IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - December 2019 - 60

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After working for a year and a half at McGill
helping Dr. Ngadi's Ph.D. students and teaching a
semester, it was time to move on. Dr. Gachovska
grabbed the opportunity to develop a PEF lab as a
postdoctoral researcher at UNL under Dr. Jeyam
Subbiah. After she had worked a year and a half
at UNL, Dr. Subbiah could not extend her contract.
She decided to take the next step. There were three
possibilities-go back to Bulgaria, return to Canada where she could not find a job, or stay in the
United States as a student. Dr. Gachovska opted
for the last one. According to Dr. Gachovska, it was
one of her best decisions of her life. At UNL, she
met Prof. Jerry Hudgins, who turned out to be the
best mentor in her life and who advised her to
use semiconductor switches in her work. "Unlike
Bulgaria, where it took 10 years to become a Ph.D.
student, in the U.S., Prof. Hudgins made his decision to accept me as a Ph.D. student in three days,"
noted Dr. Gachovska. After completing her second
Ph.D. degree at UNL (Figure 3), Dr. Gachovska took
the first offer she received. In 2013, she started
working for a Canadian fabless semiconductor
start-up called Solantro Semiconductor Corp.
specializing in system-on-chip architectures for
distributed and scalable renewable power systems. However, she continues to work with Prof.
Hudgins on some projects.
F rom testing high-voltage devices for her Ph.D.
degree, she was now testing low-voltage devices
like microprocessors, drivers, current amplifiers,
and so on, as a verification engineer for Solantro.
Plus, she was also applying her writing skills to
develop application notes for the company. One
day, she asked her boss why he had hired her when
she did not have anything on her resume about
testing microcontrollers. He said that, during her
interview, she had shown that she was not afraid
to learn new things and could work hard. So, her
advice to young engineers is that, "when you start
a new job, don't be afraid to ask questions. Try to
learn more and enhance your knowledge, as it will
help you in the long run," asserted Dr. Gachovska.
Today, she organizes seminars and has authored
or coauthored more than 30 technical papers
and conference presentations, two books, and two
book chapters. Plus, she holds a world patent in
PEFs and became a Professional Engineer in Ontario in 2019. Additionally, she is a cochair of the
PELS Ottawa Chapter and vice-chair of the IEEE
Industrial Applications Society Power Electronics
Devices and Components Committee. She is also a
Senior Member of the IEEE. In conclusion, she said,
"A positive attitude will always be of benefit to you
as you build your future."

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IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - December 2019