IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2014 - 6

President's Message

by Don F.D. Tan

PELS: Implementing Strategy
for Growth

y third-quarter column for
September's issue of IEEE
Power Electronics Magazine hits me in the summertime.
Work usually hits a lull in the summer, but that is not the case for our
beloved IEEE Power Electronics
Society (PELS). A whole suite of
activities were developed this summer: our first 100 # 100 student membership drive, our second issue of
IEEE Power Electronics Magazine
was published, our drive to be the
home Society for the IEEE Transportation Electrification Community
(IEEE TEC), the launch of the inaugural southern power electronics
conference in 2015, and the introduction of IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification scheduled
for the first quarter of 2015.
The PELS membership development committee has developed a
detailed plan to increase our membership at a rate consummate with
the pace that power electronics, as
a system of technologies, is growing.
The specific plan details include the
100 # 100 student membership drive,
senior membership drive, Chapter
chairs meetings, and outreach by our
key conferences. We had our first
Chapter chairs meeting at the International Power Electronics Conference/
IEEE Energy Conversion Congress
and Exposition Asia in Hiroshima,

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPEL.2014.2331261
Date of publication: 5 September 2014

IEEE POWER ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE

related to better serving our indus19 May 2014. Prof. Sanjib Panda, our
try members and advises the Society
Region 10 liaison, conducted the meetAdministrative Committee on how to
ing. Those who attended felt that this
maintain industry focuses and appliwas a good venue for local Chapters
cations.
to support each other in local areas
It is exciting to report that we
and cross-train volunteers across
have made significant progress in
the regional boundaries. Our Sociour efforts to provide a home for
ety staff launched the first 100 #
transportation electrification as the
100 campaign during the last week
IEEE Transportaof April, and the inition Electrification
tial response was
Our Society staff
Initiative is tranver y positive. We
sitioning into the
will continue this
launched the first
IEEE TEC. In fact,
effort to serve our
100 # 100 campaign
when I was writing
s t udent memberduring the last week
this column, we
ship better. Other
of April, and the initial
had just completed
activities are well in
response was very
a proposal for this
preparation and will
positive.
transition with a
be implemented in
business plan, which
due course.
is supported by the
As I was writing
seven core Societies that make up
this column, the June issue of IEEE
the TEC: PELS, the IEEE Industry
Power Electronics Magazine had just
Applications Society, the Power
been published. It was impressive
and Energy Society, the Industry
and well done. Our focus on applicaElectronics Society, the Intelligent
tions continues, with practitioners as
Transportation Systems Society, the
the prime readers that we are targetVehicular Technology Society, and
ing to serve. The article on technolthe Consumer Electronics Society.
ogy trends [1]together with specific
In reality, there are now a total of 12
"tricks of the trade" have resonated
Societies that will be affiliated with
with our readers very well. With the
the IEEE TEC. Internationally, PELS
successful launch of the magazine,
has also secured support for the
the industry advisory board has now
IEEE TEC from the Chinese Elecreorganized into two entities: the
trotechnical Society for continued
magazine advisory board, focusing
collaboration.
on editorial issues and content generAt the 2014 IEEE Applied Power
ation for the magazine, and the SociElectronics Conference and Exposiety's industry advisory board, which
tion, held 16-20 March in Fort Worth,
focuses more on broader issues

 September 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2014