The Past, Present, and Future of Power Electronics - IEEE Xplore

Guest Introduction by Bimal K. Bose

The Past, Present, and Future of Power Electronics

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started my career as a power engineer in India in the mid 1950s. I was an engineer in a hydroelectric power company in the early days, and then I started teaching power generation, transmission, distribution, and electric machines at an undergraduate college. The so-called power electronics field was practically unknown in those days. The glass-bulb and steel-tank mercuryarc and ignitron rectifiers and gastube electronics (thyratrons and ignitrons) were known long before that and widely used in industry. It is interesting to note that the subways in New York installed grid-controlled mercury-arc rectifiers (3 MW) for dc motor traction in 1930, and German railways introduced mercury-arc cycloconverters for universal motor traction drives almost at the same time (1931). The first thyratron cycloconverter-based variable-voltage variable-frequency synchronous motor drive (400 hp) was installed in the U.S. Logan power station in 1934 for induced draft (ID) fan drive. In those days, power electronics was known as industrial electronics because the gas tubes were mainly used in industrial applications, whereas vacuum tubes were used in signal processing and communication.

Electronic Revolutions After completing my studies at the University of Wisconsin (1960), I came back to India and introduced a course in industrial electronics for the first time at my college. In those days, a Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MIE.2009.932709

spectacular revolution was going on in the field of electronics. In 1948, Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockley of Bell Laboratories invented the transistor that started the solid-state electronics revolution. In 1956, the ‘‘PNPN triggering transistor’’ was invented and commercially introduced as a silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) or thyristor (solid-state thyratron) by General Electric (GE) in 1958. This was the beginning of the second electronics revolution or modern power electronics age. Silicon power diodes started appearing in 1956, replacing the old selenium, copper oxide, and gas-tube diodes, and they created a lot of excitement. Extensive applications of thyristors and diodes began in electrochemical processes (such as electroplating, anodizing, metal refining, production of hydrogen, oxygen, and chlorine), adjustable speed dc and ac motor drives, high-voltage dc (HVDC) systems, phase-control-type static VAR compensators (SVCs), dc and ac power supplies, dc–ac power conversion from solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and wind power stations. Many new converter topologies were invented, but the bulk of them remained essentially same as in the gas-tube days. There was a brief era of magnetic amplifiers or saturable core reactors before the thyristor era, which were functionally similar to gas-tube or solid-state power electronics. Magnetic amplifiers were bulky but more rugged and reliable than gas-tube electronics, and they were promoted very heavily during World War II and postwar periods.

I did my doctoral thesis on magnetic amplifiers in 1966. The 1960s and early 1970s essentially covered the era of thyristor-based power electronics. In 1971, I emigrated to the United States as a visiting faculty of power electronics to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. At that time, power electronics was going through an exciting evolution. GE, Schenectady, helped promote my power electronics program. To my knowledge, the only other university in the United States that had a power electronics program was the University of Missouri, Columbia. GE, Schenectady, was then considered the ivory tower of power electronics worldwide, and power electronics specialists from all over the world used to visit us. Of course, power electronics research was also very active in Westinghouse, Siemens, Brown Boveri, ASEA, Hitachi, and Toshiba. All the conferences were filled with company papers, and there were hardly any papers from universities. Soon, I became involved with the GE research program on a part-time basis. My first project was a high-frequencylink thyristor cycloconverter drive that involved converter development, system simulation, and experimental study with the help of a GE engineer. It was quite a challenging project, but fortunately it became very successful at the end. For the first time, I could show that a cycloconverter could be used as an SVC. As a reward, I was offered a full-time job with GE in 1976, which I could not refuse. As the thyristor technology and applications market became saturated, we were wondering what to do next. People

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designed an inverse analog hardware seemingly got bored with thyristor compensator to cancel the software converters, which, of course, had compensator and then put an analog many limitations, and it appeared compensator in a series to operate that this was the end of the power it. The drive operation was found to electronics age. Some professionals be excellent. in this area started changing their GE developed a giant transistor for fields. After I joined GE, several things the dc–dc converter for dc motor drive started happening dramatically. The in the electric vehicle (EV). Around the U.S. Government awarded a multimilsame time (1975), Toshiba also introlion dollar contract to GE for electric duced giant transistors. Power MOSvehicle development. After the Arab FET was developed around the same oil embargo, gasoline became very time in 1978. Gate-turnoff thyristor scarce and its price shot up. Sud(GTO) transistor was denly, it was realized invented by GE in 1958, that we were too deMANY NEW but high-power GTOs pendent on foreign oil were introduced in 1980, for automobile transpor- CONVERTER by Japanese companies. tation. Electric vehicles TOPOLOGIES The insulated-gate bipocould possibly solve the WERE INVENTED, problem, at least for BUT THE BULK OF lar transistor (IGBT) was invented by GE in 1983. limited distance comTHEM REMAINED In 1971, vector- or fieldmuting (with the limited ESSENTIALLY oriented control was storage capability of the invented in Germany, lead-acid battery). The SAME AS IN THE and direct torque control microprocessor-based GAS-TUBE DAYS. (DTC) was proposed control development (1985) in Japan. Multilevel diodewas assigned to me. The firstclamped inverter was invented generation Intel 8080 (8 bit) micro(1981) in Japan. Space-vector pulseprocessor was introduced around width modulation (PWM) was intro1974. Unfortunately, without knowduced in 1983, and integrated-gate ing anything about the microprocescommutated thyristor (IGCT) was sor, I became the principal engineer, introduced in 1996. and it became quite a difficult and challenging project for me. The software development with Assembly Advancement in Technology language program for feedback conGradually, the golden age of power trol with sequencing was particularly electronics was ushered in by invendifficult, and I devoted many days tions of many sophisticated power and sleepless nights to the project. semiconductor devices, microprocesUltimately, to my surprise, the sor/digital signal processors (DSPs), project became successful. I rememfield-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)/ ber an incident, which I cannot help application-specific integrated circuit describing. (ASIC) chips, advanced converter topThe prototype drive system in the ologies, PWM techniques, and advehicle was being tested on a dynavanced control techniques. The mometer in a Detroit, Michigan frontier of the technology further Chrysler laboratory. It was 1:00 a.m. advanced by artificial intelligence (AI) when I got a call from my manager in techniques in the 1990s for control Detroit that the drive system under and estimation. The reduction of cost testing was giving an oscillatory and size, along with performance response. I was asked to arrive early improvement, started proliferation of the next morning to fix the problem. I power electronics applications everycould not get back to sleep. In the where, that is, industrial, commercial, morning, I flew to Detroit and found residential, transportation, aerothat the proportional-integral (PI) space, and military systems. Graducompensator in the software needed ally, power electronics lured many an alteration of parameters. I quickly professionals from traditional power

8 IEEE INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE n JUNE 2009

engineering, electrical machines, and control system areas.

Modern Power Electronics Power electronics, as you know, deals with the conversion and control of electrical energy with the help of power semiconductor devices that operate in a switching mode, and, therefore, efficiency of power electronic apparatus may approach as high as 98–99%. Power electronics is very important in modern high-efficiency energy processing systems, such as HVDC, SVC, flexible ac transmission system (FACTS) for active and reactive power flow control, uninterruptible power supply (UPS), and industrial process control with variable-frequency drives for improving productivity and quality of products in modern automated factories. Variable-frequency drives are now used extensively in: n pumps and compressor drives n paper and textile mill drives n subway and locomotive propulsion n electric and hybrid vehicles n elevators n metal rolling and textile mills n home appliances, machine tools, and robotics n variable-speed air conditioners n wind generation systems n ship propulsion. Power electronics plays a very important role in solving or mitigating our global warming problem, which is a very serious concern in our society. Currently, the major portion of our energy comes from fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas). Man-made generation of green-house gases (mainly CO2) is considered the primary reason for global warming problem. A substantial portion of our energy demand can be met by the environmentally clean renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, bio-fuels, and fuel cells, and the current trend is to explore them vigorously. The wind, PV, and fuel-cell energy sources are heavily dependent on power electronics. The world has enormous resources of wind and PV energy. The European Wind Energy Association has estimated that

even if 10% of wind energy potential is explored, the energy needs of the entire world can be satisfied. Although PV energy is still expensive, the cost of wind energy is almost comparable with that of fossil fuel. Currently, the United States is the world leader (with Germany close behind) in wind energy in terms of installed capacity and total energy generation, but it meets only 1% of the total electrical energy need. With the current trend of expansion, it is expected to increase dramatically to 20% by 2030. In terms of percentage capacity, Denmark is the world leader (20%). The wind and PV resources are particularly important for the people in developing countries who are not tied to the electric grid. It is estimated that around one third of the world population is isolated from the grid. Note that both wind and PV sources are sporadic in nature and therefore require energy storage or backup support by nuclear or fossil fuel power stations. All the bulk energy-storage techniques [battery, flywheel, superconductive energy storage (SMES), pumped hydro] are heavily dependent on power electronics but are still expensive. Because of the shortage of oil and urban pollution problem, we are now discussing the extensive applications of electric and hybrid vehicles replacing the conventional internal combustion (IC) engine vehicles. These are energy efficient and mitigate the global warming problem if electricity (needed to charge batteries) is generated from renewable or nuclear power. Nuclear power has the disadvantage that the nuclear waste from a power station remains radioactive for thousands of years. Unfortunately, despite prolonged effort, EVs and hybrid EVs (HEVs) have not yet found general acceptance mainly because of the limitation of battery technology. There is now a strong emphasis for the development of fuel-cell-based electric cars, but its future is very uncertain. Fuel cells are environmentally clean if hydrogen fuel is generated from renewable energy sources (or nuclear power).

Power Electronics in Energy Saving Increasing emphasis is now placed on saving energy with the help of power electronics. Saving energy gives the financial benefit directly; it is particularly important where the energy cost is high. In addition, reduced consumption means reduced generation that helps to indirectly solve the global warming problem. As mentioned earlier, the switching-mode power processing gives extraordinary efficiency in power electronic apparatus, and that is why it is used extensively in modern automated industries and energy systems. One simple example is chopper-controlled dc motor or inverter-controlled ac motor drive in subway transportation, replacing the traditional rheostatic-controlled dc motor drives, which are still used in many parts of the world today. According to the estimate by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), 60–65% of grid energy is used in electrical machine drives in the United States, of which around 75% are used in pumps, fans, and compressor drives. The majority of these are used in the industrial environment for fluid flow control. In

these applications, the traditional method of flow control is by variable throttle or damper opening, where an induction motor running at constant speed is coupled to the fan. This method causes a lot of energy waste by the fluid vortex. If these applications use variable-frequency motor speed control with fully open throttle, energy can be saved up to 30% at light load operation. The efficiency can be further improved in variablefrequency drive by light-load fluxprogramming control. Air conditioners can use loadproportional variable-speed control, instead of traditional thermostatic control that can save up to 30% energy. Since the cost of energy is high in Japan, most of the Japanese homes use variable-speed air conditioners to save energy. The extra cost of power electronics (may be 20%) can be recovered in one or two years by saving energy. Another popular application of power electronics is high-frequency compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), which are four times more efficient than incandescent lamps; in addition, CFLs have a longer life (ten times more than incandescent lamps). The resulting total energy saving is substantial, because around

Bimal K. Bose, Ph.D. to Receive Outstanding Engineer Award Bimal Bose holds the Condra Chair of Excellence in Power Electronics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville following 15 years of teaching and 11 years performing research for General Electric. In a simultaneous position as Distinguished Scientist at EPRI’s Power Electronics Applications Center, he has led the effort to promote university-industry collaboration. Dr. Bose has received international recognition for outstanding Bimal K. Bose contributions as a technical leader, researcher, inventor, author, and educator in the field of power electronics and machine drives. He has made pioneering research contributions in power converters, pulse width modulation techniques, microprocessor control, control of AC drives, electric vehicle control, and expert system and fuzzy logic applications in power electronics. His publications span almost every aspect of power electronics systems. He has promoted the field of power electronics and drives throughout the world with lecture tours and state-of-the-art papers in IEEE and non-IEEE literature. The author of more than 100 technical articles and 170 technical presentations, Dr. Bose holds 18 U.S. patents. Several of his books have been translated into other languages. A graduate of Calcutta University in India and the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Bose is the recipient of a General Electric Silver Patent Medal. The India Institute of Electronics and Telecommunications Engineers established the Bimal Bose Award in Power Electronics in his honor in 1983. Bimal Bose is being presented the Region 3 Outstanding Engineer Award for his outstanding achievements in power electronics and drive technology. Dr. Bose receives the 1994 IEEE Region 3 Outstanding Engineer Award.


24% of grid energy is consumed in lighting. At present, solid-state lightemitting diode (LED) lamps are appearing in the market. Typically these are two times more efficient and have five times more life than CFLs. According to a rough estimate, 15– 20% of utility energy can be saved by extensively using power electronics.

Power Electronics in the Future In the future, we are sure that power electronics applications will proliferate everywhere. This is because the cost of power electronics is decreasing along with the reduction of size and improvement of performance, and energy cost is increasing almost every day. The silicon-based power devices, such as thyristors, triacs, GTOs, bipolar-junction transistors (BJTs), power MOSFETS, IGBTs, and IGCTs, have already established their applications. Thyristor- (and diode-) based phase-controlled converters and cycloconverters, which established the modern solid-state power electronics age, are still used extensively on utility systems and cause power quality and power factor problems. Different harmonic standards have been introduced to combat the power quality (PQ) problems. The traditional phase control can be replaced by self-controlled devices (MOSFETS, IGBTs, and IGCTs) at PWM to solve the aforementioned problems. Alternatively, harmonic filters (active, passive, or hybrid) can be used to solve the PQ problems, and SVCs can solve the PF problem. Such a solution is sometimes justified as a retroactive solution to an expensive installation. The phase-controlled devices will eventually fall into obsolescence in favor of the self-controlled devices. The BJTs are already obsolete, where the lower end has been absorbed by power MOSFETs and the higher end by IGBTs. Insulated-gate MOSFETs and IGBTs have now established their importance covering from low-power to high-power applications. Again, the GTOs that were traditionally popular for high-power multimegawatt applications are now becoming

obsolete and are being replaced by IGBTs in the lower end and IGCTs in the higher end. In fact, modern IGBTs have gradually moved to high power competing with the IGCTs. The high-power high-voltage IGBTs have the disadvantage of a higher conduction drop, but the advantages are smart power capability with control circuit integration and fault protection (high current, high temperature, short circuit, and dc under-voltage) features. For the high end of power, IGCT remains a definite choice. Although silicon has been the basic raw material for the power semiconductor devices, the large band-gap materials, such as SiC (3.0 eV) and synthetic thin-film diamond (5.5 eV), are showing tremendous promise for the future, particularly for high-power applications. These materials have a high breakdown electric field and high electrical and thermal conductivities compared with silicon. These properties permit devices with higher voltage and power capability, and higher switching frequency, lower conduction drop, higher junction temperature, and better radiation hardness. The results are higher integration of converter with improved efficiency and less cooling need. There has been extensive R&D on SiC devices in recent years, and widespread commercialization of these devices are expected in future. Currently, SiCbased Schottky barrier diodes and hybrid JFET with Si MOSFET cascade switch are already in the market, and the MOSFET is forthcoming. Note that SiC MOSFET with voltage rating up to 6 kV can practically replace all the current silicon-based devices. Availability of high-temperature power devices will promote R&D activities of their applications in high-temperature environment demanding further research in control electronics, passive components, and electrical machines. Hence, power electronics that are based on large band-gap devices will bring a renaissance in the future, particularly in a high-power area. The converter technology has essentially followed the device evolution. As mentioned earlier, power


quality and lagging PF problems are recently making phase-controlled converters and cycloconveters obsolete, promoting PWM-type converters on the utility system. A two-sided ac– dc–ac converter can permit bidirectional power flow and sinusoidal line current with unity or programmable line power factor. Also, energy storage in the dc link becomes easy. Between the classes of voltage- and current-fed converters, the former is superior in overall figure-of-merit considerations. Therefore, this class of converters has been accepted almost universally for general power-processing applications. Voltage-fed converters can be two- or multilevel type depending on the level of handling power. Recently, R&D in multilevel converters and their applications have been very visible in the literature. Although diode-clamped-type converters are more common in applications, the H-bridge type has the advantages of modular construction and absence of dc capacitor voltage unbalance problem, but transformer coupling often becomes essential. Multilevel converters with higher number of levels are important for handling higher power at high voltage. In general, their applications may include high-power motor drives and utility system applications. Considering the present trend, it appears that the converter technology is approaching saturation, although much of the current R&D activity is centered on multilevel converters. Future research in this area will be mainly on power electronic building block integration, fault-tolerant control, and automated design and simulation, which are somewhat similar to very large-scale integration (VLSI). Both induction and synchronous machines have been extensively used in variable frequency drive systems. Cage-type induction motors with voltage-fed, variable-frequency, variablevoltage converters are universally popular in industrial applications. Doubly fed induction motors with slip power control have been used in limited speed-range speed-control for large pumps, compressors, variablespeed hydro, flywheel energy storage, and wind-generation systems. The cost

of the machine is somewhat higher along with the disadvantages of slip rings and brushes, whereas the cost of the converter is somewhat economical. With the decreasing cost of the converter, this type of drive is expected to be obsolete in the future, except for very specialized applications. In very high-power range, load-commutated inverter (LCI) wound-field synchronous motor drives are still very popular, because of simple phase-controlled thyristor converter topology and improved system efficiency, although the cost of the machine is somewhat higher. The LCI- and cycloconverterbased drives are being replaced by two-sided diode-clamped neutral-point clamped or three-level converter synchronous motor drives. Generally, permanent magnet sinusoidal or trapezoidal synchronous motor (PMSM) drives are more expensive than cage-type motors but have the advantages of higher efficiency (lower life-cycle cost) and lower inertia. Particularly, axial-flux (compared with radial flux) PMSM is showing good promise for direct wheel drive of EV/HEV applications. As the cost of high-energy NdFeB magnets decreases in the future and energy costs rise, PMSM drives will gradually find increased acceptance. Control and feedback signal estimation of ac drives are complex, and this complexity is compounded if higher performance is demanded. The advent of advanced DSPs, FPGAs, personal computers, user-friendly simulation software, AI techniques, and advances of control and estimation theories have continually advanced the frontier of the technology. The vector- or field-oriented control brought renaissance in the modern high-performance control of ac drives. A performance-enhanced scalar-control type, called direct torque and flux control (DTFC or DTC), was also introduced in the mid-1980s as mentioned earlier. Vector control is expected to be universal for ac drives, replacing the traditional scalar-control techniques. Recently, control and estimation of ac drives are being further advanced by AI techniques,

such as fuzzy logic, neural networks, and genetic algorithms. The AI technique is a particularly good candidate for adaptive control of a nonlinear parameter varying system, where the mathematical model of the plant may not exist, or the model is ill-defined. Sensorless control of ac drives is an important area of R&D, which is getting a lot of attention in the recent literature. Although sensorless control is now used in commercial drives, precision estimation of absolute position of synchronous motor and estimation of speed of induction motor along with precision estimation of machine parameters require further exploration, particularly near zero frequency or zero speed. The converter and control are expected to be integrated with the machine in the lower end of power rating (intelligent machine) in the future. There are, of course, many other topics of R&D, most of which can be incremental in nature.

Biography Bimal K. Bose has held the Condra Chair of Excellence (endowed chair) in power electronics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, since 1987, where he was responsible for the teaching and research program in power electronics and motor drives. Concurrently, he served as the distinguished scientist (1989–2000) and chief scientist (1987–1989) of EPRI-Power Electronics Applications Center, Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to this, he was a research engineer in the GE Corporate R&D Center (now GE Global Research Center), Schenectady, New York (1976–1987), an associate professor of electrical engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York (1971–1976), and a faculty member at Bengal Engineering and Science University (1960–1971). He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE. He is a specialist in power electronics and motor drives, including power converters, PWM techniques, microcomputer/DSP control, electric/hybrid vehicle drives, renewable energy systems, and AI (expert system, fuzzy logic, and neural network) applications

in power electronics and motor drives. He has been a power electronics consultant in a large number of industries and holds an honorary professorship in Shanghai University (1991), China University of Mining and Technology (1995), X’ian Mining University (1998) (also an honorary director of the Electrical Engineering Institute), and Huazhong University of Science and Technology (2002). Dr. Bose has authored more than 200 papers and holds 21 U.S. patents, as well as authored/edited seven books in power electronics: Power Electronics and Motor Drives Advances and Trends (Academic Press, 2006), Modern Power Electronics and AC Drives (Prentice-Hall, 2002), Power Electronics and AC Drives (PrenticeHall, 1986), Power Electronics and Variable Frequency Drives (Wiley/IEEE Press, 1997), Modern Power Electronics (IEEE Press, 1992), Microcomputer Control of Power Electronics and Drives (IEEE Press, 1997), and Adjustable Speed AC Drive Systems (IEEE Press, 1981). He has given tutorials, keynote addresses, and invited seminars extensively throughout the world, particularly in IEEE-sponsored programs and conferences. He has served the IEEE in various capacities, including chair of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES) Power Electronics Council, associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, IEEE-IECON Power Electronics chair, chair of the IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) Industrial Power Converter Committee, IAS Member of the Neural Network Council, vice chair of the IEEE Medals Council, member of IEEE–USA Energy Policy Committee, Member of the IEEE Fellow Committee, member of Lamme Medal Committee, and a Distinguished Lecturer of both the IAS and IES, and is now the vice chair of the IAS Distinguished Lecturer Program. He has been a member of the editorial board of Proceedings of the IEEE since 1995 and Journal of Intelligent and Fuzzy Systems since 2001. He (continued on page 14)


countries. It was expected that more Members in Singapore, the Singaoutstanding researchers in these fields. than 700 delegates will attend the pore IE Chapter invited Dr. Bose to He has also provided services to variconference and his important talk. give another Distinguished Lecture ous professional organizations such as Dr. Bose has made important conthis year. He has accepted the invitathe IEEE. Because of his exceptional contributions to the development of tion to give a lecture in the second tributions in research, education, and the IEEE Singapore IE Chapter, the half of 2009. professional services, Dr. Bose is a ninewinner of the 2007 Best IES time winner of professional Chapter Award. awards, seven of which are IEEE Changyun Wen awards. In 2006, the IEEE Singapore Biography IE Chapter and the Industrial Changyun Wen received his Applications/Power ElectronB. Eng. degree from Xi’an Jiaoics Chapter jointly invited Dr. tong University, China, in 1983 Bose to give a distinguished and his Ph.D degree from the lecture ‘‘Artificial Intelligence University of Newcastle, AusTechniques: An Advancing tralia, in 1990. From 1989 to Frontier in Power Electronics.’’ Without any reserva- Honorary Professorship awarded to Dr. Bose by the president 1991, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Adetions, Dr. Bose presented his of Shanghai University (1991). laide, Australia. Since August own research on artificial neu1991, he has been with Nanyang Dr. Bose has also been continural networks applications in waveTechnological University, where he ously encouraging the Chapter to form processing and delayless is currently a full professor. He has actively organize more technical, filtering, vector drive signal processpublished 112 papers in internaprofessional, and social activities ing, and space vector PWM technitional journals, 103 conference including the IEEE Conference on ques in multilevel converters. He papers, seven book chapters, and Industrial Electronics and Applicapointed out that artificial intelligencethree monographs. He is an associtions (ICIEA) initiated by the Chapter. based techniques could solve comate editor of a number of journals ICIEA conferences have been sucplex problems that were difficult by such as Automatica and IEEE Control cessfully held three times in the past. means of traditional methods, and Systems Magazine. He was an associThe fourth ICIEA was (2009) was held the frontier of artificial intelligence ate editor of IEEE Transactions on in Xi’an, China, 25–27 May. At ICIEA would bring a new challenge to tradiAutomatic Control from 2000 to 2002. 2009, Dr. Bose delivered a keynote tional power electronics engineers. He has been actively involved in speech titled ‘‘Global Warming—How His memorable lecture was attended organizing international conferences Power Electronics Can Help in Solvby more than 50 people from univerplaying roles such as general chair, ing the Problem.’’ His speech sities, polytechnics, research instigeneral cochair, technical program addressed a number of critical probtutes, and industries in Singapore committee chair, program commitlems in the areas of energy and enand produced active discussions. All tee member, general advisor, and vironment, and he showed the who attended benefited from this publicity chair. He received the 2005 important roles of power electronics stimulating, rewarding, and enInstitution of Engineers (IES) Prestigin solving these problems. With his joyable lecture. With numerous ious Engineering Achievement Award strong support, ICIEA 2009 received requests from researchers and pracfrom the IES, Singapore. more than 1,600 papers from 44 titioners in IE including IEEE IES

Guest Introduction (continued from page 11) was the guest editor of the Proceedings of the IEEE ‘‘Special Issue on Power Electronics and Motion Control’’ (August 1994). Dr. Bose is a recipient of a number of awards, including the IEEE Power Electronics Society Newell Award (2005), IEEE Millennium Medal (2000),

IEEE Meritorious Achievement Award in Continuing Education (1997), IEEE Lamme Gold Medal (1996), IEEE–IES Eugene Mittelmann Award (for lifetime achievement in power electronics and motor drives (1994), IEEE Region 3 Outstanding Engineer Award (1994), IEEE–IAS Outstanding Achievement


Award (1993), IEEE Fellow (1989, Life Fellow in 1996), Calcutta University Mouat Gold (1970), GE Silver Patent Medal (1986), GE Publication Award (1985), Distinguished Alumnus Award (2006) from Bengal Engineering and Science University, and a number of IEEE Prize Paper awards.