Ahead: Global Commercialization of Energy Harvesting Technology”. They also plan to have a demonstration of recent products at the conclusion of the session.

• The Nanotechnology Committee has organized a seven presentation Industry Session and has proposed a Plenary Presentation and an Education Seminar on Nanotechnology for APEC 2013. The committee is proposing a Special Project to develop Nano 300 e- learning course and program aimed at engineering students.

Nanotechnolgy Co-Chair Tony Laviano

The Packaging Committee has organized two seven-topic Industry Sessions for APEC 2013: “Power Electronics for Vehicular (transportation) Applications” and “3D Packaging for Power Electronics”. In addition, PSMA and the Packaging Committee are co-sponsors of the Third Power Supply on Chip Packaging Workshop which was held at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, CA Nov. 16th-18th, 2012.

• Eric Persson, Power Technology Roadmap Committee Co-Chair, reviewed the results of the committee meeting held earlier. He also discussed the series of Roadmap Webinars each of which feature a well known speaker to discuss a specific technology or market trends that should be considered in developing the 2013 roadmap. The webinars have been very popular and the PSMA membership have been invited to participate. The 2013 Power Technology Roadmap Report will be available prior to APEC 2013 and a summary of key results from the report will be presented in a plenary presentation at APEC 2013.

Technology Roadmap Co-Chairs Eric Persson and Aung Thet Tu

Some of the Technology Roadmap Workshop participants

The Marketing committee will sponsor a “PSMA Passport Game” to increase visibility and traffic of PSMA member exhibit booths during APEC 2013.

Marketing Committee Chair Frank Cirolia

The Magnetics Committee plans a third reprinting of Soft Ferrites the popular Eric Snelling book. The committee is completing the Phase III Magnetics project and considering a Phase IV project.

Carl Blake led an interactive “brain storming” exercise to identify activities that should be considered as recommended projects and goals for coming year. These will be further discussed at the October and November meetings of the PSMA Board.

PSMA members may view the minutes of the Planning Meeting together with the list of suggested initiatives on the “Members Only” section of the PSMA web site.

Many of the participants enjoyed an excellent dinner Saturday evening and took part in the APEC Technical Program on Sunday. The APEC Program Committee meeting on Sunday was a very busy one and we can all look forward to a very informative and successful APEC 2013.

Bob and Madeline White seem to be enjoying themselves at dinner Saturday evening

PSMA members and others at the APEC Program Committee meeting

The 2013 PSMA Annual Meeting will be held in conjunction with APEC 2013 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Long Beach, CA on Monday March 18. A buffet breakfast at 7:30 a.m. will precede the meeting and individuals from member companies as well as non-member guests are invited to attend and participate in a full agenda of topics of interest to the industry. Regular member company representatives will participate in the election of four new Directors to serve on the PSMA Board for a three-year term beginning immediately and ending at APEC 2016. The detailed agenda for the meeting will be posted in the News & Information section of the PSMA web site. The meeting will include summary reports from each of the committees and discussions on new PSMA initiatives for 2013 and beyond. In addition there will be informative presentations from invited guest speakers on current topics of interest to the industry.

The best way to get more out of your company membership in PSMA is to become involved with one of our active technical committees. The Alternative Energy, Capacitor, Energy Efficiency, Energy Harvesting, Industry-Education, Magnetics, Marketing, Nanotechnology and Packaging committees all plan to hold open meetings during the week of APEC 2013. You are invited to participate or just to drop in to hear and to provide input as the committee activities are being planned for the coming year.

We look forward to meeting and talking with you at the PSMA booth in the exhibit area and look forward to a good turnout and a very exciting APEC 2013.

For the latest information on all of the activities planned during APEC 2013, visit us at www.psma.com. We will post information as it becomes available closer to the date of the conference.