ECCE 2017 To Host Power Electronics Workforce Panel

As part of its mission to advance the US power electronics industry’s competitiveness, the Power Electronics Industry Collaborative (PEIC) has organised a panel discussion to present challenges and opportunities facing the power electronics industry as it seeks to identify, attract, and nurture new engineering talent.

The panel will be presented as part of the Special Session program at the IEEE Energy Conversion Congress & Expo (ECCE), October 1 – 5, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“As power electronics technology continues to advance, especially with the accelerated implementation of wide bandgap semiconductors, the US power electronics industry faces a number of challenges to maintain and enhance the skills of its current workforce, as well as attract new talent to the business, research, and education opportunities that are on the horizon,” said Keith Evans, PEIC President.

He added: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to participate with a leading technical conference like ECCE to bring together a cross-section of thought leaders from our member companies, academic institutions, and government labs to discuss these challenges with the wider power electronics community.”

“As a forum to disseminate and exchange state-of-the-art research and showcase innovative power electronics technology developments, ECCE is an ideal venue for this type of panel discussion designed to bring together all the sectors of the industry to examine workforce development challenges and opportunities,” explained Peter Wung, ECCE Special Sessions chair.

PEIC, a national member-based consortium comprised of industry, academia, and government organisations is actively engaging its member organisations to develop workforce development programs specific to power electronics engineers. The goal is to ensure qualified pool of engineering talent to drive the next generation of power electronics innovation.

Participants in the 90-minute panel session will include both PEIC members and invited speakers, representing device manufacturers, equipment companies, systems manufacturers, material suppliers, academic institutions, and government research labs, discussing their organisations’ unique perspectives on the ongoing need for workforce development programs in power electronics. More details about the panel participants will be forthcoming prior to the conference.