1. APEC 2020 Finally Returns to New Orleans After 32 Years
   
2. PSMA 2019 Annual Meeting
   
3. Committee Chairs Report at PSMA 2019 Annual Meeting
   
4. Meet Your Directors
   
5. About Our Members
   
6. Welcome to PSMA
   
7. Remembering Charles "Chuck" Edwin Mullett
   
8. The 2019 PSMA Power Technology Roadmap is Now Available
   
9. PSMA Safety & Compliance Committee Technical Committee Leadership Opportunity
   
10. PSMA and PELS Magnetics Committee High Frequency Magnetics Workshop
    
11. PSMA Capacitor Committee and IEEE PELS Capacitor Workshop
    
12. International Workshop on Integrated Power Packaging (IWIPP) 2019
    
13. The 7th Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA 2019)
    
14. Packaging and Integration in Power Delivery Workshop
    
15. International Symposium on 3D Power Electronics Integration and Manufacturing: 3D-PEIM 2020
    
16. Knowing the Link Between Product Regulations and Product Standards Can Put You Ahead of the Competition
    
17. RoHS 3 – The new Directive is effective July 2019!
    
18. EMS Quarterly Review Q1 2019
    
19. Events of Interest – Mark Your Calendar
    

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.

Previous issues of update: Q3_2018 | Q4_2018 | Q1_2019

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PSMA UPDATE is published and distributed via e-mail quarterly by the Power Sources Manufacturers Association. Send editorial information and comments to:

Permission to reprint information and articles as published is granted: a courtesy line is appreciated.

Membership in PSMA is open to any organization or corporation involved in the power sources and supplies industry. For membership information, visit our website or contact us by fax, telephone or email.

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.

 

uilding upon the very successful APEC2019 in Anaheim, the APEC2020 will take place for the first time since 1988 in New Orleans. Our initial return visit, planned for 2005, was undermined by Hurricane Katrina. Fortunately, we were able to relocate that year's event to Dallas.  A lot have things have changed since that APEC in 1988.  Back in the 1980s, APEC took place in hotel meeting rooms with a small ballroom exhibit. Since then, APEC has grown to be the unrivaled venue for the Power Electronics Industry and our industry has emerged to its rightful place as enabling many of the advances in electronics technology. Back in 1988, a competitive power supply had an efficiency of maybe 85%, today we are discussing supplies with 98% efficiency.  Back then, we had APEC attendance that numbered in the hundreds. In 2019, we had over 6,000!

Technical Sessions - Now Open

Submissions of technical papers for consideration are due by late July. (Right now, the date is July 19, but this is subject to change.) Prospective authors are asked to submit a digest explaining the problem that will be addressed by the paper, the major results, and how this is different from the closest existing literature. Papers presented at APEC must be original material and not have been previously presented nor published. The principal criteria in selecting digests will be the usefulness of the work to the practicing power electronic professional. Reviewers value evidence of completed experimental work.  Go here for more information and submission details: https://www.apec-conf.org/callfortechnicalsessionpapers

Professional Education Seminars – Opens in Early July

Professional Education Seminars at APEC2020 will address the need for in-depth discussion of important and complex power electronics topics. Submission are due by early September. Seminars are three-and-a-half hours (including breaks) in length, can range from broad to narrow in scope, and can vary from introductory to advanced in technical level. Topics selected are to address the practical issues of the specification, design, manufacture and marketing of power electronic components, products, and systems. Visit the APEC website to find out more information when available.

Industry Sessions – Opens in Early July

The Industry Sessions run in parallel with the technical sessions and have proven to be very popular. Submissions are due by early September. Speakers are invited to make a presentation only without submitting a formal paper. The target audience for these sessions differs from the engineers in typical technical sessions and may include system engineers/architects and business-oriented individuals such as purchasing agents, information technologists, regulatory agencies, and others who support the power electronics industry. Visit the APEC website to find out more information on the program when available.

Make your plans to be part of APEC2020. Be sure you have this important event on your calendar and included in your budget for next year. And do your part to make it an even better conference by volunteering to be on the technical paper peer-review panel in areas where you are qualified. 

See you in New Orleans – Laissez Bon Temps Roule.

Provided by Greg Evans, APEC 2020 Publicity Chair

ver 70 PSMA members and guests attended the PSMA Annual Meeting, held at the Anaheim Marriott in Anaheim, CA on Monday March 18, 2019.

The buffet breakfast before the meeting start provided attendees an opportunity for networking and meeting colleagues. The Chairman Stephen Oliver officially opened the meeting by welcoming all the attendees and asked each to briefly introduce themselves. Among those present were many of the 60 recipients of the APEC Student Travel Support. This support is provided jointly by IAS, PELS and PSMA and attracted 109 applicants from 63 different schools in 16 countries.

Next on the agenda was the election of five people to the Board of Directors. The following candidates were elected to the Board of Directors for the three-year term (2019-2022):

Ada Cheng (Affiliate Member) was elected to fill the unexpired term (2019-2020) vacated by Alain Chapuis.

Stephen Oliver and the attendees congratulated and welcomed Trifon Liakopoulos, Ralph Taylor, and Matt Wilkowski and Ada Cheng as newly elected Directors.

The Chair recognized the contributions of Michel Grenon and Brian Narveson whose terms as Directors expired at the meeting and expressed the appreciation of PSMA for their service and continued contributions to the Association.

Stephen Oliver then presented an award to Trifon Liakopoulos in recognition of his outstanding contributions over the past three PwrSoC Workshops as Financial Chair for each of the events. He also presented awards to Dhaval Dalal and Conor Quinn for their Quinn for their leadership as Co-Chairs of the 2019 Power Technology Roadmap.

Trifon Liakopoulos and Stephen Oliver

Conor Quinn, Dhaval Dalal and Stephen Oliver

PSMA Chairman, Stephen Oliver

The Chair briefly reviewed some of the major accomplishments of the association for the past year including:

• Organizing 9 Industry Sessions for APEC2019
• Organizing the fourth Magnetics Workshop and second Capacitor Workshop the day prior to APEC2019
• Holding EnerHarv, PwrSoC and 3D-PEIM workshops and a joint workshop with CPSS in China during 2018
• Continuous updating of the Energy Efficiency and Safety and Compliance Data Bases
• Publishing for 2019 Power Technology Roadmap
• Joint sponsorship of APEC Student Travel Awards

Stephen also reviewed the Membership Statistics since APEC 2018 which currently shows a total of more than 200 Members – a new high.

The Chairman then discussed his vision for the organization. He looks to continue the amazing growth of the activities of the Technical Committees to make PSMA the relevant source for technology and market trends, to increase collaborations with selected partners, to have an increased presence on social media, and to increase the Regular Membership by focusing on emerging markets. He highlighted the successes and continuing work of the newly formed "Tiger Teams", powerful, agile groups of experts brought together for a single, short project, to address some of the current opportunities and challenges. Stephen also encouraged the membership to pick one or two of the Technical Committees and to actively participate in their activities as being the best way for people to increase the benefits of membership.

Following the Chairman's Report was a Financial Report. Outgoing Secretary/ Treasurer, Michel Grenon was unable to attend the meeting. but provided a report on the current financial status of the Association and a six-quarter financial forecast. Joe Horzepa reviewed the report which supported that the financial status and outlook for the Association continues to be very positive The surpluses from APEC conference together with the PSMA sponsored and co-sponsored workshops and events should generate sufficient funds to support a number of Special Projects that can be of benefit for the membership and the power sources industry.

Each of the PSMA Committees presented a report. You can read more about these on page 3 of this issue.

Ernie Parker, General Chair for APEC 2019, provided an update on the overall conference. APEC2019 is expected to be a financial success with a full program of events. The schedule includes 18 Professional Educational Seminars, 592 Technical Papers in 8 parallel sessions and Dialog session, 119 Industry Sessions in 5 parallel sessions, 3 Rap Sessions, 302 exhibitors in the Exhibit Hall and a Social Event.

Jose Cobos will be the General Chair for APEC 2020 which will be held at the Ernest Moria Convention Center in New Orleans LA March 15 – 19, 2020.

Manfred Schlenk, EPSMA Vice President

The invited speaker at this year's Annual Meeting was Manfred Schlenk from the European Power Sources Association – EPSMA - who presented an overview of the number of companies in the organization and the current focus. They have a 17-member Technical Committee with experts on safety, EMC, and product qualification. The output of the Technical Committee includes a series of best practices and design guides. The organization also works to influence international standards with CENELEC as a liaison partner.

Before adjourning, Chairman Stephen Oliver asked the attendees for their comments and any suggestions for the future directions and activities for Association that would increase the value of their membership. A number of areas were discussed including suggestions for encouraging students to participate in the industry and to consider career opportunities in power sources and power electronics. These and other suggestions will be considered by the Board. Stephen Oliver thanked all presenters and attendees for their participation and invited interested individuals to attend the March meeting of the PSMA Board of Directors, which immediately followed.
The minutes from the PSMA Annual Meeting have been posted in the Members Only area of the PSMA web site together with the charts from the presentations.

The Sunday prior to the Annual Meeting PSMA hosted a reception with members of the China Power Supply Society (CPSS). This provided a great opportunity for members of both organizations to network and discuss options and activities that will benefit members of both organizations over the next year. Several members of CPSS also attended the PSMA Annual Meeting.

The Annual Meeting, PSMA Committee meetings, as well as the technical sessions, seminars, Industry Presentations, exhibits and other events kept PSMA members busy all the week. The APEC social event, featured a number of Food Trucks serving a variety of food options, several game activities and music, gave everyone a chance to relax and enjoy themselves.

There was a full exhibit hall at APEC 2019. Many of the PSMA member companies exhibiting participated in a "Passport" game in which attendees who visited their booths had their passport booklets stamped. Attendees turned in their completed passports for a chance to win an AirPods, a Samsung Smartwatch and the grand prize a Charles and Colvard Necklace, Featuring Gemstone Grade Silicon Carbide by Wolfspeed, A Cree Company. Traffic to members' booths was brisk and the lucky winners were very happy with the prizes. 

PSMA APEC Passport Prize Winners

Fred Weber, Capacitor Committee Co-Chair

ach of the PSMA Technical Committees provided updates on the recent activities of their committees at the Annual Meeting at APEC 2019 in Anaheim, CA. In addition, each Committee also held individual meetings during the week of APEC 2019.

Fred Weber, Capacitor Committee Co-Chair, reported that the committee now has two additional co-chairs (Pierre Lohber and Wilmer Companioni) and have organized a four speaker Industry Session with the theme of "Which Capacitor Technology You Should Use for Power Conversion Applications". The committee also organized two technical webinars in support of the 2019 Power Technology Roadmap and an educational webinar on Capacitor Fundamentals.

The committee held a successful workshop on Saturday prior to start of APEC2019 with over 50 registrations. The committee is meeting during the week to review the workshop, plan for a follow-up workshop at APEC2020 and discuss the theme and subjects for the upcoming year.

Mike Hayes and Brian Zahnstecher, Energy Harvesting Committee Co-Chairs, reported that the committee now has 46 members covering 4 continents and been meeting monthly via teleconference. The committee supported the 2019 PSMA Power Technology Roadmap with two Technical Webinars and has organized a seven presentation Industry Session for APEC 2019 with the theme "Making the Batteries Outlive the Devices They Power". The Industry Session includes a Live Demo with hardware, models and systems.

Mike Hayes and Brian Zahnstecher, Energy Harvesting Committee Co-Chairs

The committee organized EnerHarv 2018 Workshop in Cork Ireland. This was a very successful workshop attracting over 80 registrations. The committee will be meeting during APEC to discuss and plan EnerHarv 2020, develop a theme for the APEC2020 Industry Session and plan a possible student competition.

Ed Herbert and Patrick LeFevre, Energy Management Committee Co-Chairs

Patrick Le Fevre and Ed Herbert, Energy Management Committee Co-Chairs, reported the committee was unable to organize an Industry Session for APEC2019 but is planning one for APEC2020 and considering ideas for a special project. The committee is currently looking for new leadership and to increase committee membership and participation.

The committee continues to support the efforts to update the Energy Efficiency Data Base that is available on the PSMA web site. Arnold Alderman, provided a brief update of the current status of the Energy Efficiency Data Base.

Joe Horzepa reviewed the objectives of the Industry-Education Committee which are to promote interaction between power electronics students and industry and to promote power electronics to university and pre-university students. The committee has been and continues to spearhead a joint program with PELS and IAS for Travel Support for students to attend APEC. For APEC 2019, 60 students from 15 countries will share a total of $60,000.  In addition, all students were encouraged to post their resumes on the PSMA website for the industry member to consider for position openings.

Joe Horzepa discussed the need for PSMA members to take a more active role in encouraging students at the high school levels to consider the opportunities for a career in power electronics and encourage qualified candidates to pursue a degree in the field. He encouraged the attendees to join the Industry Education Committee and to initiate special projects focused on middle and high school students that highlight the potential of a career in the power electronics industry.

Steve Carlsen, Magnetics Committee Co-Chair, reported that the committee has held monthly meeting this past year and has organized a seven presentation Industry Session focusing on new magnetic materials for APEC 2019. The committee has been sponsoring two special projects during the past year. A preliminary report is currently available and the final results will be documented in a Report when completed.

Under the leadership of Matt Wilkowski and Ed Herbert, the committee, with technical support from IEEE PELS, organized fourth very successful one-day workshop on high frequency magnetics the day prior to APEC2019 with about 110 people registered. An overview of the workshop will be presented at the Industry Session and Magnetics Committee meeting. A fifth workshop is being planned for APEC 2020.

Frank Cirolia and Greg Evans, Marketing Committee Co-Chairs, provided an overview of the committee and highlighted some of the activities on its current agenda. The committee was instrumental in reducing and simplifying the number of Membership Categories for the Association and defining Component Suppliers as Regular Members. The committee also updated and printed a new Membership Brochure and continued the Passport program at APEC2019. In addition, the committee is considering a new logo for the Association and will be distributing a survey during APEC2019 to better understand the awareness and expectations for the Association.

Ernie Parker, Power Packaging and Manufacturing Committee Co-Chair

Power Packaging and Manufacturing Committee Co-Chair, Ernie Parker, reviewed the activities and results of the committee this past year.  It has been another outstanding year with the organizing of a 7-presentaion Industry Sessions for APEC 2019 entitled "Making Power Sources Small with 3D Power Packaging Solutions", organizing the Second 3D PEIM Symposium the past June which attracted 70 attendees, and providing financial and technical support for a very successful PwrSoC 2018 in Taiwan with over 150 registrations. In addition, the committee supported the 2019 Power Technology Roadmap.

The committee is currently supporting IWIPP 2019 in Toulouse, France, planning for PwrSoC2020 in Philadelphia and the third 3D-PEIM2020 scheduled for Osaka Japan.

Dhaval Dalal and Conor Quinn, Power Technology Roadmap Committee Co-Chairs, reported that the committee committee has completed work on the 2019 Power Technology Roadmap Report which has been published and will be distributed to the membership in the next several weeks. In support of the Roadmap the committee organized 17 Technical Webinars and significantly expanded the survey (more than 100 responses) to include a Chinese translation with the support of CPSS. In addition, a new section was included on University Research activities on future products and technologies. The Plenary Session for APEC2019 includes a presentation on the 2019 Power Technology Roadmap focusing on the University Research. 

The committee will be meeting during APEC2019 to discuss plans for the 2021 Roadmap effort.

Tony O'Brien and Brian Zahnstecher, Reliability Committee Co-Chairs, reported that the new committee has monthly meetings and has 22 members from the industry. The recent focus of the committee has been sponsoring a Special Project that addresses Power Supply Software/Hardware Specifications and Testing Standardization. The project will be documented in the coming year. The committee organized a Technology Webinar in support of the 2019 Power Technology Roadmap.

The committee will be meeting during APEC2019 to discuss the special Project and planning for the coming year.

Safety & Compliance Committee Co-Chairs, Kevin Parmenter and Jim Spangler, reported that the committee is looking for more active members and new co-chairs to continue the committee's efforts in 2019 and beyond. The committee contributed a section to the 2019 Power Technology Roadmap and continues to promote and support the Safety and Compliance Data base on the web site which is updated on a continuing basis as well as adding additional agencies that are tracked. The co-chairs have also provided monthly articles on Safety and Compliance issues to How 2 Power.

There will be a committee meeting during APEC2019 to discuss the need for new co-chairs and the future of the committee.

Tim McDonald, Co-Chair of the Semiconductor Committee, reported the committee has been very active this past year and has organized three Industry Sessions -the first two are 7-presentation Industry sessions entitled: "Getting up to Speed on Switching: Wide Band Gap & Other High Performance Components" and "Current reliability and product qualification topics for SiC and GaN wide band gap devices" The third is a 6-presentation session entitled: "Production use cases of wide band gap semiconductors".

The committee has also provided support to the 2019 Power Technology Roadmap including a number of technical webinars. The committee sponsored the 2018 WiPDA (Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications) and will help organize and sponsor the 2019 WiPDA workshop.to be held in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The committee will be meeting during APEC2019 to plan the activities for the coming year including considering a Special Project of interest to the industry.

Fred Weber, Transportation Power Electronics Committee Co-Chair, reported the committee has been very active this past year and organized a 7-Presentation Industry Session with the theme: "Enablers for Transportation Electrification" The presenters are from the major automotive manufacturers and experts from the industry. The committee has also contributed to the 2019 Power Technology Roadmap.

The committee will meet during APEC2019 to identify possible themes for APEC 2020 and to discuss the initial results of a Special Project focused on ways to generate more awareness of PSMA to the automotive industry.

More information about the PSMA committees was made available during the week at the individual committee meetings. PSMA members and guests were encouraged to attend these meetings to learn more about the committees and to help plan activities for the coming year.

All of the PSMA Technical Committee meetings are held via webconference and are open to individuals interested in learning about and participating in the work of the committees. This is an excellent way to network with others and to influence the technical direction of the committees.

our members of the Board of Directors are elected at the PSMA Annual Meeting held every year during the APEC conference. Each Director serves a three year term and is eligible to be reelected for one additional term.

At the PSMA Annual Meeting in March 2019, Stephen Oliver was elected to his second term and new board members Trifon Liakopoulos, Ralph Taylor and Matt Wilkowski were elected to the Class of 2022. Ada Cheng was elected to fill an open seat expiring in 2020. In this issue we would like to introduce you to Ada and Trifon.
 

Ada Cheng is a technical marketing consultant with AdaClock since 2008. In addition, she has partnered with Anagenesis, to research and publish the "Power Supply in a Package (PSiP) and Power Supply on a Chip (PwrSoC) market reports. She has been involved with the PSMA since 2002 and recently joined the PSMA Board of Directors. Currently she is an active member of the Marketing, Energy Management and Reliability committees.

Furthermore, Ada was an invited member of the APEC conference committee from 2003 to 2015 primarily as the OEM Initiative Chair which developed the Industry Sessions.

Previously Ada was a corporate marketing manager at International Rectifier (now Infineon), a market analyst at Gartner Dataquest for analog ICs, and various electrical engineering roles at Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector (now NXP Semiconductors and ON Semiconductors). Ada received her MBA from Arizona State University and her BSEE from Carnegie Mellon. 

Provided by Ada Cheng, Technical Marketing Consultant, AdaClock

Trifon's mission as Enachip's CEO, is by offering commercially viable solutions to establish the company as a leader in integrated magnetics for Power Supply on Chip, Signal Integrity, On-Silicon Magnetic Sensors and Medical Device micromagnetic actuators. By leveraging its cutting-edge proprietary MEMS and nano-technology materials and processes, Enachip is uniquely positioned to become the world's leading supplier of integrated magnetics. Trifon has several publications, holds over 20 patents, is a member of the steering committee of the PwrSoC international workshop co-sponsored by PSMA and IEEE-PELS, and a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Ioannina-Greece.

Provided by Trifon Liakopoulos, President, CEO and Founder, EnaChip

 

 
icrochip solves power system development challenges with a broad offering of digital, analog and mixed-signal products including: digital controllers; power discretes; power modules; and Power Over Ethernet (PoE) and Power Over HDBaseT (PoH) solutions. 

Microchip supports power management customers with easy-to-use development tools that reduce design risk while lowering total system cost and time to market. The company also has a customer-driven obsolescence practice that ensures devices will continue to be produced for as long as customers need them. Microchip serves more than 125,000 customers across the industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defense, communications and computing markets. It is at the forefront of some of the power industry's most important semiconductor technology and manufacturing advancements.

Microchip's power management offerings include:

Power Management Solutions

Microchip's comprehensive portfolio includes low-power solutions that allow battery-powered systems to operate longer, digital control solutions for efficient operation in high-power conversions, as well as digitally enhanced products that provide industry-leading flexibility for both development and production. Supported applications include:

• DC-DC Controllers: Pulse-width modulation (PWM) controllers, COT controllers, Digitally Enhanced Power Analog (DEPA) hybrid controllers, microcontrollers and digital signal controllers designed for power conversion applications
• High-Efficiency DC-DC Voltage Regulation:  Analog switching regulators in both Buck (step-down) and Boost (step-up) topologies with power good outputs, enable inputs, true load disconnect and input/output bypass.
• Battery management solutions to maximize battery capacity, extend battery life and monitor charging processes.
• Hot-Swap Controllers: Allow safe insertion of boards into live system backplane, control inrush currents and output voltage slew rates, and detect and isolate faults.
• Motor and MOSFET Drivers: Solutions for applications ranging from appliances, automotive systems and power tools to medical and industrial equipment, in single, dual and quad configurations with a range of voltage and current drive capabilities and other options.
• High-performance Low Dropout (LDO) Regulators: Linear regulators that deliver ultra-small packaging, high output current and high input voltage capabilities, low quiescent current and low-noise performance.
• High-Density, Fully Integrated Power Modules: Products that simplify power system design and save space by combining a PWM controller, power MOSFETs, inductor and associated discrete passive components into a complete switching DC-DC converter solution in an ultra-compact, thermally enhanced, rugged QFN package.

Intelligent Power

Microchip delivers the next generation in digital power conversion with scalable solutions that solve problems in a wide range of applications.  Its power solutions range from microcontrollers performing supervision and sequencing for the most basic level of intelligent power control/integration, to the most advanced digital control topologies with digital control engines that integrate ADCs, digital control algorithms, and PWM generators to close the loop with firmware. Offering includes solutions for:

• Digital Control of Analog Regulators
• DEPA Controllers
• Core Independent Peripheral (CIP) Hybrid Power Controllers
• Full Digital Power using Microchip's dsPIC® Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs) for the highest available performance in applications with stringent efficiency requirements, including AC-DC or DC-DC converters and power inverters

High-Performance Analog/Mixed-signal ICs for Space

Microchip also offers a family of ICs through its Microsemi subsidiary that combine high-precision, ultra-fast regulation and high efficiency in a radiation-tolerant package.  Products include: 

• Space System Managers including position sensing and motor controllers and telemetry controllers 
• 8-Channel Source Drivers
• 8-Pair Diode Arrays
• Voltage Regulators and PWM

Power Discretes and Modules

Microsemi, a Microchip company, offers one of the industry's most comprehensive portfolios of power semiconductor and module products including Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFETS and Schottky Barrier Diodes (SBDs), rectifiers and bridges, regulators, transistors, IGBTs, MOSFETs and more. Key features include:

• Silicon Carbide (SiC) Devices and Power Modules:  Includes SiC MOSFETs, Schottky Barrier Diodes (SBDs) and power modules ideal for applications above 600 V.
• Diode and Rectifier Devices:  Includes standard, fast and ultra-fast, and Schottky rectifiers and rectifier modules, and an AECQ101-qualified Fred (DQ) family.
• Power MOSFET and JFET: Includes linear MOSFETs, FREDFETs, N-Channel and P-Channel MOSFETS and JFETs, and MOSFET modules.
• Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs):  Includes punch-thru, non-punch-thru and field stop IGBTs, combination IGBTs with anti-parallel diode, and IGBT modules in various topologies.
• Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs): Offering spans BJT modules, Darlington transistors and transistor arrays, NPN transistors and complementary transistors, and PNP transistors.
• Voltage and Current Regulation Diodes:  Both Zener and current regulator diodes are available.
• Small Signal Diodes and Diode Arrays:  Includes signal or computer diodes, diode arrays and solar array diodes.
• Power Modules: Includes IGBTs, MOSFETS and IGBTs/MOSFETs modules as well as rectifier and SIC modules in standard, semicustom, and full custom configurations
• RF MOSFETs: Includes high-voltage options with and without driver and low-voltage RF silicon MOSFETs.
• Transient Voltage Suppressors (TVS):  Products span a wide voltage and power range and include solutions for DO-160 and special requirements.

Power over Ethernet (PoE) and PoH Technology

Microchip is an innovator and thought leader in Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology, a revolutionary technology that enables delivery of power over standard Ethernet cables into IP-based data terminals. Microchip is a major contributor to the 802.3af, 802.3at, 802.3bt IEEE and HDBaseT standards and offers a comprehensive end-to-end portfolio of PoE Power Sourcing Equipment (PSE) ICs, Powered Device (PD) ICs as well as PoE injectors / midspans.
Microsemi's PSE ICs product line is the broadest in the market with ICs featuring 1 to 8 ports, presenting the highest integration level and lowest total BOM cost.  The PD chip product line offer to PoE PD designers an offering with and without integrated PWM controllers, which can be used as a compact way to convert PoE input power to one or more output voltages. The PoE offering includes stand-alone PoE Injectors / Midspans and Switches ranging from single-port to multi-port PoE solutions. The PoE injectors supports best-of-breed PoE deployments making it easier than ever to install PoE-enabled Ethernet-based edge devices in both indoor, outdoor and Industrial environments. The PoE multi-port injectors increases the flexibility and longevity of Ethernet networks.

The company's broad portfolio of PoE solutions includes:

• PSE ICs: Designed into single or multi-port PoE sourcing equipment supporting up to 95W per port
• PD ICs:  Designed into Ethernet edge devices and enable them to receive power over standard Ethernet infrastructure
• Ideal Diode Bridges:  Fully integrated FET bridge with internal controller, significantly improves the efficiency and thermal dissipation of PoE Powered Devices
• Standalone PoE single to 24-port Injectors offering up to 95W standard compliant full power per port
• Fan-less PoE switch for lighting and digital ceiling applications
• Outdoor PoE injectors and four-port managed switch IP66/67 rated 

Analog and Mixed-Signal Solutions

Microchip's portfolio includes highly integrated solutions that combine various analog functions in space-saving packages with support for a variety of bus interfaces. For power system applications, this portfolio includes:

• DC Current/Power Measurement: High-side current sensors that provide accurate current measurement, integrated ambient temperature sensing, remote diode sensing and system alert capability in DC current/power management applications.
• Data Acquisition: With sampling speeds up to 200 Megasamples per second (Msps) and operation of less than 500 mW, Microchip's 12-/14-/16-bit resolution Analog to Digital Converters (ADCs) are ideal for low-power, space-constrained portable data acquisition applications.
• Precision "Zero-Drift" Solutions: Precision "Zero-Drift" amplifiers provide superior DC performance, including ultra-low initial input offset voltage, very low offset drift over time and temperature, and superior power supply.
• Calibration, Trimming and Set-Point Control: Digital to Analog Converters (DACs), digital potentiometers, comparators and voltage reference devices that support a variety of applications in the world of measurement and instrumentation Energy Measurement: Products for electricity metering and power monitoring applications

Simulation and Support

In addition to its product portfolio, Microchip offers industry leading support for power management applications.

• MPLAB® Mindi™ Analog Simulator reduces circuit design time and design risk by simulating analog circuits prior to hardware prototyping. The simulation tool uses a SIMetrix/SIMPLIS simulation environment (with options to use SPICE or piecewise linear modeling) that can cover a very wide set of possible simulation needs.
• Power Check online design review service helps in the successful use of Microchip power management devices in your design, including providing guidance on the schematic, component selection and PCB layout of your design.
• Power software tools:
• Digital Compensator Design Tool (DCDT) helps power supply designers by simplifying the overall process of determining the digital compensator coefficients and analyzing the control system performance. This generates dsPIC code for specific Bode responses, using many common compensation approaches.
• SMPS Control Software Libraries, full of example and reference code for digitally controlled power conversion.
• Evaluation boards and design kits for a wide variety of power applications.

For more information about Microchip's power management products, visit www.microchip.com.

Provided by Fionn Sheerin, Principal Product Marketing Engineer, Microchip's Analog, Discrete and Power business unit

 privately held company with $3.5 billion in annual revenues, W. L. Gore & Associates (Gore) pursues opportunities where our core technologies and deep technical expertise make a meaningful impact. Gore delivers breakthrough solutions to product and process challenges in a variety of markets and industries — from aerospace to pharmaceutical to mobile electronics, and more. The wide range of Gore products includes hook-up wire to power challenging systems in military aircraft and downhole tools, navigation and communication cables for missions to Mars, fuel cell components that enable cleaner, greener transportation and power generation, venting solutions to manage the internal pressure in mobile electronics and automotive components enclosures, and cable integrity technologies for 5G applications. Our specialized medical devices treat a range of cardiovascular and other health conditions.

Gore has 9,500 Associates, with manufacturing facilities in the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan and China, and sales offices around the world.

In 1958, Bill and Vieve Gore launched W. L. Gore & Associates in the basement of their Delaware home to explore the untapped potential of the polymer polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE. The company's first product was MULTI-TET™ Insulated Wire and Cable. It was used most widely in defense applications and in the burgeoning computer industry. In the 1960s, the company's first patent was issued and Gore's technology landed on the moon as part of NASA's historic Apollo 11 mission.

In 1969, the couple's son, Bob Gore, discovered how to modify PTFE to form a strong, porous material. This invention —expanded PTFE or ePTFE — changed the future of the enterprise and paved the way for waterproof, breathable GORE-TEX® fabric and thousands of diverse innovations.

As the company that invented ePTFE and introduced it in the marketplace, Gore remains a fluoropolymer leader, committed to engineering excellence and building on our founders' tradition of using advanced materials to improve lives and change outcomes for customers and end users around the world.

GORE™ High Temperature Capacitors are primarily used as DC-Link capacitors in challenging power electronic applications. Unlike other polymer film capacitors which typically are limited to 120°C operating temperature, GORE™ Capacitors have proven capable up to 250°C. With the introduction of wide bandgap semiconductors (SiC and GAN), the lack of suitable high temperature capacitors has become an increasingly difficult challenge for system designers. Designers are faced with adding significant design complexity or limiting system performance to prevent the capacitors from overheating. GORE™ High Temperature Capacitors will allow designers to significantly improve the total system efficiency and allow film capacitors, known for reliability, to be used in applications not possible in the past.

GORE™ High Temperature Capacitors are gaining widespread commercial use in oil and gas downhole tools with the major global oilfield service companies. Additionally, several leading aerospace design companies are qualifying GORE™ High Temperature Capacitors for multiple commercial and defense applications supporting more electric aircraft (MEA) and future all-electric aircraft programs.  With the electrification mega-trend, further adoption will only accelerate as additional complementary technologies are advanced and new systems are qualified.

For more information, see www.gore.com.

Provided by Rob Haywood, Product Manager, W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

Editors Note: We would like to feature your company in a future issue of the Update. Please contact the Association Office for information about how to submit an article for consideration.

Applied Materials
Llew Vaughan-Edmunds
3050 Bowers Ave
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Telephone: 310-343-8244
E-mail: Llew_Vaughan-Edmunds@amat.com
Website: www.amat.com

Applied Materials is a leader in materials engineering solutions used to produce virtually every new chip and advanced display in the world. Their expertise in modifying materials at atomic levels and on an industrial scale enables customers to transform possibilities into reality. At Applied Materials, innovations make possible the technology shaping the future.

Brazeway
Saumin Mehta
2711 E. Maumee
Adrian, MI 49221
Telephone: 517-264-6754
E-mail: smehta@brazeway.com
Website: www.brazeway.com

Brazeway is the world's largest producer of frost-free evaporator coils and a top global supplier of aluminum heat transfer tubing and components for the appliance, HVAC, and automotive air conditioning sectors. They are the leading supplier of technology to convert copper components to aluminum, and consistently introduce innovation through the design of new energy-efficient components.

Headquartered in Adrian, Michigan, Brazeway has manufacturing locations in Hopkinsville, Kentucky; Shelbyville, Indiana and Monterrey, Mexico.

Capacitor Sciences Inc.
Yulia Lazarev
1530 OBrien Dr., Suite B
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Telephone: 650-644-7871
E-mail: yulia.lazarev@capacitorsciences.com
Website: capacitorsciences.com

Capacitor Sciences Inc. has a new materials technology able to produce ultra-high energy density devices that can surpass the performance of lithium ion batteries by at least 10x in every metric.

Structured materials for capacitive energy storage devices: High energy density, no capacity fading; Non-flammable & non-explosive; Rapid charge and discharge; Environmentally friendly and recyclable; Low-temperature operation; Solid-state, virtually unlimited lifetime.

Cramer Coil & Transformer Co., Inc.
Terrence Wilkinson
401 N. Progress Drive
Saukville, WI 53080
Telephone: 650-644-7871
E-mail: trwilkinson@cramerco.com
Website: www.cramercoil.com

Established in 1964, Cramer is a leading supplier of PC mountable magnetics for the industrial, power telecom, medical, consumer, battery charging, alternative energy, and automotive markets. They are specifically known for the design expertise of high frequency wound and planar magnetics for switching mode power applications. Cramer has established partnerships with both customers and suppliers to design solutions for repeatability and cost effectiveness. Agency listings typically include UL, IEC, VDE and CSA.

IoTissimo
Francesco Carobolante
59 Damonte Ranch Pkwy, Ste B-596
Reno, NV 89521-2989
Telephone: 775-277-3838
E-mail: Francesco@iotissimo.com
Website: www.iotissimo.com

IoTissimo is dedicated to helping organizations develop new technologies and products by focusing on the key enablers to achieve success in the shortest time. By understanding the objectives of clients, IoTissimo helps gather the Voice of the Customer, match the market requirements with the organization's capability, and create a plan to address the gaps and expedite the product development. Since Research & Development can be hard to manage efficiently, their goal is to provide clients with a strong guidance to avoid pitfalls and focus the engineering efforts in the most efficient way to achieve results on time and within budget.

Ali Khajehoddin
University of Alberta
381-11th floor, ECE dep., Dice building
9107 - 116 Street
Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1H9
Canada
Telephone: 780-991-0623
E-mail: khajeddin@ualberta.ca
Website: www.ualberta.ca/engineering/faculty/ali-khajehoddin

Dr. Ali Khajehoddin completed his PhD in Electrical Engineering specialized in power electronics and their applications in renewable energy systems from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, in April 2010. He received his BSc and MSc degrees in Electrical Engineering at Isfahan University of Technology, Iran. After completing his Master's, he co-founded a start-up company, which was focused on the development and production of power analyzers and smart metering products used for smart grid applications. For his doctoral research at Queen's, he focused on the design and implementation of compact and durable micro-inverters for photovoltaic (PV) grid connected systems. Based on this research, Queen's University spun off SPARQ systems Inc. where, as the lead R&D engineer, he worked toward mass-production and commercialization of micro-inverters from 2010 to 2013. He joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Alberta in 2013. He is an editor of IEEE Transaction on Sustainable Energy journal and IEEE Canadian Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Synthesis Partners, LLC
Christopher Whaling
11250 Roger Bacon Drive
Suite 2
Reston, VA 20190
Telephone: 301-706-9034
E-mail: cwhaling@synthesispartners.com
Website: www.synthesispartners.com

Since 1999, Synthesis Partners, LLC has been producing actionable business, technology and market decision intelligence. They have 19-plus years of expertise in assessing multilingual sources, including primary and secondary, about qualitative and quantitative aspects of technological change, process innovations and markets.  They have researched (among other topics) advanced vehicle technologies, motors, lightweight materials, autonomous vehicles, LiDAR, rare-earths materials, inverters and disruptive technologies with national security applications.

VisIC Technologies
Anna Balyasov
Golda Meir 7
7403650 Nes Ziona
Israel
Telephone: 650-644-7871
E-mail: info@visic-tech.com
Website: visic-tech.com

VisIC Technologies was founded in 2010 to develop and market high power transistor products based upon compound semiconductor Gallium Nitride (GaN) material aiming to replace most of the Silicon (Si) products used in power conversion systems. The core team consists of experts in GaN device technology and power applications. VisIC's products are unique and differentiated providing the features system designers need, along with significant cost and performance advantages.

VisIC Technologies is committed to making better power semiconductor components, by using their core GaN device technology, to provide a step function improvement in terms of size and cost of energy conversion systems.

Chuck Mullett, Apr 25, 1938 – Mar 18, 2019

n 18 March 2019, Charles "Chuck" Edwin Mullett, of Santa Paula, California, passed away peacefully at age 80.  He was born in Buffalo, New York, to the late Sarah (Hill) Mullett and the late Charles Beatty Mullett.

Mullett grew up in Bremerton, Washington where his father was a naval officer. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1960, and a Master of Science in 1962. In college, he was the president of his fraternity Alpha Chi Rho and was in several music bands. Soon after graduating he moved to Southern California where he had a long and rewarding career designing power electronics.

For more than 20 years, Chuck owned and operated Mullett Associates, Inc., a design consulting firm, and eventually worked at ON Semiconductor from where he retired in 2013. He was granted nine patents, and was a speaker of note in several professional organizations He also founded the Los Angeles Chapter of the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) and served as the APEC Chair in 1996. His magamp post regulation design was leading the industry in mid-1990's.

Mullett was an active member of Santa Paula Rotary, and enjoyed sailing and amateur radio, and was known for his optimism, drive, enjoyment of people, and a zest for life. He enjoyed playing clarinet and saxophone, playing locally in six bands.

Chuck was a strong contributor and supporter of PSMA for more than 20 years serving for 6 years on the PSMA Board of Directors including President and Chairman. He was Co-Chair for the 2003 and 2006 Power Technology Roadmap Report and the author of the popular PSMA Handbook of Standardized Terminology For the Power Sources Industry. Chuck was a supporter of the NanoTechnology initiative at PSMA and a mentor for many in the industry. Chuck was a member of the PSMA Advisory Council until his passing. Remembrances from some PSMA members and supporters are included below.

Chuck was the beloved husband, for 50 years, of Vivian and we offer our condolences to her and his family. May He Rest in Peace.

I met Chuck in mid-eighties (1985?) at some show before PSMA. Both of us had our own consulting businesses: Micro-Tech Consultants, a market research consulting business and Chuck with Mullett Associates, a power electronics design consulting business. Our businesses were complementary, so we decided to 'collaborate' in bringing clients to each other with a 10% finders' fee. We did bring any client to each other, but due to our mutual interest in the power electronics business and the PSMA we remained good friends forever. We worked on some projects together and participated in many meeting. Chuck was my original friend in the power electronics and I will miss him dearly. (Mohan Mankikar, Micro-Tech Consultants, PSMA Advisory Council)

Chuck Mullett, Tony Laviano and Ernie Parker at APEC 2013 Nanotechnology Committee Meeting I met Chuck through PSMA when he worked at ON Semiconductor and I worked at International Rectifier. We were competitors for the same business, yet I immediately found a kindred spirit who believed there was enough business for everyone and that we all benefitted from a stronger Power Supply Industry. We became good friends who enjoyed working together on projects for the good of the industry. I learned a great deal from Chuck during his collaboration on the Roadmap and his fantastic ability to proof the late versions of the total Roadmap in order to correct the punctuation and use of acronyms as well as the spacing of numbers and units of measure. His insight into how power semiconductors worked within power supplies lead the industry. (Carl Blake, CBK, PSMA Advisory Council) Two words that summed up Chuck's approach to everything he did – passion and dedication. In all the years I had the privilege of knowing Chuck, I've never seen him without those qualities – even for a minute. I used to interact with Chuck at many PSMA sponsored activities (probably going back to mid-90's). He was one of the reasons I decided to move to ON Semi in early 2000's. After that, we interacted very frequently and it was a privilege being able to talk to him almost every day and learn from him. We have traveled all over the world together and the stories from those travels could fill pages. I remember he came to India once and he wanted to visit the local Rotary club meeting – he went and gave them a nice talk, but whatever he ate/drank there made him sick. Despite the sickness, he was game enough to carry through with other planned activities rest of his trip. At work, his passion was most evident in adhering to the IEEE writing guidelines. Outside work, he loved his music and sailing and his family. I was lucky enough to see him last October when he drove down in his Tesla to Anaheim during APEC planning meeting. At that time, Chuck mentioned that Vivian thinks that he flunked retirement! Well, he may have flunked retirement, but he definitely aced life. (Dhaval Dalal, ON Semiconductor, PSMA Board of Directors) I first met Chuck years before his company became a member of PSMA. He offered his services and advice on a number of projects and, after he changed employers, convinced his new company to become a member. He was always ready to dig in and contribute to and lead many projects including the Roadmap, updating the Handbook of Standard Terminology, organizing the Nanotechnology Initiative, supporting APEC and making the Association stronger. I remember Chuck as an outstanding individual of high character, very smart, very high energy and over the years as a cherished friend. It was always a treat to hear about his sailing exploits and music gigs. May He Rest in Peace. (Joe Horzepa, Executive Director, PSMA) Chuck Mullett and Joe Horzepa at APEC 2013

Chuck Mullett and I were Co-Chairs of the Nanotechnology Forum. Chuck was a true champion of nanotechnology for power supplies but not at first. Chuck was skeptical, unconvinced, and kept challenging me to show him how nanotechnology could be used for power supplies. But he figured it out. Then he asked me to be his Co-Chair of the PSMA Nanotechnology Forum to introduce nanotechnology applications to the PSMA Membership and APEC. We became a three-legged team so I would not drag my feet. Chuck saw both his visions come true. PSMA developed Nanotechnology tutorials for its members. Then in 2010 he introduced nanotechnology to APEC. I was the PSMA Nanotechnology Plenary Speaker and Chuck lead APEC's first Industry Nanotechnology Session which continued for six years under his leadership. Chuck Mullett was a visionary who was committed to the professionalism of PSMA. His nanotechnology legacy is not lost. It is in the PSMA Education Forum under Resources. Chuck figured it out! (Tony Laviano, NRAIT, PSMA Nanotechnology Committee Co-Chair Emeritus) Chuck Mullett and Dr. Anthony F. Laviano Kicking off the Nanotechnology Forum at the 2012 PSMA Annual Meeting I met Chuck when I took on the global applications engineering team and systems engineers at ON semi. Chuck worked for me and taught me a great deal. This was right about the time everyone was asking 'what does a systems engineer do? what does a FAE do? - you know finance and operations took over all aspects of everything during that time. Once they saw Chuck in action nobody asked what the ROI was or what does a Chuck do... ever again. Chuck made thing look easy because they probably were to him, he solved complex problems for customers, designed circuits and defined new products. He accepted nothing less than excellence in all that he did and wanted to make things better and improve the process all the time. Chuck was responsible for getting me into PSMA and involved with APEC and he also was one of the IEEE members who recommended me for IEEE Senior Member. Chuck had a great way of cutting through complexity and getting to the core issue of a problem and then setting about to solve it. He was a great mentor and friend to everyone around him. He helped me too many times to count and as an employee he always did more than expected of him. The laughs and fun on trips to China and Taiwan I will never forget the times and the stories. Chuck made a significant positive difference in the industry, in the lives of people everywhere and I benefited personally having known him. He was a great friend who I miss greatly he is probably proofreading technical documents and playing the sax in heaven and having a great time. (Kevin Parmenter, Taiwan Semiconductor, PSMA Board of Directors)

he Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) announces the 2019 edition of the Power Technology Roadmap. This 670 page report forecasts the power technology and power delivery trends through 2023. Also available is a feature-rich USB memory drive containing the printed report together with a record number of seventeen recorded webinars with up-to-date explanations of the information contained in the final report. The webinars add much to the presentation materials because the listener can hear and understand the context and the subtext of the original presentation in the speaker's voice. The recordings also capture the interesting and informative question and answer periods.

This eleventh edition of the report includes a new section on University Research in Power Electronics. University research provides a window into what products and technologies are in store for Power Electronics. Leading power electronics research universities were asked about their research areas and priorities and their responses were analyzed to extract most common research areas, least common/missing research areas and unique research areas. The APEC 2019 Plenary Session included a presentation by Bob White on the University Research section of the 2019 Roadmap. The presentation is available to stream at https://ieeetv.ieee.org/conference-highlights/power-electronics-university-research-apec-2019
The overall structure of this year's PTR largely follows the format of and keeps the improvements made in the 2017 report. It offers a consolidated view of the latest trends in the power management, power control, and power delivery technologies by integrating the most recent inputs from webinars, surveys, analyses and discussions. The report is divided into five sections:

• Application Trends
• Component Technologies
• University Research
• Webinar Presentations
• Power Supply and Converter Trends

For more details and the Table of Contents on the report see: https://www.psma.com/sites/default/files/uploads/files/PSMA_PTR2019_Report_Preview.pdf
"As power technology continues to emerge from the shadows to play a more central role in the next phase of electronics industry revolution, the PTR report provides many relevant pointers to the current and future industry stakeholders," said Conor Quinn, Co-Chair of the Power Technology Roadmap committee.

Dhaval Dalal, Co-Chair of the committee, said, "In many emerging fields, such as electric vehicles, alternative energy converters and energy harvesting devices, power technology assumes a more central and driving role and the PTR captures how the industry is shaping up to play this role."

PSMA Regular Member companies have each been sent one copy of the printed report and USB memory drive versions of the 2019 edition as a benefit of their membership. Members can access the webinars on line at no cost and purchase additional copies of the full report for $290. The non-member price is $4,490. For information about purchasing the report, please to the PSMA website at: www.psma.com/publications.

he PSMA Board of Directors is seeking one or more volunteers interested in providing leadership for the Safety & Compliance Technical Committee. The membership in all the PSMA Technical Committees is comprised of individual volunteers from both Member and non-Member Companies who have a technical, business or personal interest and are involved in the focus of the specific Technical Committee.

An important role of the Technical Committee leadership is to coordinate the mission and focus of the committee to address the current issues and changing trends in the technologies. Each of the Technical Committees normally meet monthly via teleconference for one hour to discuss special Projects that PSMA might fund that would benefit the membership and industry, to consider and plan Industry Sessions for upcoming APEC meetings, and to support the PSMA Power Technology Roadmap with relevant Webinars and technical content. The leadership position is the chair (or co-chair) for each meeting and is responsible for generating the monthly meeting agenda and to facilitate the meeting to meet the interests of the participants.

The benefits of Technical Committee leadership are many, including:

• Being acknowledged as an important participant and factor in the technical community
• Opportunity to interact with National, State and Independent Agencies involved with the specific technologies
• Anticipate and influence changes especially in regulations and technologies
• Identify your company as an important participant and contributor in the industry segment
• An expanded ability to network with others in the industry

Additional information on this opportunity is available at www.psma.com/psma-scc-leadership-opportunity
Please contact the Association Office (power@psma.com, 973-543-9660) for more information on the specific responsibilities for the Chair and/or Co-chair of the Safety and Compliance Technical Committee.

Power Magnetics @ High Frequency
Date: Saturday March 14, 2020
APEC 2020, New Orleans, Louisiana

The High Frequency Magnetics workshop series will continue to be held the Saturday before APEC. The fifth workshop of the series will be in conjunction with APEC 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The post workshop survey of the recent 2019 workshop has identified two themes -winding techniques and characterization and modelling. The survey results also proposed a pool of both volunteer presenters and requested presenters. The workshop will also make available Continuing Education Credits (CEC) to workshop attendees going forward. The workshop organizers will continue the tradition of the first four magnetics workshops, held each year since 2016, by bringing together experts from all aspects of the magnetics industry research and academic organizations, world renowned consultants and the everyday heroes of magnetics design who are responsible for commercializing magnetic products on a regular basis to address the two major themes: winding techniques and characterization and modelling.

The fourth Power Magnetics @ High Frequency workshop sponsored by the PSMA Magnetics Committee and IEEE PELS was held on the day before APEC 2019, Saturday March 16, 2019 from 7:00 AM thru 6:00 PM in Anaheim California. There were 110 attendees, with about 78% of the attendees from industry and 22% from academia/research. The consensus was "… the workshop was much more intimate with productive and valuable interaction between the presenters and the attendees…" which derives from the structure of the workshop, including panel discussions and technology demonstrations to supplement traditional lecture type presentations, which lead to high energy dialogue between the attendees and the invited experts throughout the workshop.

This fourth workshop addressed two specific focus area: ac power losses and thermal considerations for power magnetic components. Many thanks to the invited presenters and panelists who included Gerald Hurley (National University of Ireland - Galway), Marcin Kacki (SMA Magnetics), John Hayes (University College Cork), Charles Sullivan (Dartmouth), Seung Moon (NETL), Peter Wilson (University of Bath), Subhashish Bhattacharya (North Carolina State University), George Slama (Wurth Elektronik), Qichen Yang (AC Propulsion). Alex Gerfer (Wurth Elektronik), Mark Allen (University of Pennsylvania), Jenna Pollock, J. C. Sun (Bs&T Technologies), Apurva Ingle (Wurth Elektronik), Hebberly Ahatlan (Wurth Elektronik), Chris Oliver (Micrometals), Chuck Wild (Dexter Magnetics), John Lynch (Fair Rite) and Kenichi Chatani (Kemet).

The focus and interactive activities of the workshop series will continue to evolve to support its purpose:

• identify the latest improvements in areas of magnetic materials, coil (winding) design, construction and fabrication,
• identify, discuss and demonstrate evaluation techniques, characterization techniques modelling tools and simulation tools needed to meet the technical expectations and requirements for power magnetics operating at higher frequencies for a wide range (1 watt thru 100 kilowatts) of output power applications.
• identify and discuss the technical expectations and requirements of higher application frequencies and emerging topologies that are being driven by continuous advances in circuits topologies, semi-conductor devices driven by new market applications for both low-power and high-power applications.

Anyone interested in participating as a lecture presenter as part of the technology demonstration session during the next workshop planned for March 14, 2020 in New Orleans Louisiana should contact the PSMA office (power@psma.com). We are looking forward to the fifth workshop and driving the industry forward to meet the expectations of the workshop attendees.

Meanwhile keep checking https://www.psma.com/technical-forums/magnetics/workshop for the latest news on the upcoming workshop.

Organizing Committee
Steve Carlsen, Raytheon Systems Company
Ed Herbert , PSMA
Jenna Pollock, SF Motors
Rodney Rogers, Allstar Magnetics
George Slama, Wurth Elektronik
Fred Weber, Future Technology Worldwide
Chuck Wild, Dexter Magnetic Technologies Inc.
Matt Wilkowski, EnaChip

Date: Saturday March 14. 2020
APEC 2020 New Orleans, California

he Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) and the IEEE Power Electronics Society (IEEE PELS) will be jointly sponsoring an all-day workshop on Saturday, March 14, 2020, the day before the start of and in the same venue as APEC 2020 in New Orleans LA.

This workshop has been an annual event that has continued to grow over the years. The 2019 workshop, "The Impact of Wideband Technologies on Application of Capacitors - A Deep Dive on Capacitor Technology", was held the in Anaheim, CA Saturday March 16, the day before the start of APEC 2019. The keynote speaker was Gene Sheridan, the CEO and co-founder of Navitas Semiconductor and focused on Capacitor requirements for GaN switching systems.

The 2020 day-long Capacitor Workshop will feature presenters from market-leading capacitor manufacturers, and preeminent contributors from universities around the world. The technical lecture presentation sessions will each be followed by an open panel Q&A to offer attendees the opportunity to engage with the presenters.

There will be technology demonstration stations during the breakfast, lunch, and networking sessions. This will provide a unique opportunity for attendees to network and to meet professionals and view up close the various technologies and their advantages.  This workshop will address the needs of both beginners and advanced designers of dc-dc converters, frequency drives, inverters and other power conversation applications. The focus will be on how redefined traditional technologies and the latest technologies and topology developments meet the challenging requirements in the case of temperature, frequency, lifetime and more.

Meanwhile keep checking www.psma.com/technical-forums/capacitor/workshop for the latest news on the upcoming workshop.

Provided by members of the Capacitor Workshop Organizing Team:

he 2019 International Workshop on Integrated Power Packaging (IWIPP) was held the LAPLACE CNRS, Toulouse, France, April 24-26, 2019.  Dr. Thierry Lebey the Director and General Chair of the workshop welcomed us to Toulouse on the first day.  Attendance was up 30% compared to 2017 (94 registered attendees in 2019 vs. 72 in 2017).  This increase in interest probably reflects the importance of improved power electronics packaging for more efficient power through many industries.  There was a significant international representation; approximately 50% of attendees from Europe, 35% from the US, and 15% from Asia.

IWIPP 2019 Attendees

The technical program this year was very strong with positive feedback from audience members that indicated that the program exceeded expectations for content quality.   Since Toulouse is the center of the European Aerospace Industry it is not surprising that many of the presentations were related to the Electrification Challenges in Aeronautics.  These were reviewed in a Plenary by Dr Christophe Lochot of Airbus.  Although this gave us an insight into these issues, one of the core characteristics of IWIPP is that it has always been a multi-disciplinary workshop and this year was no exception.  Power packaging design requires expertise from a range of engineering disciplines; including electrical, thermal, mechanical, and materials.  Attendees were exposed to all aspects of power electronics packaging over a wide range of interdisciplinary research.  The use of wide band gap semiconductors and the challenges these present for packaging were discussed by many presenters.  Dr Ty McNutt of Wolfspeed gave a tutorial on System Level Reliability for SiC Power Modules and Dr. Ahmed Elasser of GE Global Research reviewed the history and future prospects for SiC.  The critical packaging design aspects associated with higher switching frequencies and temperatures were reviewed in depth.   Dr. Aaron Brovont of the University of Alabama gave a tutorial on assessing EMI in power electronics and novel approaches to thermal management were reviewed by Dr. Ercan Dede of Toyota.  As power packaging becomes more critical to Aerospace and Automotive Industries understanding reliability is extremely important and the origins of these limits were described by Dr. Laurent Dupont IFSTAR-SATIE in his Plenary presentation.

Many of the oral presentations described various approaches to enhancing performance through improved packaging materials and better circuit designs.  Several different developments were described in detail including the use of aluminum metallized silicon nitride substrates as well as the increasing use of sintered metal and transient liquid metal interconnects.  The performance of coatings for very high voltage insulation was reviewed in detail. Packaging passive components to achieve higher power densities whilst reducing parasitic inductance and resistance was reviewed in some of the presentations. 

In addition to presentations by leaders from academia and industry students also presented their work in oral and poster presentations.  To encourage student participation to present their research findings and cultivate interest in packaging technologies among the next generation of engineers IWIPP 2019 offers a Student Travel Grant Award  In 2019 this was won by Brian T. DeBoi of the University of Alabama who presented work on Bus Snubber Optimization for Multi-Chip Power Modules supervised by Dr Andrew N. Lemmon. Brian's research focuses on improving frequency-domain characterization and behavioral die modeling methods of silicon carbide utilizing devices and their surrounding packaging. These improved models and parasitic estimations can be leveraged in simulation to better understand what parameters are most impactful on device behavior, and to devise techniques to improve performance of real-world systems.

There were plenty of networking opportunities at the poster session at the several benchtops exhibits and during the tours of the Power Electronics & Integration, Smart Grid & Emulation and Actuation & Electroactive Morphing Laboratories.  Discussions continued through the Banquet Dinner sponsored by Wolfspeed (Diamond Level Sponsorship).  The high-quality food and wine provided during the Banquet and meetings probably set a new benchmark for the workshop.

Additional sponsorship was provided by Littelfuse and KEMET (both at Platinum Level) and Heraeus (Gold Level Partner).  This workshop was endorsed by IEEE Power Electronics Society, IEEE Electronics Packaging Society, IEEE Dielectrics and Insulation Society, Power Sources Manufacturers Association, the European Center for Power Electronics and Power Sources Manufacturer's Association This broad participation of academia and industry resulted in a multi-disciplinary event to present and discuss innovative solutions to address the challenges of power packaging in many applications.  Planning will begin soon for IWIPP 2021 that will expand this commitment to the power packages of tomorrow.  People interested in helping to organize for 2021 can just reach out to Dr. Andrew Lemmon at lemmon@eng.ua.edu.

Sponsored by:
IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS)
IEEE Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology Society (CPMT)
IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS)
Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA)
European Center for Power Electronics (ECPE)

Provided by Dr. John Bultitude, PSMA Representative, with additional input from Dr. Andrew Lemmon, IWIPP 2019 Finance Chair

he 7th Annual IEEE / PSMA Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA) will be held in Raleigh, North Carolina from October 29th to 31th, 2019. This annual event provides engineers and scientists with opportunities to share technology updates and research findings on silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN), and emerging semiconductor power devices and electronics.

WiPDA 2019 will be held at the Marriott Stateview hotel, which is located on North Carolina State University's campus in Raleigh, NC.  The program includes morning and afternoon tutorial sessions on Tuesday, October 29th, 2019.  Keynote speeches and panel sessions will take place on October 30th and 31th, 2019, together with oral and poster presentations given by subject matter experts.

This year's workshop is made possible thanks to our two Platinum Sponsors: Applied Materials and Infineon Technologies.  Additional support is provided by the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS), the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PMSA), the IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS), and PowerAmerica. 

There are still several opportunities for companies to become a part of the workshop.  Exhibition booths are available for showcasing products and networking with potential clients and customers.  There are also sponsorship opportunities for business that want to be affiliated with the event.  More information can be found on the workshop's website at: http://wipda.org/exhibition-sponsorships/.  E-mail inquiries can be sent to exhibitsatwipda2019@gmail.com.

Call for Tutorials and Technical Abstracts:

The workshop is currently soliciting abstracts for the tutorial sessions as well as abstracts for presentations to be given during the technical sessions.

Individuals and teams interested in providing a one-hour tutorial should submit a 200-word abstract describing their presentation.  Topics of interest can be found on the workshop's website at: http://wipda.org/tutorials/.  Please email your abstract to the tutorial chairs:

• Dr. Suman Debnath | debnaths@ornl.gov
• Dr. Rostan Rodrigues | rodriguesrostan@ieee.org

The tutorial abstract submission deadline is June 7th, 2019 June 14th, 2019.  Abstract decisions will be communicated on July 5th, 2019.  The presentation slides submission deadline is August 9th, 2019.

The workshop is also soliciting two page technical abstracts.  Topics of interest are found at http://wipda.org/. All presented papers will be included in the conference proceedings and submitted to the databases of IEEExplore. To upload your abstract, please visit the WiPDA website or click here: http://sci-review.com/wipda2019/upload.php

The technical abstract submission deadline is June 14th, 2019 June 21st, 2019.  Abstract decisions will be communicated on July 19th, 2019.  The final paper submission deadline is August 23rd, 2019.

For question related to tutorials and technical sessions, please e-mail the workshop's volunteers at wipda2019@gmail.com. We look forward to seeing you this fall in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

Provided by Mark Scott, WiPDA 2019 Publicity Chair

Arizona State University's SkySong Innovation in Scottsdale, AZ
October 31 – November 1, 2019

The Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA), in partnership with IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS), is sponsoring a Phoenix Workshop on Packaging and Integration in Power Delivery at Arizona State University's SkySong Innovation in Scottsdale, AZ October 31-Nov. 1, 2019. This two half-day event is An Exploratory Workshop Leading to the 2020 International Workshop on Power Supply on Chip (PwrSoC), in Philadelphia, PA.

The workshop will focus on the integration of miniature solid state power converters in microelectronics package environment, which attracted increasing interest in recent years as electronic devices overall form factor have scaled down significantly in a broad range of applications and power levels. In particular, strategies on how to integrate power delivery in package (PSiP) with more efficiency, smaller form factor, will be one of the focuses of the workshop. The other focus is on how to fit power delivery function into multi-die situation. These will involve the active discussions between IC designers, assembling experts and substrate/materials providers to provide innovative solutions to address power delivery in package challenges.

The workshop will be held at Arizona State University's SkySong Innovation in Scottsdale, AZ. The General Chair is Professor Hongbin Yu from ASU's School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, who has participated in many of the prior PwrSoC workshops, and the Technical Program Chair for the workshop is Jim Doyle from Dialog Semiconductor, who presented a keynote speech at the PwrSoC2018. The workshop support team includes Arnold Alderman representing PSMA, Francesco Carobolante representing IEEE PELS, and Prof. Hanh-Phuc Le, Dept. of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, the University of Colorado at Boulder who is currently IEEE PELS Topic 2 Committee Chair. 

For more information about the workshop please contact:

General Chair:
Professor Hongbin Yu. yuhb@asu.edu

Technical Program Chair
Jim Doyle. Jim.Doyle@diasemi.com

3D-PEIM 2020
Osaka University, Japan
June 22-24, 2020

PACKAGING is a Design Function
MANUFACTURING provides the Design Rules

he Third International Symposium on 3D Power Electronics Integration and Manufacturing (3D-PEIM-20) will be held on June 22-24, 2020.  This symposium will be held at the Osaka University, Suita Campus in Japan. This is the first time to have this symposium outside the USA. It will include worldwide experts representing a wide range of disciplinary perspectives to advance the development of future 3D power electronics systems. Asia is the factory of the world and has a big customer base for advanced power electronics technology. 3D-PEIM is an excellent opportunity to learn about leading edge R&D innovations in 3D power packaging. The focus of the symposium will be on additive, embedded, co-designed, and integrative packaging technologies and the symposium will emphasize the need to address mechanical, materials, reliability, and manufacturability issues in small, smart, power dense components and modules.

The conference will feature invited lectures highlighted by a keynote addresses from Industry experts.  There will also be tutorials, technical sessions that include contributed presentations, exhibits, and an interactive poster/demonstration session. The symposium is being organized by the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (www.psma.com), and will be chaired by Prof. Tsuyoshi Funaki of the Osaka University, Japan.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact info@3D-PEIM.Org, or the PSMA office at power@psma.com.  We look forward to seeing you in Osaka university this coming June 2020.

Prof. Tsuyoshi Funaki General Chair, 3D-PEIM Symposium 2020

Prof. Katsuaki Suganuma, Osaka University, Japan Technical Program Co-Chairman

aintaining the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) Energy Efficiency Data Base (EEDB) and the Safety and Compliance Data Base (SCDB) has given me the unique opportunity to track and understand the relationship between the product regulations in the EEDB and product standards in the SCDB.

A regulation is a rule or directive created and maintained by an authority such as a country, federation of countries, states, or provinces. Enforcement is by law. Content is available to the public for free.

A standard is a document created by consensus and approved by a recognized body or organization for common or repeated use. Standards may be international or regional. Most standards are available to the public for a fee levied by the organization. Enforcement occurs when a label is attached to the product indicating compliance.

Regulations precede and influence the certain performance and test standards. This article explains how company standards staff and design engineers can monitor and influence a regulation far in advance of any standard(s) creation thus better positioning their company products for success under the new regulation.

Beginning with a historic example, I chose the European Union (EU) and the relationship between the Ecodesign efficiency regulation and the relevant IEC standard(s), I find that they have the clearest and most easily understood creation process. Once the regulation/standard association is covered, then we will see how it applies to the next regulation upgrade now commencing. Everything explained here applies to creative processes in the U.S. and other countries using the organizations and processes of those countries. The U.S. processes will be covered in a future article.

Why Regulation Tracking Is Important
The EU target power consumption reduction translates into the required performance of a multitude of energy-related products (ErPs). EU Parliament in their DIRECTIVE 2009/125/EC established the framework for Ecodesign creating a framework for more than 35 lots with each lot having one or two appliances. Ecodesign legislation listing all of the energy-related products is shown in reference 1[1]. In 2009, Ecodesign Lot 7 (CELEX:32009L0125)[2] contained both EPS and small battery chargers. We will focus on the EPS.

EU Regulation Development
The regulation creation process is very slow. Comprised of five steps and conducted over several years, it allows a supplier adequate time to prepare products for compliance with the new regulation.

Action 1: The EU Commission assigns a team of analysts, both commission staff and consultants, to determine the energy consumption level reduction needed.

Action 2: The EU targets are then translated into product performance (in this case, efficiency) by Ecodesign teams. European Parliament Directive 2005/32/EC established the five process Ecodesign steps shown in Fig. 1. Using these steps, the Ecodesign team develops the efficiency performance requirements for an ErP adequately contributing to the overall EU power consumption level target.
 

Fig. 1. Ecodesign process steps.

The Ecodesign Lot 7 team determined EPS power consumption could best be reduced by focusing on a) the no-load electric energy consumption and b) the average active-mode efficiency. Executing the five steps in Fig. 1, they arrived at the approved minimum efficiency levels that were passed into law as a part of EU COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 278/2009 on April 6, 2009.[3]

Table 1 from that regulation established the acceptable performance limits in terms of no-load power consumption and average active efficiency. (Note: Table 1 refers to low-voltage external power supplies. Low voltage is defined in Article 8, paragrah 2 as less than 6-V output voltage, and more than 550-mA output current.)

Table 1. 2011 external power supply minimum performance limits.

The document that identifies the associated standard from which the test procedure is derived is EU Document 52015XC0415 (01)[4] with an extensive title referred to in the reference. (Note that publication titles and references of harmonized standards are applicable under EU harmonization legislation.) Table 2 from that document identifies the associated Standard EN50563-2011 with first publication in 2013. (Note that maximum no-load power consumption was first established by U.S. Executive Order 13221 July 31, 2001.)

Table 2. From EU Commission communication: Coupling is identified between the standard EN 50563 test procedure and the EPS efficiency regulation. (Implementation – 2015/C 120/02).[5]

Associated IEC Standard
The standard associated with the regulation may be any type including a performance standard, or a test standard. In this example, IEC 50563 is a test standard.[6] This standard creation is not historically accurate but is estimated to have started by a European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) team in 2008.

Ecos Consulting initially developed the equations in Table 2 during California Energy Commission (CEC) and Energy Star work in 2003 and subsequently modified them in 2006 and 2007 during further CEC efficiency regulation test procedure work. The equations were later adopted by Ecodesign during their harmonization efforts in the 2008/2009 time frame.

Development Timeline
The advantage of monitoring the regulation prior to start of commencing the standard creation becomes clear when the time-line of these two documents is illustrated in Fig. 2. Following the timeline figure, the regulation establishing the process was started in 2005. Subsequently, the standard EN 50563 development commenced a year or so before the conclusion of the Ecodesign Lot 7 regulation work in 2009. So, the regulation development work occurred very early compared to the standard work.

By participating in or at least monitoring the regulation performance development, a one-year advantage was available to the manufacturer to prepare their product for compliance and competitive positioning. Issued in 2011 and becoming effective in 2015, the standard EN 50563 set the final EPS testing procedure for an efficiency performance product in compliance with the Ecodesign Lot 7 regulation.
 

Fig. 2. Timeline for regulation example and the associated standard.

Better Prepared
A supplier company, heeding the advice of their standards engineer, would normally take advantage of the multi-year standard creation work by participating in or monitoring the action of the standards committee. However, the timeline illustrates that there is even greater advantage to be realized by being involved in or cognizant of the regulation creation process.

Next Phases
What about present efficiency regulations and standards? Many suppliers incorrectly believe that the 2005-to-2015 sally of energy efficiency regulations and standards is over, requiring no further compliance effort. But that is not the case. Regulation creation is an ongoing process as shown for this efficiency regulation case with government and non-government agencies seeking to continue reductions in power consumption.

However, by directive the EU continues to raise the efficiency bar. They are using projected power consumption for the year 2016 to determine future required energy consumption reductions for the next decades. The EU has negotiated the targets of 20% reduction by 2020, and 32.7% by 2030[7] with all countries and their experts. (Note that other countries are doing the same. Countries' targets may vary so check those countries for which you have concerns about product acceptance. Even states and provinces sometime set their own aggressive goals.) [8,9]

Their seriousness is reflected by the following statement: "The revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EU) 2018/2002 (Energy Efficiency Directive (EU) 2018/2002 )[8] sets a 2030 target of 32.5%, also with a possible upward revision in 2023. The new Governance Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 includes the requirement for Member States to draw up integrated National Energy and Climate Plans for 2021 to 2030 outlining how to achieve the targets and submit the draft to the European Commission by the end of 2018".[10]
Fig. 3 illustrates Phases 2 and 3 creating the Ecodesign EPS regulation for 2020 and 2030 respectively. Since EN 50563 is a test standard not a performance standard, very little if any update will be required as this standard is used in Phases 2 and 3. In this instance, all attention should be on the developing regulation.

If the associated standard had covered EPS performance, that standard would need updating in the later phases following the requirements dictated by the subsequent regulations. Phase 1 depicts the original regulation work effective 2015. The present 2020 update is in Phase 2. The future 2030 work is covered in Phase 3. In each case, the first step is creating the regulation target followed by the determination of the Ecodesign appliance-specific performance.

Fig. 3. Timeline for regulation example and associated standard through 2030.

Summary
In this article, we have shown that there sometimes is a link between a regulation and a standard. Our example, taken from the EU history for the EPS product regulation, clearly identifies that there is regulation development occurring several years before the associated standard development. Knowledge of this link is priceless when working to achieve product compliance and maintain a competitive advantage.

A final note: sometimes even earlier work will provide insight into regulation content. The equations in Fig. 1 were first derived in 2003 by Ecos Consulting for the California Energy Commission. These equations were subsequently improved through the efforts of CEC, Energy Star, and the EU. Those involved in this early work gained almost a decade of advantage on their competitors.

References

1. Eco-design legislation listing all of energy related products.
2. CELEX:32009L0125
3. https://www.eceee.org/static/media/uploads/site-2/ecodesign/products/Battery%20charges%20and%20external%20power%20supplies%20Lot%207/finalreg-eps.pdf
4. EU Document 52015XC0415 (01)
5. Official Journal of the European Union C120, (implementation – 2015/C 120/02)
6. https://www.eceee.org/static/media/uploads/site-2/ecodesign/products/Battery%20charges%20and%20external%20power%20supplies%20Lot%207/explanatory-note-up-date-review-external-power-supplies-16042015.pdf (Review of Regulation (EC) No 278/2009.
7. https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-efficiency
8. Energy Efficiency Directive (EU) 2018/2002 amending Directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency.
9. An older Lot status https://www.eup-network.de/product-groups/overview-ecodesign/
10. REGULATION (EU) 2018/1999 OF THE EU PARLIAMENT & COUNCIL of 11 December 2018, Governance Regulation (EU) 2018/1999,).

Author: Arnold Alderman, Anagenesis, Maintenance Leader PSMA, SCDB and EEDB Data Bases

Editor's Note: This article was first published in the March 2019 issue of How2Power Today (http://www.how2power.com/newsletters/index.php).

s specified in the European Directive 2015/863 beginning the 22nd of July 2019, electronic equipment manufacturers will have to comply with the third revision of the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), referenced as RoHS 3. All categories of electrical and electronic equipment are affected except medical devices and monitoring and control instruments, which have until 22 July 2021 to comply to take into account their longer innovation cycles. The "Revision 3" adds four additional restricted substances, listed under phthalate, to the original list of six (see table 1).

Table 2 – The four banned phthalates are widely used across the whole industry

In 2010 some phthalates were on the REACH candidate list or listed in REACH Annex XIV as subject to the authorization process. They were also included in the European Commission's proposal for the recast of the EU Directive on the restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS) in electrical and electronic equipment as priority substances to be assessed for potential restriction. Eight years later, this is now happening.

Since the original listing in REACH, and in the candidate list of Substances of Very High Concern for authorization (SVHC), the risk and toxicity of the four substances, listed below, have been researched by international laboratories.

• Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)
  
• Benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP)
  
• Dibutyl phthalate (DBP)
  
• Diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP)

The results of more than 10 years of testing and investigation exhibit a very high hypothesis that the effects of exposure to phthalates may affect human reproduction, development and risk of cancer. These results have motivated the European Commission to move the four phthalates from "Observation" to "Restriction and Interdiction".

Phthalates are a group of chemical substances used to soften and increase the flexibility of plastic and vinyl. They are commonly used in all industries from food packaging to cables, in insulation tapes and in some resins, in short they are almost everywhere (see table 2).

This is yet another new challenge for the electronics industry which after reducing the amount of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers, is now further tasked with reducing the amount of the four listed Phthalates to below 1000 ppm in homogeneous material by weight.

Table 1 – From RoHS 1 to RoHS 3

On the way to compliance

As was the case for the previous six restricted substance in RoHS 1st edition and RoHS 2nd edition, due to the high usage of phthalates in electronics equipment - including in power supplies,  designers must work in close cooperation with their suppliers to substitute such materials with "phthalate free" elements and components.

Since some industries (e.g. medical) are more sensitive to the risk of phthalates affecting people (patients), as long ago as 2010 they were informing and educating their suppliers about the forthcoming regulations, anticipating the demand for parts with less than 1000 ppm of the identified substances listed in REACH and SVHC.

Today, a number of companies are offering RoHS 3 compliant substitutes but there is a huge lag in the supply chain which will require some pretty intense work to ensure that all products delivered after 22nd July are compliant. For newly made products, this might not be a major problem, but it could be for products held in stock all over the world.

Are my products complying and what about legacy?

Since the European Directive 2015/863 was released the 31st March 2015, designers have worked with their suppliers to guarantee that all new products pre-comply with the forthcoming regulation, but in some case it has been difficult to replace certain parts (e.g. insulation tape for high voltage transformers), thus delaying the compliance of some products. In three years' time suppliers will have implemented different processes and substances to replace banned phthalates, but there are few questions remaining on special components or parts.

However, if the level of banned phthalates in new products is reduced to below 1000 ppm, the doubt remains for items laying in stock. To be on the safe side, a number of companies have made the decision to run samples through an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer, and if this is not deemed enough to use Fourier Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy (FTIR) testing methods and sometimes Scanning Electron Microscopes (SEM).

The cost for such analysis could be substantial however, in the context of present day market conditions and the effects of component shortages, scraping products without knowing if the level of the four phthalates is below or over the 1000 ppm threshold might cost even more money.

Repair and maintenance, what should I do?

As specified in the Directive, the restriction of DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP shall not apply to cables or spare parts for the repair, the reuse, the updating of functionalities or upgrading of capacity of electrical and electronics equipment placed on the market before 22 July 2019, and of medical devices, including in vitro medical devices, and monitoring and control instruments, including industrial monitoring and control instruments, placed on the market before 22 July 2021.

RoHS-1, RoHS-2, RoHS-3, what's next?

RoHS Compliant – Source PRBX/Shutterstock/Olivier Le Moal

"REACH aims to improve the protection of human health and the environment through the better and earlier identification of the intrinsic properties of chemical substances." That means that research on toxicology and its impact on health and the environment will continue in order to identify risks.

As well, the European Chemical Agency has worked on a "Roadmap for SVHC identification and implementation of REACH Risk Management measures from now to 2020" which gives an EU-wide commitment to ensure that all relevant, currently known substances of very high concern (SVHC) are included in the candidate list by 2020. The objective of the SVHC Roadmap is to screen to identify new substances of concern, and to analyze the risk management options (RMO) appropriate to the particular substance of concern.

In today's business environment, electronics engineers must permanently monitor the evolution of REACH and SVCH. With the growing concerns about health and the environment we can expect more substances to be added to the RoHS list, which in some cases may prove to be extremely challenging.

As in many other situations, knowing your industry, being innovative and investing in new technologies is probably the only way to go.

References:

Powerbox (PRBX)
https://www.prbx.com/

Directive 2015/863
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2015.137.01.0010.01.ENG

SVHC Roadmap to 2020 implementation
https://echa.europa.eu/svhc-roadmap-to-2020-implementation

Candidate List of substances of very high concern for authorization
https://echa.europa.eu/candidate-list-table

Provided by Patrick Le Fèvre Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Powerbox

There were 10 EMS transactions recorded in Q1 2019, representing an increase from the 6 recorded in Q1 2018 and the same number as the transactions in Q4 2018. This issue of the EMS Quarterly Report provides perspectives on:

• Review of Q1 2019
• Quarterly deal volume comparison by total transactions, geography and deal type
• Q1 2019 cash cycle
• Financial performance in the EMS industry

EMS-Quarterly-Review-Q1-2019.pdf (421k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, visit https://www.lincolninternational.com/whoweserve/technology/

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.