IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - June 2019 - 94

to semiconductors at BBC. In 1962, he
received his Dr.-Ing. degree from his
alma mater as an external doctor and
for a basic dissertation on the power
relations of converters without energy
storages. In 1968, he was appointed to
a chair at the newly founded Ruhr-University Bochum. He retired in 1994,
after which he remained active at the
university in tutoring Ph.D. students
and attending scientific workshops,
mainly on power theory. Prof. Depenbrock's friends, colleagues, and students will remember him with deep
respect and heartfelt gratitude.

Robert Donald Lorenz

Prof. Robert Donald Lorenz

On 27 January 2019, Prof. Robert "Bob"
Donald Lorenz of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison),
passed away peacefully in the presence
of his loving family. A codirector of
Wisconsin Electric Machines and
Power Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC) for 22 years, he was actively
involved in this academic industry program that grew to become one of the
well-known university consortia in its
field. Prof. Thomas M. Jahns, a close
associate and a fellow codirector of
WEMPEC for the past 12 years, said,
"Bob was absolutely and completely
dedicated to WEMPEC. And I, like all
of the other WEMPEC-affiliated faculty
members, were in awe of the energy
and diligence that Bob invested in
maintaining and strengthening WEMPEC's international reputation as one
of the strongest university programs in
our field anywhere in the world. Bob
and WEMPEC were almost synonymous." He added, "I can attest that Bob
had a major impact on my life, inspiring me to strive to be a better teacher, a
better research supervisor, and a better
person. I will always miss Bob, but his
memory and his legacy will live on with
me for the rest of my life."
Prof. Lorenz pioneered numerous
techniques associated with sensing
and controls. His many original contributions have significantly improved
the performance of electric motors in
nearly every conceivable application,
ranging from paper mills to electric
vehicles. He was globally recognized

as a pioneer in the development of
robust self-sensing control algorithms
that eliminate fragile rotor-position
sensors from electric motors in many
high-performance applications, making the motors smaller, less expensive, and more reliable. He also
invented a new motor control scheme
that makes motors respond more rapidly and accurately to commands
while simultaneously improving their
efficiency. Motor-drive manufacturers
are now adopting this breakthrough
control scheme in their newest generation of high-performance factory
automation drive products.
In recognition of his contributions
to modeling and control of crosscoupled electromechanical systems for
high-performance electric machines
and drives, Prof. Lorenz was named
posthumously to the National Academy
of Engineering on 27 February 2019. He
earned numerous prestigious awards
during his academic career, including
the IEEE Richard Harold Kaufmann
Technical Field Award in 2014, and he
was named an IEEE Fellow in 1998. He
was very active in PELS, the president
of the IEEE Industry Applications Society in 2001, and an elected member of
the IEEE Board of Directors from 2005
to 2006. He also held the Elmer and
Janet Kaiser Chair and was a Consolidated Papers professor of controls
engineering at UW-Madison. Through
the Robert Lorenz Professorship in
Mechanical Engineering, which he

IEEE POWER ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE

z June 2019

established soon after he was diagnosed with cancer, he leaves behind a
legacy at UW-Madison. Prof. Lorenz
received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D.
degrees in mechanical engineering
from UW-Madison and his M.B.A.
degree from the University of Rochester, New York. He joined the UW-Madison engineering faculty in 1984 after
working 12 years in industry on highperformance drives and synchronized
motion control.
Prof. Lorenz is survived by his wife,
Sally; his daughters, Becky Peterson
and Carolyn Lorenz-Greenberg; his
son, Steve Lorenz; and his grandchildren, Caleb Lorenz, Ryan Lorenz, Addy
Peterson, Adam Greenberg, Jacob
Greenberg, and Becca Greenberg. He
is further survived by his sisters, Carol
Berge and Julie Candura; his brother,
Jim Lorenz; his sister-in-law, Carol
Kast; his brother-in-law, Budge Lewis;
and many cousins, nieces, nephews,
two aunts, and an uncle.

H. Dean Venable
On 2 January 2019, the power electronics community lost a dedicated
designer and mentor who was well
respected for his incredible engineering talent and knowledge. Well known
to the power electronics community,
H. Dean Venable made many valuable
contributions to power supply modeling, control, and design.
Dean was born in Russellville,
Arkansas, and attended school in

H. Dean Venable

IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - June 2019

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