APEC

his year's APEC 2021 will be presented as a fully virtual event with live and on demand content and a full exhibit hall for the first time in its 36-year history. Although we'll miss the camaraderie of the in-person event we attend every year, you'll see from the description to follow that APEC 2021 will not be a scaled-back or limited version of this important annual technical conference and tradeshow.

Hosted on the robust event platform, Social27, with on-demand content available beginning June 9 and live sessions from June 14 to June 17, 2021, participants and exhibitors of APEC 2021 will have many different ways to network. The online event will afford power electronics professionals – especially those based abroad – the flexibility of participating live and/or accessing the recorded materials on-demand.

When announcing their decision to hold the event online, the APEC Conference Committee cited uncertainties surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. Continuing global travel restrictions and unknown future guidance on large-scale gatherings made it impossible for the committee to predict that the event would be safe to attend in-person, by June. As a fully online conference and exhibition, APEC 2021 will ensure the safety of attendees and presenters alike.

I encourage you, whether you're a long-time APEC participant – or you are new to APEC – to take advantage of the opportunity to advance your professional growth. APEC 2021 is an unmatched resource for learning about the latest technologies and trends impacting the power electronics industry.

Conference Program

The complete schedule for the plenary sessions, technical sessions, industry sessions, rap sessions and professional education seminars are now available online. Registrants will have access to session content during the live sessions. They will also be able to access recorded content until late July (except for the live-only Rap Sessions).

Here is a summary of the program details for APEC 2021

Plenary Sessions

The APEC Plenary Sessions continue a long-standing tradition of addressing issues of immediate and long-term interest to the practicing power electronics professional.

Unlike prior, in-person APEC events where "keynote" Plenary Sessions were held on the conference's opening day, APEC 2021 virtual Plenary Sessions will be distributed over the first three days of the conference.

This year's lineup includes seven distinguished invited professionals who will share their thoughts on six topics, ranging from automotive and wide bandgap technologies to energy storage and the future of power passives:

• "Auxiliary Automotive Drives Revolutionized by Power Electronics"
            Monday, 6/14, 9:00 a.m., EDT
            Annette Muetze, Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing, Graz University of Technology

• "Wide Bandgap Technologies: Enabling a Broader Power Application Domain" 
            Monday, 6/14, 9:45 a.m., EDT
            Edoardo Merli, Power Transistor Macro-Division General Manager and Group Vice President, STMicroelectronics

• "Native  a.m.erican Energy Sovereignty: Energy Storage and Power Electronics Benefits"
            Tuesday, 6/15, 9:45 a.m. EDT
            Stanley Atcitty, Distinguish Member of Technical Staff Sandia National Laboratories

• "Maturing Wide Bandgap Semiconductors Fosters Standardization (JEDEC JC-70 addresses unique characteristics and behaviors of WBG)"
            Tuesday, 6/15, 9:00 a.m., EDT
            Stephanie Watts Butler, Texas Instruments; JC-70 Chair
            Peter Friedrichs, Infineon; JC-70.2 Co-Chair

• "The Present and Future of Magnetics and Other Power Passives" 
            Wednesday, 6/16, 9:00 a.m. EDT
            Charles R. Sullivan, Professor of Engineering, Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth

• "Quantum Computing - The New Computing Paradigm"
            Wednesday, 6/16, 9:45 a.m. EDT
            Heike Riel, IBM Fellow, Lead IBM Research Quantum Europe & Africa IBM Research

Technical Sessions

The Technical Program at APEC is peer-reviewed. Technical papers are carefully selected based on their ability to highlight the most innovative technical solutions at the highest quality possible. They cover all areas of technical interest for the practicing power electronics professional. Papers with broad appeal are presented during lecture sessions and those with a specialized focus are presented during dialogue sessions.

All sessions will be pre-recorded and available on-demand starting on June 9th. On the scheduled day of the session, a live Q&A will follow each presentation. In addition, "Office Hours" for presenters will be held in several time slots over the course of the conference.

The Technical Sessions and Q&A panels will take place over several timeslots on Monday, June 14th, Wednesday, June 16th and Thursday, June 17th. Technical Dialog (Poster) sessions will be held on Tuesday, June 15th. The timing of these sessions is designed to allow for maximum access by the worldwide APEC audience. The full schedule can be found at http://www.apec-conf.org/conference/schedule/.

Industry Sessions

Industry Sessions cover information on current topics in power electronics and are presented by industry sources. These sessions run in parallel with the traditional Technical Sessions track. Industry Sessions speakers are invited to give presentations only, without submitting a formal paper. This allows attendees to learn about up-to-the-minute information that otherwise might not be available in the published conference papers. While these sessions are technical in nature, they also target business-oriented topics of interest to purchasing agents, electronic system designers, regulatory engineers, and others supporting the power electronics industry.

All Industry Sessions and Industry Dialog Sessions will be presented in parallel with the Technical Session schedule, as detailed above. And, just as with the Technical sessions, all Industry Sessions will be pre-recorded and available on-demand starting on June 9th. On the scheduled day of the session, a live Q&A will follow each presentation. In addition, "Office Hours" for presenters will be held in several time slots over the course of the conference.

RAP Sessions

This year's RAP sessions, a perennial favorite at APEC, will be back in full force. RAP Sessions allow for more informal, and exciting, dialogue among attendees and presenters. While these sessions have always been held concurrently at in-person APEC events, this year's RAP sessions will take place in three separate time slots, so that interested attendees can participate in all three. And, as has always been the case, Rap Sessions are open to all registrants – but in this case, you'll need to provide you own cool drink and snacks. Here's the line-up:

• RAP Session 1: Monday, June 14th, 2:00–3:00 p.m., EDT
  Distributed vs. centralized control for micro-grid and nano-grid

• RAP Session 2: Wednesday, June 16th, 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m., EDT
  Does high level of integration make power converters more reliable or not?

• RAP Session 3: Thursday, June 17th, 2:00–3:00 p.m., EDT
  Where does the expertise for the next generation of magnetics come from? The Magnetics companies or the engineer designing the power supply?

Professional Education Seminars

APEC Professional Education Seminars (PES focus on practical aspects of the power electronics profession and provide in-depth discussion of important and complex power electronics topics. Given by distinguished speakers and experts, each seminar combines practical application with theory, and is designed to further educate the working professional in power electronics or related fields. The list of seminar topics include:

• Hybrid and Resonant Switched-Capacitor Power Converters: New Circuit Topologies and Control Techniques for High Power Density Designs
• New Developments in Topologies and Magnetics to Reach 99% Efficiency Using the Latest Semiconductor Devices
• Selecting the Best Power Semiconductor Device for Your Application
• Isolated Gate Driver ICs in Power Electronics Systems – Insulation specifications, IC verification, Application Requirements and Design Optimization
• Integrated PCB Winding Magnetic Components for High-Frequency Power Converters
• Practical Considerations for the Application of High-Power Si and SiC Modules
• Designing Compensators for the Control of Switching Power Supplies
• Traditional and Emerging Digital Control Techniques in Power Electronics
• EMC Design Fundamentals for Power Electronics Converters
• Silicon Carbide (SiC) Power Converters: EMC Design Fundamentals, Layout Techniques, and Construction Methods
• Reliability Analysis Methods and Tools for Power Electronic Components and Systems
• Fundamentals of Switched Reluctance Motor Drives
• Future Power Electronics 4.0 SiC/GaN 3-phase PWM Converter Concepts
• A Practical Guide to SiC MOSFET and Schottky Applications
• SiC Power Conversion and System Packaging Technologies for High Temperature High Pressure Harsh Environment Applications
• Maximizing GaN FET & IC Performance

Professional Education Seminars will be presented in several time slots over the course of the conference. They will also be recorded and available on-demand. Please check the online schedule for details.

Technical Exposition

At the first-ever APEC virtual exposition, exhibitors will showcase their latest advances in power electronics technology. Importantly for networking opportunities, they also will be available to discuss specifics with attendees, share contact data and request product literature and other information.

The Exposition will be open for live attendance and free to all registrants during the following hours:

Tuesday, June 15th (EDT)
          10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
          2:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.
          9:30 p.m.–11:30 p.m.

Wednesday, June 16th (EDT)
          12:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.
          8:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m.

Please visit the APEC website https://apec-conf.org/ for additional information and updates.

Workshops

PSMA and PELS will again be sponsoring two workshops scheduled in conjunction with APEC. The sixth High Frequency Magnetics Workshop "Power Magnetics @ High Frequency" will be held virtually June 2&3 and the fourth Capacitor Workshop "Design Techniques for the 21st Century – Behind the Scenes, Make Sure You Choose & Use the Correct Capacitor" will be held virtually June 29&30. 

Register Today

The early registration deadline has been extended to Friday, May 7!

I look forward to seeing you at APEC "live and in-person" in 2022 when the pandemic is behind us. Until then, please register for APEC 2021 and join us in June for the virtual event. After all, we're fortunate to have this chance to network with our peers and learn about new products in the comfort of our local surroundings.

Provided by Greg Evans, APEC 2021 Publicity Chair

he PSMA Annual Meeting, traditionally held in person during APEC, was held virtually for a second year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 60 PSMA members and guests attended the meeting to elect four individuals to the Board of Directors, to get an update on  the current activities of PSMA, to ask questions and to join in the open discussion.

Ajay Hari	Tim McDonald
George Slama	Renee Yawger

Mike Hayes opened the meeting at 10 a.m. CDT welcomed all attendees andintroduced the other members of the Executive Committee - Fred Weber, President; Trifon Liakopoulos, Vice-President; and Tim McDonald, Secretary/Treasurer.

The first item of business was the approval of the minutes from the 2020 Annual Meeting. This was followed by the election of four people to the Board of Directors. Each candidate nominated introduced themselves and provided a brief summary of their background and reasons for wanting to serve on the board. Ballots had been distributed in advance of the meeting to the designated representative from all Regular Member companies and additional votes were accepted during the first half of the meeting.

After all ballot were received. the following candidates were elected to the Board of Directors for the three-year term (2021-2024):

• Ajay Hari, ON Semiconductor
• Tim McDonald, Infineon Technologies
• George Slama, Wurth Electronics
• Renee Yawger, Efficient Power Conversion (EPC)

Mike Hayes and the meeting attendees congratulated Tim McDonald who was elected for his second term and congratulated and welcomed the three new directors and thanked nominee John Bultitude of KEMET Corporation for his continued contributions to the Packaging & Manufacturing Committee and to PSMA.

The Chair recognized the contributions of Alexander Gerfer and Kevin Parmenter whose terms as Director expired at the meeting.

Chair's Report

On behalf of the Executive Committee, Mike Hayes briefly reviewed and discussed his vision and objectives that had been presented last year and outlined the 4 pillars for sustenance and smart growth, each championed by a member of the Executive Committee:

• Keeping and Nurturing the Good Stuff – Tim McDonald,
• Becoming more Applications and Problems oriented – Fred Weber,
• Define and integrate metrics to monitor the parameters that matter – Trifon Liakopoulos,
• Engage more with stakeholders – Mike Hayes

The PSMA Strategic Direction continues to include focus on IoT, Energy Storage and Smart Mobility. Mike highlighted the importance of providing educational resources to encourage students to enter the industry and inform and motivate professionals, especially younger professionals and thanked everyone who is involved with expanding the Industry-Education Committee initiatives.

In his summary Mike Hayes discussed some of the major Next Steps for the Association which include careful planning and financial monitoring to get back to stability from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic; further building links with other Industry Associations, including iNEMI, IPC, IEEE PELS, EPSMA and CPSS; focusing on KPIs; and using the Pillars to build  growth, succession planning  and sustainability Mike highlighted the great progress that has been made in the past year and the opportunities in the coming year. Mike recognized the contributions of the many volunteers who contribute to PSMA and, welcomed others to get involved.

Power of the Pillars

Fred Weber provided a brief update of the Power of the Pillars by first reviewing the status of the Tiger Team initiatives and giving a brief overview of those that have been accomplished, those that are in progress, and those that are currently tabled. Tiger Teams were introduced in the fall of 2018 by previous PSMA Chair Stephen Oliver and have had great success over the last few years in turning words into actions.

Fred then outlined the longer-term goals which currently include inter-committee interactions, becoming more application and solution focused, and growing the PSMA eco-system. He briefly reviewed the progress and current status of these initiatives.

Financial Update

Tim McDonald, Secretary/Treasurer, presented the Financial Report which included the current financial status of the Association and a seven-quarter financial forecast. Tim reviewed the background and assumptions used in developing the forecastand emphasized the forecast is based on the best-known data available - which may, and probably will, change as more becomes known on the results of APEC2021 and the several workshops scheduled over the next several months.

Tim highlighted the inherent risks in the forecast and the critical need to increase revenue from membership and other activities. All of the events PSMA sponsors over the past year have been postponed or switched to virtual and it is unknown when in-person events will resume. This has had and will continue to have a negative financial impact on PSMA. He set a goal to identify an additional revenue by the end of calendar year 2022 to make up for the losses experienced due to the impact of Covid-19.

APEC 2021

Conor Quinn, APEC 2021 General Chair, provided an overview of the strong Technical Program planned for APEC 2021 with six Plenary speakers lined up, 3 rap sessions, 16 Professional Education Seminars, and a full schedule of Technical and Industry Sessions. Thirteen of the Industry Sessions for APEC2021 have been organized by PSMA Committees.

Conor noted that the APEC Steering Committee and Sponsors are monitoring the ongoing uncertainties due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and a final decision on whether the conference will take place in-person or virtually is expected in the coming weeks. The safety of attendees and ability for the international APEC community to attend are key factors being considered. With the unexpected shift to virtual last year, APEC 2020 was a limited virtual event. Planning for APEC 2021 has included virtual contingencies to ensure that the quality of the conference will be maintained in either format. If the conference is held virtually, a platform provider has been selected with excellent capabilities, including live and on demand content and an interactive Expo Hall.

Note: APEC 2021 has since announced that the conference will be held virtually. For more information, see the article on page 1 of this issue.

Committee Reports

Each of the PSMA Committees provided updates on their recent activities. All of the committees are supporting the 2022 Power Technology Roadmap, with most planning to provide at least one webinar for the roadmap webinar series. Nine committees have organized Industry Sessions for APEC 2021. In addition, several committees are collaborating to organize a paid virtual Vehicle Electrification Workshop in the fall of 2021. The full reports are available in the Members Only area of the PSMA web site.

Invited Speaker

The invited speaker at this year's Annual Meeting was Liuchen Chang, Power Electronics Society (PELS) President (2021-2022). PELS is one of the 46 IEEE Societies. He reviewed the organization of IEEE and PELS, membership, list of major sponsored conferences, technical committees, and current initiatives.

Luichen discussed the PELS 5-Year Strategic Plan and their interest in further strengthening the partnership with PSMA. He also identified a number of specific areas for collaboration that would be of benefit to both organizations and the power electronics community.

Mike Hayes thanked Luichen for his presentation and affirmed that PSMA will continue to work with and expand the areas of mutual benefits.

Open Discussion

Chair Mike Hayes then opened the floor for discussion of the major issues facing the Association and suggestions for future initiatives. Several attendees provided ideas and input on the need for PSMA to identify new revenue sources. It was noted that PSMA dues are relatively low when compared to other industry associations but some expressed concern that a large dues increase may result in the loss of members. Suggestions offered included recognizing the largest member companies do receive more benefits than smaller companies based on their number of employees and locations. It was also pointed out that the dues revenue can be increased by expanding the membership. Other suggestions included identifying sponsorship opportunities for webinars and events, as long as it can be accomplished while avoiding commercial influence or the appearance of such on the activities. The Board of Directors will consider all of the suggestions discussed.

Before adjourning, Chair Mike Hayes noted that this was the second year that the meeting was held as a virtual event and expressed hope that we can resume the face-to-face meeting at APEC2022. Mike Hayes thanked all presenters and attendees for their participation and suggestions.

The minutes from the PSMA Annual Meeting have been posted in the Members Only area of the PSMA web site together with the charts from the presentations.