IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2016 - 8

President's Message

by Braham Ferreira

Envisioning the IEEE Power
Electronics Society in 2030

ong-range planning (LRP) and
strategy is high on the agenda
and is affecting us all. In May,
the IEEE Power Electronics Society
(PELS) held its LRP retreat in Huangshan, China, and the June IEEE Technical Activities Board (TAB) had a
special day on strategic planning.
Members are now asked to actively
participate in setting the course for
the IEEE by voting on the IEEE 2030
Initiative that is proposing changes to
the IEEE constitution and the IEEE
board structure. While appreciating
the intention to better define the
roles of the IEEE and its delegates,
the PELS leadership is concerned
that the proposed changes may affect
the very existence of the IEEE as a
volunteer-driven technical professional organization. Therefore, it is
important that each PELS member
not only becomes familiar with the
proposed ideas and associated pro
and counter statements but that
members also try to understand what
drives our Society and what makes it
a home for power electronics engineers. In this "President's Message," I
would like to share some of my
thoughts on the future of PELS as a
volunteer Society.
The IEEE is a U.S.-based institute
that holds a loyal following worldwide. Volunteers from around the
world are enthusiastically supportDigital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPEL.2016.2585470
Date of publication: 7 September 2016

IEEE POWER ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE

ing the IEEE, including our Society,
with their activities. Figure 1 shows
that the United States forms the largest component of PELS membership:
almost 40%. The remaining members
come from 65 countries around the
world. The power electronics industry is rather evenly balanced between
North America, Europe, and Asia,
implying that no single region dominates. Each part of the developed
world has its own strengths. Although
the southern hemisphere does not
have much industry, engineers and
academics take a keen interest in
power electronics because of the role
it plays in renewable energy systems.
PELS is embraced not only because
it serves the interests of individual
members but also because it is perceived as being a neutral organization
that respects the specific interests of
countries or regions. This is possible
because the IEEE has always been an

United States

Rest of World

FIG 1 Almost 40% of PELS members
come from the United States.

z September 2016

organization for volunteers run by volunteers. It is possible for a volunteer,
coming from anywhere in the world,
to become president of a Society, a
Division director, or even president
of the IEEE and influence the policy
and direction of the organization. For
example, at the moment, the Division
II director, who is a former president
of PELS, comes from Japan and has
a say in the IEEE governance on the
highest level by serving on the board.
This gives transparency and strengthens the image of neutrality.
Thanks to the leadership of consecutive PELS presidents who have
their roots in the United States,
Europe, Japan, China, and Africa, our
Society is now partnering with the
European Power Electronics Association, the Chinese Electrotechnical Society (CES), the Chinese Power Supply
Society (CPSS), the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan-Industry
Application Society, the Korean Institute of Power Electronics, the Taiwan
Power Electronics Association, and
the Brazilian Power Electronics Association. This collaboration came
about because PELS gave up its own
flagship conference, the Power Electronics Specialist Conference, and replaced it with the Energy Conversion
Congress and Exposition and the
Southern Power Electronics Conference that are always done in partnership with other organizations, usually
national societies and institutes in the
countries in which they are held. It

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2016