IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2019 - 62

Electronics Conver ters." Me a n while, New Delhi's Chapter at the
Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi, conducted a national workshop,
"Real-Time Digital Simulation for
Power Engineering Applications."
In addition, a celebratory cake was
cut, and the talk "IEEE PELS Awareness" was given.
At the PELS Canada Chapter in
Montréal, celebrations included a
seminar, "An Overview of Disruptive
Technology Combining Power Electronics and Real Time AI Approach
to Residential Energy," and a tour. A
visit was organized to the Beauharnois Hydroelectric Generating Facility (Hydro Québec), one of the world's
largest hydropower facilities.
Likew ise, the IEEE Reliability Society and PELS joint Chapter in

Ottawa held a technical seminar, "The
Future of Power Electronics: Wide
Ba ndgap Dev ices a nd Adva nced
Digital Power Processors," led by Tanya Gachovska and Chris Winkler from
Solantro Semiconductors, Ottawa.
At the Federal University of Juiz
de Fora, Brazil, the IEEE PELS SBC
held a technical seminar followed
by a trip to a thermoelectric plant.
To gain entrance to this event, participants were required to donate
nonper ishable food items, which
were collected and given to a philanthropic entity for distribution to the
poor. Other Chapters in South America that celebrated included the joint
IAS/PELS SBC at the Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG),
Brazil, and the IEEE Colombia Section SBC at Santander. The SBC at

UFCG celebrated with a technical
lecture, "Cost-Effective Photovoltaic
Battery-Less Water Pumping System
for Unprivileged Communities" and
an introductory course on photovoltaic generators.
The IEEE Kenyatta University
SBC in Nairobi, Kenya, offered a
technical talk on moder n power
electronics technologies. A membership drive was also undertaken by
IEEE Kenyatta University SBC Chair
Fidel Makatia.
Finally, the IEEE IAS/PELS SBC
at Texas A&M University (TAMU) at
College Station celebrated PELS Day
with a cake-cutting ceremony and
social interaction. One main activity
of the Chapter is to hold the annual
IEEE Texas Power and Energy Conference on the TAMU campus.

by Lingxin Lan, Juan Arteaga, Hubregt Visser, and Paul D. Mitcheson

Wireless Power Week Banquet
on PELS Day

i r e l e s s P o w e r We e k
(WPW) 2019 brought together the two major IEEE
wireless power events: the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society Wireless Power Transfer
Conference and the IEEE Power
Electronics Society (PELS) Workshop on Emerging Technologies:
Wireless Power. WPW2019 was held
in London from 17 to 21 June. In a
lucky coincidence, our banquet was
held on PELS Day, 20 June! The
conference cochairs, Prof. Paul
Mitcheson from Imperial College
London and Prof. Hubregt Visser
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPEL.2019.2927087
Date of publication: 6 September 2019

IEEE POWER ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE

from Eindhoven University of Technology, decided to celebrate PELS
Day by making the theme of the banquet venue "Tesla's Lost London
Laboratory." The local organizing

z September 2019

committee, chaired by Lingxin Lan
and Juan Arteaga, rose to the challenge of making it happen!
When attendees walked into the
venue, they were immersed in a
Victorian-style electrical laboratory with flickering lights, the hum
of 50-Hz mains, and the crackle of
electr ica l d ischa rges. The "lab,"
constructed using a van full of old
equipment borrowed from the basement of the Electrical and Electronic
Engineering Department at Imperial
College London, consisted of many
needle ampere and volt meters, old
books, magnetics, and switchgear
as well as custom props that were
purchased or made specifically for
the event, including some of Nikola

IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2019

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