IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2021 - 87

active IEEE involvement
did have an influence on my
ability to be the best Dad,
always there.
CPES, now one of VirginThe
Power Electronics
Society (PELS)
ia Tech's academic departments,
is recognized as
being one of the ten best
power electronics research
centers in the world. The
founder and first director of
CPES was Prof. Fred Lee. I
first met Fred when he was
a student of Prof. Tom Wilson,
Duke University, also
an incredibly involved IEEE
member. Prof. Wi l son
passed away on 25 February
2017. A memorial article
was written on Prof. Wilson
in the June 2017 issue of IEEE
Power Electronics Magazine [1]. I
have known Fred for over 40 years,
could write a book about our professional
activities; but will simply say
our professional connectivity has
been beneficial to the both of us; an
example, Fred asked me to assist in
the preparation of an NSF Proposal.
The result was a 10-year, multimillion
dollar grant. I served on many
committees during the 10 years of
the grant and was rewarded with
being exposed to current power
electronics research.
However, again as destiny would
have it, in April of 2019, I was invited
to a CPES conference " Banquet
Dinner " and was asked if I would
say a few words congratulating a
senior staff member (Teresa Shaw)
whom I've known for some 35 +
years and who was retiring (Figure
1). As a conference activity, there
was a research laboratory tour
where some fifty or more graduate
students where displaying their
research. At one station, there was
a young lady describing something
I, 20 years retired, could not understand
(Figure 2). But, I was able to
capture her attention because at
one point, she said, " Can I ask you a
personal quest ion, " to which I
responded, " OK, as long as it's not
too personal. " Her question was,
A thought that popped up in
my mind as I was thinking of
how to introduce the history
of PELS, that being; the
exact date and activities, the
who, where, what, and why,
I was doing on PELS birthday.
After a couple of hours
of searching my memory
banks, checking, and composing,
I've come up with
this anecdotal answer...
On Tuesday, 2 February
FIG 1 From L-R, Prof. Fred Lee, Teresa Shaw, and Pierre Thollot
at CPES conference in April 2019.
" how old are you " ? My answer, and
her response became the beginning
of a two-year journey, which resulted
in the publication of a book
about aging. That is, how best does
one prepare for and navigate their
golden years journey? The title is
" The Golden Journey: Two Perspectives
on Navigating Later Life " by
Grace Hunt (27 years old) and
Pierre Thollot (87 years old) [2].
A foreword is written by Dr. Alan
D. Castel, professor of psychology,
University of Cal ifornia Los
Angeles, CA. That 20-30 minutes
conversations triggered the beginning
of a new journey for the following
two plus years.
1988, I was attending a CPES
power electronics conference
at Virginia Tech. Many of the
Power Electronics Council
members were there also
because we had an evening dinner/
council meeting scheduled (Figure 3). It
happened to be the same day that Prof.
John Kassakian was scheduled to present
a motion to the Technical Advisory
Board, (TAB), for the upgrading of the
Power Electronics Council to a Society.
He must have made a fantastic
presentation because when the
motion was voted on, IT PASSED. He
was so excited and anxious to pass on
the good news to everyone, that he
drove to Virginia Tech, (or did he fly?),
arrived at around 7:30 PM and joined us
at dinner and announced, " we are now
a Society. " I must admit, that was a
moment I will never forget. We all celebrated,
and Prof. Fred Lee ordered
FIG 2 In April 2019 during the CPES tour, Pierre meets Grace.
September 2021 z IEEE POWER ELECTRONICS MAGAZINE 87
IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2021

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