IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 20, NO.

3, MAY 2005 715

Special Reprint Feature

Editor’s Note: The IEEE Power Electronics Society is one of the technical co-sponsors of the International Workshop
on the Future of Electronic Power Processing and Conversion (FEPPCON). A summary of the discussions at FEPPCON
V in 2004 was recently published by the Industry Applications Society, as one of the other technical co-sponsors, in the
Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 44, No. 1, Jan/Feb 2005, pp. 3–8 as a Special Feature. This is reprinted here for
the readers of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, with grateful acknowledgement to the IEEE TRANSACTIONS
ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS and its Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Baldwin Bridger. The full Workshop Proceedings can be found at:
http://www.diees.unict.it/users/empeg/feppcon_V/index.htm

The Future of Electronic Power Processing

and Conversion
Frede Blaabjerg, Fellow, IEEE, Alfio Consoli, Fellow, IEEE, J. A. Ferreira, Senior Member, IEEE, and
Jacobus D. van Wyk, Fellow, IEEE

Abstract—At a workshop held on the Aeolian Islands in Sicily come easily. Thermal and passive component integration
during May 2004 a group of academic and industry engineers from is equally important and will require attention.
all over the world discussed the medium-and long-term future of
power electronics and its applications in specific areas. The fol-
lowing main issues were identified and discussed. I. FIFTH WORKSHOP ON THE FUTURE OF ELECTRONIC POWER
— The demand is not for power electronic solutions but PROCESSING AND CONVERSION (FEPPCON V)
for system integration of electronic power processing. A

—
more multidisciplinary approach is needed.
We will witness a proliferation of energy storage in sys-
tems. The technology is in place and the improvement in
system performance makes it worthwhile.
— A large penetration of power electronics into power sys-
tems will happen within the next 25–30 years. The main
transmission grid will not be affected. The power elec-
tronics development will be in distributed generation and
in the loads.
— The success of the integrated starter/generator, hybrid
or electric cars depends on political decisions more than
on technological advances. However, the success of a re-
cent Japanese hybrid car and the cost of oil could trigger
the critical momentum for large-scale use of power elec-
tronics in automotive applications.
— We are moving toward standardized power supply
building blocks for computers and other applications.
The main push is for lower cost, and production tech-
nology becomes the important issue.
— Demands for improved performance in a diversity of
applications will stimulate R&D in power electronics in
future. Intelligent control and energy management will
Manuscript received December 1, 2004; revised February 1, 2005. Recom-
mended for publication by Associate Editor J. A. Ferreira.
F. Blaabjerg is with the Institute of Energy Technology, Aalborg University,
Aalborg East DK-9220, Denmark (e-mail: fbl@iet.auc.dk).
A. Consoli is with the Department of Electric Electronic and Systems
Engineering, University of Catania, Catania 6-95125, Italy (e-mail: acon-
soli@diees.unict.it).
B. J. A. Ferreira is with the Electrical Power Processing Unit, EWI Faculty,
Delft University of Technology, Delft 2628 CD, The Netherlands.
J. D. van Wyk is with the Center for Power Electronics Systems, The Bradley
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic In-
stitute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA (e-mail: daan@vt.edu).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPEL.2005.846516
0885-8993/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE
T HE workshop was hosted and sponsored by the Depart-
ment of Electrical, Electronic and Systems Engineering of
the University of Catania, Italy, in particular by the Electrical
Machines and Power Electronics Group and by CePTIT (Center
for Promotion and Transfer of Technology Innovation).
It was presented with partial support from STMicroelec-
tronics, Catania, Italy, and was technically co-sponsored by
the IEEE Industry Applications Society, the IEEE Power
Electronics Society, the AEI (Italian Electric Engineering As-
sociation), and the IEEE-IAS and PELS Joint Chapter (Central
and South Italy).
The Steering Committee included the four authors of the
present paper and the Technical Program Committee was
chaired by F. Blaabjerg and J. A. Ferreira.
The Workshop started on May 20, 2004 in Salina, one of the
Aeolian Islands that are located in the Mediterranean Sea, north
of Sicily.
The technical program was organized to include discus-
sions and predictions about the future of Power Electronics in
different areas of applications with a look to long-term and
medium-term perspectives. The afternoon of the third day was
devoted to describing three different experiences of Power
Electronics Research Centers around the world that may be
viewed as practical approaches to a common and global vision
of the research in Power Electronics. On the fourth day the final
conclusions of the discussions were drawn, and this paper has
been prepared by the Steering Committee without necessarily
following the order of the discussions according to the program.
The keynote papers were presented both from industry and
716
academia to introduce and start the discussions. They included
such topics as follows.
1) “Alternative Energy: Future developments and implica-
tions for power electronics.”
2) “The role of Power Electronics in Distributed power for
the Hydrogen Society.”
3) “State-of-the-art and trends of high voltage power devices
and medium voltage converters for industry and trans-
portation.”
4) “Sustainable Storage Technologies.”
5) “The next generation drives and energy storage for trac-
tion applications.”
6) “Power Electronics in Power Systems. Where are the
problems and when comes the market?”
7) “Automotive—Next high Volume Application for PE.”
8) “Power Electronics for CPU’s and Portable Electronics.”
II. PREVIOUS FEPPCON WORKSHOPS
The workshop has been held four times before, three times
in South Africa and once in Italy. Below are the characteristics
and the conclusions from the past workshops.
1) Workshop Characteristics:
— The Workshops have always had an invited attendance
of up to 40 participants.
— There has been no prescribed structure for the interac-
tion, and this tended to change as experience built up
over the years.
— Expert viewpoints have always been invited, presented
and then discussed in different formats.
— The Workshops have always been self-financing.
— An isolated venue conducive to interaction has always
been chosen.
— The program has always been structured to give ample
time for individual interaction and discussion
2) Summary of Main Conclusions From FEPPCON I (Aug.
1991, Karos Lodge South Africa):
— The cost of power converters confines them to niche
applications at all power levels.
— The future will demand new achievements in integra-
tion, packaging, reliability and cost reduction.
— Widespread application of power electronics in auto-
mobiles is expected in the next ten years, especially in
internal combustion engine control and auxiliaries.
— New applications in centralized power systems will
emerge in the next ten years.
— Emerging applications that are becoming important
in commercial/residential areas: HVAC, induction
cooking, medical, lighting, computer power.
— Advances in high current, higher voltage devices will
have a major impact on traction applications.
— The important future applications of high power con-
verters will move into links between incompatible
power systems; dc arc furnaces; dynamic grid com-
pensators; high frequency transmission for high power
over short distances; and mobile units.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 20, NO. 3, MAY 2005
— Environmental requirements for the future will
be demanding. (recycling of obsolete power elec-
tronics/take-back, EMI).
— The future belongs to the power-electronics-fed ac
drives—dc machines will become obsolete in 20 years.
— A shift in future industries will lead to large groups
producing integrated building blocks.
3) Summary of Main Conclusions From FEPPCON II. (Aug.
1994, Berg-En-Dal, South Africa):
— Power Electronics applications are permeating the
household, lighting, HVAC and machine tool areas on
the shorter term.
— Power Electronics will in future have to consider en-
vironmental electromagnetic pollution, environmental
chemical pollution, recycling, energy efficiency.
— The cost of using power electronics in applications will
be adversely affected by
recycling;
standards regarding EMI;
intelligence/protection;
modular converters;
reliability considerations;
maintainability requirements.
— SiC is an important future development in power semi-
conductors (10 yrs).
— Limitations of materials for passive components are
affecting the future possibilities of power processing.
— Major advances can be made with intelligent integrated
power electronic modules.
— Power converter modules of the future will include
power semiconductors, drivers, reactive components,
transformers, protection and control.
4) Summary of Main Conclusions From FEPPCON III. (July
1998, Skukuza, South Africa):
— SiC power semiconductors are now near term (5 years).
— Integrated power processing units will drive the future
of power electronic applications.
— Functional and electromagnetic integration will pro-
duce a paradigm shift in the internal structure of power
electronics modules.
— Thermal limitations of power processing modules in-
dicate that loss reduction has to be addressed as impor-
tant future topic (devices and other materials)
— Soft switching is still an important future technology
for power electronics (EMI, losses).
— EMI and its mitigation will be a decisive future shaping
factor for power processing.
— Distributed generation and power quality is an impor-
tant future consideration.
— Advanced AI and sensors will produce the next par-
adigm shift (self-commissioning, self-diagnostics, re-
configuration, multi-functionality).
5) Summary of Main Conclusions From FEPPCON IV. (May
2001, Salina, Aeolian Islands, Italy):
— For low-power applications, integration will continue
to be pursued to achieve minimum cost, driven by the
BLAABJERG et al.: FUTURE OF ELECTRONIC POWER PROCESSING AND CONVERSION
requirements for miniaturization, reliability, and per-
formance.
— For very high-power applications, modularization will
be expanding, provided the system cost, efficiency,
flexibility and EMC are acceptable in the applications.
— For medium-power applications, the total system inte-
gration still leaves a lot of room for improvements in
cost, power modules, control and sensing, passives, re-
liability, performance.
— Fast energy storage is required in numerous applica-
tions. At present, super capacitors seem to be the most
promising solution for energies up to 5 kWh. In the
next ten years, all other energy storage options will
continue to be considered.
— High ratio of peak/average power rating is important
in numerous applications that are thermally limited.
A general observation is that technology-wise a faster impact
of a new technology has been forecasted earlier than seen in
reality but many correct trends have been concluded.
III. DISCUSSION ON THE FUTURE OF ELECTRONIC POWER
PROCESSING AND CONVERSION AT FEPPCON V
A. Progressing From Power Electronics Into Systems
1) Relevant Issues: Three levels exist in power electronics,
namely components, circuits, and systems. Components and
more specifically semiconductor devices have been the major
technology drivers. Circuits and topologies have received
much attention and consequently the middle level has matured.
Circuit topology innovations have stagnated, perhaps with the
exception of high power. Research opportunities still exist
with devices. Systems need to get more attention and this is
where we see the main challenge for the future. Performance,
control issues and system integration issues have become more
important than power electronic technology. Reliability and
cost will be very important for consumer acceptance.
During the past two decades not much has changed regarding
the basic principles and the technology that is used to construct
converters. Despite this the industry has managed to reduce the
cost and increase the power density substantially. Component
factories have become more cost effective and moved to coun-
tries where the labor is cheap and productive. The increase in
power densities has been achieved by doing circuit optimiza-
tion in an engineering environment where a significant amount
of technology standardization has occurred in the face of enor-
mous cost pressures. These cost pressures makes it difficult to
change power electronics technology as such and a better op-
tion is to invest in the way that power electronics is applied in
systems.
We need to gain a better understanding of the role that power
electronics plays in systems. Power electronics is not in a posi-
tion to dictate new developments. The market pull is the impor-
tant driver. Power electronics is not a technology push. Power
electronics is an enabling technology that means that we play
a supporting role only. If we want to play a bigger role then
we need to understand the systems issues. We should aim to do
power processing and not power electronics. The demand is for
the system integration of power processing.
717
The main issue that came forward from the discussions was
that the power electronics community tends to think and work
too narrowly. We seem to have difficulty to integrate our knowl-
edge into systems. A similar situation exists with reliability. The
problem is that we do not really know how to deal with it. If we
can quantify and control it power electronics will more readily
be applied in power systems, for example.
2) Future Developments and Challenges: An opportunity
exists for power electronics to expand its role dealing with
smart, intelligent, and efficient power processing in all kinds of
applications. Power systems is one application that offers many
possibilities. Another application is mechatronic systems.
Power systems applications in particular need to be revi-
talized at universities because old engineers are retiring and
replacements are not being trained. If something is not urgently
done then we will not be able to address the challenges in
power systems. As a dynamic discipline that attracts students,
the power electronics education program can contribute to this
need in power engineering.
In educating engineers a broader background is required, in-
cluding mechanical issues such as heat transfer and fatigue,
which are now often neglected. In order to expand our role we
should grow integrated projects at universities. In the process
we will have to take aspects on board that we, classical elec-
trical engineers, may not be comfortable with. A good example
of such an issue is thermal management. New technologies and
better designs of the thermal housekeeping may have more po-
tential for increasing the power density than the conventional
electrical approach of improving the efficiency.
This new role of power electronics is not something that can
happen overnight. It has to be addressed at grass root levels,
in the education programs. The reductionism educational para-
digm has to be turned around and at universities we have to go
back from specialist to generalizt degrees.
The power electronics engineer of the future has to be mul-
tidisciplinary. For example; electrochemistry background in the
educational program is important and a new/mixed curriculum
is required. We have to get physicists involved. Integration has
to occur at a faculty level. There is a general need for the integra-
tion of different fields in the educational program; the primary
need is at faculty level.
B. Energy Storage
1) Relevant Issues: The use of alternative energy sources on
a large scale requires new technologies such as reliable power
electronics interface, new system control issues as well as en-
ergy storage systems. It could be combined with the possibility
of the installation of other highly dynamic power sources, if they
can be controlled in a way so the sum of alternative power and
dynamic power is constant. Furthermore, HVDC in larger re-
gions will be linked to balance out regional differences in power
generation (wind) and the power consumption. However no real
break-through is seen in large-scale energy storage systems.
A high capacity energy storage device was proposed based
on oil and pneumatics for environmental friendliness, high effi-
ciency and long lifetime. The first tests were already done and
it could be a local solution.
718
For energy storage capacities of a few kWh, Supercapacitors
are proposed and used today as appropriate storage elements in
applications like scooters and Diesel electric propulsion. Super-
capacitors have during the last few years seen an improved relia-
bility and the cost has decreased. In tram applications the kinetic
energy of the vehicle can be recuperated, which has major ad-
vantages like:
— fewer losses in overhead lines;
— limited autonomy that allows crossings of trams
without visual pollution in cities;
— lower current in overhead lines; fewer substations and
less copper use can be considered.
And Supercapacitors are projected to be implemented in such
applications.
2) Future Developments and Challenges: Hydrogen
economy will provide a good opportunity for power electronics
in the long term but also to provide a higher number of storage
facilities. However the production, storage and transportation
of hydrogen are still the main limiting factors that have to be
overcome in the near future if such a society is to be developed.
In power systems, hydrogen storage is not seen to be an ef-
ficient alternative compared to pumped hydro as the latter has
a much higher efficiency and is already a mature technology.
However the capacity for pumped hydro is limited by geograph-
ical constraints (hills, mountains) and in many areas this is not
possible without transporting the energy over long distances.
In an automotive application the situation is different. Ultra-
capacitors seem to be the ideal devices to recover the kinetic
(braking) energy. Their energy and power densities have im-
proved five fold in the last 5 years. Other benefits are: fewer
substations, operation in areas with no overhead lines, and re-
duced installed power. Ultracapacitors have become attractive
from a cost perspective. In diesel-electric systems the diesel-en-
gine size can be reduced and the diesel engine can be turned off
in stations.
Storage systems should be used to decouple sub-systems in
power systems during transients.
Efficient energy storage is one of the main challenges in the
next decade in order to optimize the use of energy in many
applications.
C. Power Systems
1) Relevant Issues: The power system has gotten more
attention in recent years due to different blackouts globally.
Power electronics can improve the efficiency of generation, in
transmission systems, and in distribution systems. Despite this
power electronic solutions have so far failed to penetrate the
utility market meaningfully. Although US electricity market is
growing at 2.5% per year the investment in transmission and
distribution infrastructures has unfortunately declined.
The electric grid has minimal active control, automation and
communication capabilities as the main issue is cost reduction.
Other networks (e.g. phones, internet, etc.) are now smart and
fault tolerant, and provide higher reliability and availability at
low cost.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 20, NO. 3, MAY 2005
Transmission systems are not yet designed for deregulation
of the energy market. For example, the US power grid infra-
structure needs modernization as the future grid will have to
be smart, fault tolerant, dynamically and statically controllable,
and finally energy efficient.
Power quality represents a significant opportunity to apply
power electronics to power systems. However, it is still neces-
sary to establish knowledge about how customers will be willing
to pay for having power electronics in power systems. One good
reason could be that industrial productivity reduction is related
with power quality.
2) Future Developments and Challenges: The future power
systems have to deal with distributed subsystems, distributed
energy storage systems, active control of each subsystem, and
fast exchange of information among the subsystems.
Power electronics penetration in the power system PQ market
is conditioned by who will pay for it. Investigation of possible
solutions to power system problems should be carried on by
means of small steps to be applied to small grids (ships, cars,
airplanes) first.
Monitoring of current power systems and using new power
systems in developing countries as field for testing is necessary
in order to learn before building new electrical systems, which
is a major investment. It is expected that a large penetration of
power electronics into power systems will happen within the
next 25–30 years.
One important application could be the utilization of power
electronics to limit critical faults in transmission and distribution
systems.
D. Automotive
1) Relevant Issues: The automotive industry is reluctant to
introduce changes by itself and many of the improvements that
we have seen during the past decades were driven by legislation.
This is in particular true of under-the-skin technology changes
that do not directly contribute to the sales appeal of automo-
biles. As a result they are quite reluctant to make changes in
the existing on-board electric power net and the 42 V system is
being delayed, even though the electrical power demand of cars
is increasing continuously and is reaching the limit of today’s
systems.
The technology for reduced fuel consumption is already
there, based on integrated starter generators (ISG), hybrid or
electric cars but since the consumer does not ask for it, it is not
being implemented on a significant scale. The success of ISG,
hybrid, or electric cars depends on political decisions more
than on technological advances.
The success of the new generation Toyota Prius is an impor-
tant event. The consumer is enthusiastic about a car that has a lot
of power electronics and the production numbers are consider-
able. The success stimulates research and development at com-
petitors. The Prius has excellent reliability reports and scored
well in crash tests. However because of the high battery voltage
safety aspects in case of accidents should not be ignored.
The reliability and lifetime of batteries remains an issue even
though we have witnessed a good improvement in these de-
partments in recent years. Aging of batteries is not an issue
BLAABJERG et al.: FUTURE OF ELECTRONIC POWER PROCESSING AND CONVERSION
for consumers if only boost and regenerative braking is consid-
ered. The Prius was developed some years ago and at that time
the Double Layer Capacitor (DLC) was too expensive for cars.
Maybe therefore a Nickel Metal Hydrate (NiMH) battery was
used. The next car generation may have DLC’s.
2) Future Developments and Challenges: The 42-V power
net is an intermediate step to introduce more power electronics.
Some manufacturers have already introduced 42 V, albeit at a
small level. However its future is not clear. It may be bypassed
in favor of higher voltage systems as has been done by manu-
facturers of hybrid drive systems.
Various factors are pushing for reduced fuel consumption. In
the long term primary energy sources other than oil have to be
used. In the shorter term special cars for short distance driving
that do not need large batteries can solve the problem. Such cars
already exist but are a small niche market today.
We do not expect the fuel cell car to go in series production
before 2020. Development of better battery systems is going on
and may replace fuel cells for electric cars when the time comes.
E. Technology
1) Relevant Issues: Application is a driver and a large
market growth in power electronics is projected. The scope is
wide and not all application fields could be discussed. Auto-
motive, power systems and power supplies are three important
technology drivers. A few aspects of the latter two deserve
consideration.
There is a clear economic advantage in scaling the power of
wind turbines into the MW range. Power and weight density of
the power electronics and generator have become a fundamental
limiting factor preventing scaling higher up into the MW range.
A major technological challenge will be to integrate dis-
tributed generation sources into the grid. Solar panels will be
integrated in the construction of the roofs of buildings. Organic
cells are not at present reliable, but could allow panel costs to
be reduced to 10% of present cost. This type of technology
should be economically viable in 10 years. The aesthetics are
also better than present panel structures. Fuel cells will not
become practical in house applications. For power stations,
though, they will be viable.
Grid interaction is a particularly challenging issue. Then we
not only talk about issues related to the integration of distributed
generation sources. For example, we do things with the grid
that were not planned such as the injection of high frequencies.
Engineers are required to understand grid interactions better.
Increased efficiency by introducing power electronics will re-
sult in large power/energy savings in electrical loads. In existing
power electronic loads the efficiency must be improved. Power
consumption for computers, telecommunication equipment, and
battery chargers for all forms of battery-operated equipment are
significant. Design of energy efficient power supplies for full
load as well as for light load are important challenges. Energy
efficient consumer electronics and appliances are equally im-
portant. Energy management that takes into consideration of the
interactions among the energy source, dc/dc converters, and the
associated loads is a very important issue.
719
Significant technological advances have been made for the
low voltage and high current dc/dc converters, including inte-
gration in control for the multi-phase converter, integration of
power devices and drivers, either in the form of hybrid package
or monolithically. Standardized building blocks exist now.
2) Future Developments and Challenges: The power man-
agement solutions developed for CPU’s have been trail blazing,
including technologies such as the application of small fuel
cells, the scalable modular building block approach, advanced
packaging, and system integration. The lesson learned here is
valuable to other applications as well and should be used as an
example for future road maps. A specific example is the syn-
chronous buck converter that has become a standard solution in
multi-phase CPU power supplies. Potential applications of this
multi-phase buck-converter approach for other higher power
applications are interesting.
Technology growth in the CPU is not sustainable unless there
is a fundamental change in the system concept. Is there any long-
term technology roadmap for the power management solution
for future microprocessors?
Low-voltage capacitor technology and integrated passives are
important areas of future research. Integration of magnetic com-
ponents embedded in the PCB has been demonstrated. The in-
tegration of capacitors in the packaging process is a challenge.
The power densities that can be achieved with current tech-
nology are thermally limited. Technologies for better thermal
management are needed. Thermal issues are important for the
integration of passives and overall system integration.
IV. CONCLUSION
1) From the discussion of the conclusions from the first
four FEPPCON’s, it is evident that although the correct
tendencies for new technology development within
Power Electronics had been identified in the majority
of cases, the rate of penetration into actual practice
has been much slower than originally expected.
2) The format of FEPPCON has been found to be con-
ducive to free, innovative and stimulating discussions
and ideas development. This should be continued as
a nonaligned think-tank on the future of Power Elec-
tronics.
The next wave of development in Power Electronics
3)
will be driven by understanding the systems issues on
a multi-disciplinary level, adapting the possible solu-
tions Power Electronics has to offer to these problems
and generating a response to the “applications pull.”
In this regard the following systems pulls were
identified:
Power Electronics into Generic Systems;
Energy Storage;
Power Systems, including Alternative Energy
Supply;
Automotive Systems.
It has been concluded that technology challenges will develop
along the directions generated by these pulls. It was pointed out
that the educational system (internationally) is not well geared
to these developments, since it tends to force specialization into
Power Electronics as a self-sustaining field.
720
Frede Blaabjerg (S’86-M’88-SM’97-F’03) re-
ceived the M.Sc.EE. and Ph.D. degrees from
Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark, in 1987 and
1995, respectively.
He was employed at ABB-Scandia, Randers, The
Netherlands, from 1987 to 1988. From 1988 to 1992,
he was a Ph.D. student at Aalborg University. He be-
came an Assistant Professor in 1992 at Aalborg Uni-
versity, in 1996 Associate Professor, and in 1998 a
Full Professor in power electronics and drives. He is
the author or co-author of more than 300 publications
in his research fields including the book Control in Power Electronics (New
York: Academic, 2002). During the last years he has held a number of chairman
positions in research policy and research funding bodies in Denmark. He is an
Associate Editor for the Journal of Power Electronics and of the Danish journal
Elteknik. His research areas are in power electronics, static power converters, ac
drives, switched reluctance drives, modeling, characterization of power semi-
conductor devices and simulation, wind turbines, and green power inverters.
Dr. Blaabjerg received the 1995 Angelos Award for his contribution in modu-
lation technique and control of electric drives, the Annual Teacher prize at Aal-
borg University in 1995, the Outstanding Young Power Electronics Engineer
Award from the IEEE Power Electronics Society in 1998, five IEEE Prize paper
awards during the last six years, the C.Y. O’Connor Fellowship 2002 from Perth,
Australia, the Statoil-prize in 2003 for his contributions in power electronics,
and the Grundfos-Prize in 2004 for his contributions in power electronics and
drives. He is an Associate Editor for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY
APPLICATIONS and for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS.
Alfio Consoli (M’79–SM’88–F’00) was born in
Catania, Italy. He received the Ph.D. degree in
electrical engineering from the Politecnico di Torino,
Turin, Italy, in 1972.
From 1973 to 1974, he was with FIAT, Turin, Italy.
In 1975, he joined the Department of Electrical,
Electronic, and Systems Engineering, University
of Catania, Italy, where, since 1985 he has been a
Professor of Electrical Engineering, teaching in the
areas of electrical machines and power electronics.
In 1980, he was the recipient of a NATO Grant at
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, and in 1985, he was a Visiting Professor
at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, teaching classes in electromagnetic
design. He has authored more than 200 technical papers and is the holder of
three patents, as a result of almost 30 years of research activity in the areas of
energy conversion, electrical drives, robotics, and power electronics with appli-
cations in information technologies, industry, and transportation. In such areas,
he has directed several international and national research projects performed
within the framework of industry cooperation. He is the coauthor and coeditor
of the book Modern Electric Drives (Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Kluwer,
2000).
Dr. Consoli received several IEEE Prize Paper Awards. He has served the
IEEE in numerous capacities over the past 20 years, including as a Member of
the Executive Board of the IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS). He is
presently a Distinguished Lecturer of the IAS and a Member of the Advisory
Committee of the IEEE Power Electronics Society. He is also a Member of the
Italian Electric Association (AEI) and of the International Steering Committee
of the European Power Electronics Association (EPE).
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 20, NO. 3, MAY 2005
J. A. Ferreira (F’01) received the B.Sc.Eng.,
M.Sc.Eng., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical en-
gineering from the Rand Afrikaans University,
Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1981, 1983, and
1988, respectively.
In 1981, he was with the Institute for Power Elec-
tronics and Electric Drives, Technical University
of Aachen, Aachen, The Netherlands, and he has
worked in industry at ESD (Pty), Ltd., from 1982
to 1985. From 1986 to 1997, he was with the Engi-
neering Faculty, Rand Afrikaans University, where
he held the Carl and Emily Fuchs Chair in Power Electronics in later years.
Since 1998, he has been a Professor at the Delft University of Technology,
Delft, The Netherlands.
Dr. Ferreira was Chairman of the South African Section of the IEEE, from
1993–1994. He is the Founding Chairman of the IEEE Joint IAS/PELS Benelux
Chapter. He served as the Transactions Review Chairman of the IEEE IAS
Power Electronic Devices and Components Committee and is an Associate Ed-
itor of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS. He was a member
of the IEEE PELS Adcom and is currently the Treasurer of the IEEE PELS. He
served as Chairman of the CIGRE SC14 National Committee of the Netherlands
and was a member of the Executive Committee of the EPE Society.
Jacobus Daniel van Wyk (F’90) received the
M.Sc.Eng. degree from the University of Pretoria,
Pretoria, South Africa, in 1966, the Dr.Sc.Tech.
degree from the Technical University of Eindhoven,
Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in 1969, and the D.Sc.
degree (with high honors) in engineering from the
University of Natal, Natal, South Africa, in 1996.
He has worked with the S.A. Iron and Steel Corpo-
ration, the University of Pretoria, and was a member
of the Technical and Scientific Staff, University of
Eindhoven, from 1961 to 1971. From 1971 to 1995,
he was a Chaired Professor of electrical and electronic engineering at the Rand
Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, South Africa, holding Chairs in electronics
and in power electronics until 1992. He founded the Industrial Electronics Tech-
nology Research Group, Faculty of Engineering, in 1978 and directed this unit
until 1999. Since July 1995, he has held a special University Council Research
Chair in industrial electronics at the Rand Afrikaans University. He joined The
Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Poly-
technic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, in January 2000, where he is
the J. Byron Maupin Professor of Engineering, working in the National Science
Foundation Engineering Research Center for Power Electronics Systems.
Dr. van Wyk received 20 prize paper awards including 11 IEEE prize paper
awards, the prestigious IEEE William E. Newell Power Electronics Award in
1995, an IEEE Third Millennium Medal in 2000, and a range of other awards
from IEEE Societies as well as from the South African Institute of Electrical
Engineers. He is a Fellow of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers.
He is active in several capacities within the IEEE and its Societies.