PSMA Update

The Power Management Professionals Group is an independent social network created by Bryan Rogers of Elite Professional Solutions, a power management search firm. This is a network specially developed for the power supply/electronics community. According to the web site posting: "This group was formed for the purpose of facilitating networking between technical professionals involved in semiconductor power management, power electronics, analog design, motor control, motor drive, power supply design, inverter design, wind power, solar power or alternative energy."

The PMP Group was started in April 2008 and has grown significantly to more than 5000 members. The online forum with the enthusiasm and active participation by the members are the best part of the PMP Group. Although the group is open and can be joined by anybody interested in the power industry, it is dominated by power engineers who like to share ideas, pose questions and get answers for practical problems. Mr. Rogers, a well-respected power electronics industry professional with almost 30 years of experience monitors the forum for the relevancy of the topic and participant's direction, but does not control the content. This is a free forum with open discussion and exchange of ideas. There is no censorship.

The best part of this online group is that it is has become a useful way to find answers to many power electronics/power supply related practical problems that can include a wide variety of questions. These can range from technical questions such as: "6MHz Buck DC-DC converter: Good or bad?" to commercial questions such as: "Does anyone know of a commercially available open frame power supply, preferably universal input (120Vac, 60Hz will do), constant current output in the 3 amp dc range capable of going up to 250Vdc?" Getting answers and opinions from the world community is an emerging experience of this technical social network. The PMP Group is social network of the world community and one can get different view point from world over, where power conditions can be different. For example, many developing countries have much wider swings in the input voltage than normally perceived in the developed countries and where blackouts and brownouts are more frequent so that design and application rules may be different.

By being a participant in the discussion forum one can also get the pulse of the power industry trends and enthusiasm from the questions and their responses. For example, one of the most active forums is related to "Digital Controlled Converters." This is an ongoing discussion forum with more than 300 comments. Though the topic of digital control has been applied in power supply design technology for many years, from the ongoing discussion of this topic, one can surmise that the discussion is far from over. Many views and discussions are still taking place.

Emergence of the online discussion groups is a 21st century phenomena and it is important for the power electronics professionals to consider joining the group. It is not only a useful tool to do networking but offers an opportunity to gain knowledge and information from a variety of sources by posting relevant questions. One advantage of such online forums is that it reaches different parts of the world which can have different views on a particular subject.

Conferences such as APEC (Applied Power Electronics Conference), PCIM (Power Conversion and Intelligent Motion) or Darnell's various conferences are very important and are ideal for face- to-face connections and networking. These events are generally held annually and in addition to networking, also provide tutorials, seminars and exhibits which make them very worthwhile. However for some they can be expensive to attend from both a time and cost perspective. For simple, routine and continuous dialog in a form of questions and answers the online discussion groups are becoming indispensable. For the power electronics community the PMP Group is recommended as one such forum. A link to join the group is: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/93894/77E2F017A315.

Another forum to consider is the PSMA group in LinkedIn sponsored by PSMA, which primarily focuses on business and industry issues. To join either group you must first be a member of LinkedIn and then request membership in the PSMA group or the PMP Group. There are currently 155 LinkedIn members in the PSMA group and the link to the PSMA group home page is: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=1918832.

The views expressed in this article are solely of Mohan Mankikar. They do not represent the views of PSMA. Mohan Mankikar has been a part of the power supply industry for over twenty five years. An active member of the PSMA since its founding, he had been a board member of the PSMA and currently serves on the Advisory Council.