IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2021 - 89

Lee later became the fifth president of
PELS, and the founder/director of
CPES at Virgina Tech, which became a
National Science Foundation of Engineering
Research Center in 1989. My
connectivity, both personal and professional,
was fantastic and beneficial.
Several of the early power electric
visionaries collaborated and through
their efforts, a new IEEE conference,
the Power Conditioning Specialists
Conference was sponsored by the
IEEE Aerospace and Electronics Systems
Group and held 20-21 April 1970
at the Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Maryland. Oman was the
conference chair, and Prof. Wilson
was the vice chair. Over a two-day
period, 20 papers were presented in
four sessions, and a conference record
of 152 pages was published. The first
special ists conference was much
appreciated by the attendees, and the
following year a second Power Conditioning
Specialists Conference was
held in April 1971 at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
The second conference attracted 26
papers and was again sponsored by
the Aerospace and Electronic Systems
Group, with a focus primarily on aerospace
topics. However, in 1972, the
third year of the conference brought
some changes. The name of the conference
was changed to the IEEE
Power Processing and Electronics
Special ists Conference (PESC).
Growth and recognition for the importance
of this conference continued the
next year, when PESC was held in
June 1973 at the California Institute of
Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena.
The fifth PESC was held in June,
1974 at the Bell Telephone Laboratories
in Murray Hill, New Jersey. There were
several additional significant advancements
in the growth and success of
the conference that year. Attendance
exceeded 300 people, which was more
than double the attendance at PESC'73.
In addition, most importantly, participation
in the formation of the technical
program included liaison representatives
from ten technical committees of
seven IEEE groups and Societies.
PESC'74 was so successful that it led
conference general
chair Frank Judd
to state, " In many
respects, PESC has
achieved a level of
growth and maturity
in 1974 which may be
difficult to match in
future years. " There
was a clear sense of
accomplishment-
the field of power
electronics was progressing at an
accelerating rate.
Every year thereafter, there was
As an exciting benefit,
I was able to invite an
Astronaut to speak at
the conference's
banquet dinner. PESC
later evolved in
to IEEE ECCE.
to ass i st you in
strengthening and
growing your professional
career. " It
was an exciting and
rewarding event,
for me.
If this journey
has been interesting,
and you would
like to know how an
88 year old, retired
an annual PESC. Consequently, in
June 1976 it was held at the NASA
Lewis Research Center, chaired by
Pierre Thollot. It too broke the attendance
record, as well as the number
of papers presented. As an exciting
benefit, I was able to invite an Astronaut
(Figure 4) to speak at the conference's
banquet dinner. PESC later
evolved in to IEEE ECCE [3].
How can I best conclude this article?
Well, that is easy, I will share
with you my experience as an invited
participant in an IEEE sponsored
livestream event cosponsored by the
IEEE Students Virtual Speakers Bureau
and Young Engineers Council.
Hunt, a young IEEE member happened
to mention at a Council meeting
several months ago that her
elderly friend Thollot, an actively involved
IEEE Life Follow, and herself
has jointly published a book recently
about aging. A couple of IEEE staff
members from the Specialist Student
Activities, Experience and Geographic
Activities department were present
in this meeting. They asked her a few
questions, which resulted in a virtual
telecom broadcast on 1 July 2021, in
which Hunt and I were invited as
guest speakers. That was truly a rewarding
experience. I had the opportunity
to share " My Golden
Journey as a Professional Engineer "
with hundreds of young IEEE engineers
worldwide. Based on the
question-and-answer exchange, I
know the audience was resonating
with my message that " IEEE is an
excellent opportunity and resource
power electronic engineer, has found
ways to enjoy his golden years, I refer
you to the book titled " The Golden
Journey: Two Perspectives on Navigating
Later Life " [2].
About the Author
Pierre Thollot is a retired research
engineer and worked as chief of the
power electronics branch at NASA
and director of the electrical research
division at Sundstrand Corp. He
served in the Korean War as a military
policeman and received his BSEE
degree from the City College of New
York, NY, USA in 1962. His career
includes 30 years of voluntary service
to various industry and government
organizations, including the IEEE. He
is an IEEE Life Fellow.
References
[1] " Remembering the Founding Father of
Power Electronics, " Memoriam, IEEE Power
Electron. Mag., p. 98, June 2017. [Online]. Available:
https://ieeexplre.ieee.org/stamp/stamp
.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7956359
[2] G. Hunt and P. Thollot, The Golden Journey:
Two Perspectives on Navigating Later Life.
Ocala, FL: Atlantic Publishing Group.
[3] T. Burns, " PESC: The early years, " IEEE
Power Electron. Mag., p. 12 Sept. 2015. [Online].
Available: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/
stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7240111. doi: 10.1109/
MPEL.2015.2449391.
[4] J. Kassakian, " APEC: A 30 year journey, " IEEE
Power Electron. Mag., p. 16, Mar. 2015. [Online].
Available: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/
stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=7054032. doi: 10.1109/
MPEL.2014.2383329.
[5] Presidents of the Power Electronics Society.
https://www.ieee-pels.org/about/pels-history
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IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - September 2021

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