he 2017 International Workshop on Integrated Power Packaging (IWIPP), which was held at the Technical University of Delft from April 5-7, was a great event focused on upcoming developments in packaging from the device to the system, with 80 total attendees across industry, research, and academic institutions in the fields of power packaging and system design. This year's attendees were exposed to three days of inter-disciplinary technical content focused on the enhanced understanding of the major issues within the power packaging industry. On both Wednesday and Thursday morning, the conference agenda was opened with curated tutorials – one on Packaging & Thermal Management by Dr. Patrick McCluskey of the University of Maryland, and one on Electrical Insulation by Dr. Thierry Lebey of the University of Toulouse. Friday morning introduced a Modeling & Reliability Panel Session with leaders from different simulation and modeling fields across both academic and industry organizations. This year's technical sessions addressed Systems & Circuits,  Power Modules, Packaging & Interconnects, Thermal Management, and Sensors, Passives, & EMI. In addition to the technical sessions, tutorials, and panel sessions, each day also included invited keynote presentations selected to discuss the future of the wide bandgap and power packaging industry.

Wolfspeed's Brice McPherson, a power module design engineer, presenting on how innovative thermal management techniques can improve the Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Market.

Second day of Technical Sessions.

The 2017 IWIPP Student Travel Grant Award winner was Andrea Wallace of the University of Arkansas, who presented on her research group's work with Thermo-Mechanical Reliability of Silicon Carbide Schottky Diode Flip-Chip packaging. Andrea is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Center for Space & Planetary Sciences Department, pursuing research in the field of Power Packaging for High Temperature Applications under Dr. Alan Mantooth. Andrea's Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, coupled with her career goal to work with space-bound systems, lead her to choose the power packaging research field and to attend the 2017 IWIPP event, due to its inter-disciplinary nature.

General Chair, Dr. Ty McNutt, of Wolfspeed presenting IWIPP's 2017 Student Travel Grant Award Winner, Andrea Wallace, with her conference stipend.

View from Wolfspeed's Conference Banquet activity, which was a guided tour through the historic canals of Delft.

While the conference was heavy with technical sessions, there were also plenty of networking opportunities available to attendees. On Wednesday, upon conclusion of the technical sessions, attendees were invited to a Poster, Lab Tour, & Exhibition Reception, sponsored by Murata. There were three posters, which represented technical papers included in the proceedings, and five technical demonstrations from TU Delft researchers; a tour of TU Delft's famous High Voltage laboratory was also provided during Murata's Welcome Reception. On Thursday evening, the conference attendees celebrated a successful event with a boat trip through the historic canals of Delft, followed by the Wolfspeed Conference Banquet where prizes from IWIPP's industrial sponsors were raffled off. Winners received: an Apple Watch, courtesy of Wolfspeed; an Apple iPad, courtesy of Murata; a Lego® Mindstorms® set, courtesy of Littelfuse; and Holland's famous Stroopwafels, courtesy of ISP Systems.

The 2017 event brought together a multi-faceted group of supporting technical organizations; in addition to the Power Sources Manufacturers Associations (PSMA), the event also included: the IEEE Components, Packaging & Manufacturing Technology Society; the IEEE Dielectric & Electrical Insulation Society; the IEEE Power Electronics Society; and the European Center for Power Electronics. These societies all remain committed to expanding the future development of the International Workshop on Integrated Power Packaging. The next International Workshop on Integrated Power Packaging is currently being planned, and the 2019 location will be announced on the website in the coming months. For 2019, the IWIPP Steering Committee plans to expand its commitment to bringing together inter-disciplinary thought leaders in the field of power packaging to discuss innovative solutions to the industry's biggest challenges. Please stay tuned for more information about the event from PSMA and to learn how you can become involved in the 2019 event.

Provided by Lauren Kegley, IWIPP 2017 Sponsorship & Publications Chair

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