he effects of COVID-19 on in-person technical conferences and trade shows have been nearly universal. APEC2020 was an early victim of the pandemic and APEC 2021 was held as a full virtual event in June. The energy and attendance at the Virtual-Only APEC 2021 event is a testament to the importance of our conference as the industry resource for learning of the latest in power electronics technology and new product developments. APEC 2021 attendees were offered a wide-ranging program including:

• 6 Plenary Presentations
• 3 Rap Sessions
• 16 Professional Education Seminars
• Almost 500 Technical Papers
• Over 100 Industry Session Presentations

As the world makes progress toward stemming the impact of the pandemic, plans are now fully underway for a return to a live APEC 2022 in Houston next March.

Never in the history of electronics has power conversion been more in the forefront. Efficiency is a top priority of nearly every new design. And the latest advances in technology are touching virtually every aspect of our industry, from passive components to semiconductors and packaging. And there just isn't anywhere else on earth our industry comes together so completely to learn, connect and grow than at the Applied Power Electronics Conference.

Hundreds of digests have been submitted for the Technical Sessions and now the work of the peer-reviewers is underway to select the best for the APEC 2022 program.

Work continues in development of the Plenary Session program. The committee has put together an exceptional roster of candidates. The program will be finalized before the next edition of this newsletter. The Plenary Session typically beings in well over 2,000 attendees. In addition, IEEE.tv will, once again, be streaming the entire session, live, for those who can't make it to APEC by Monday afternoon.

By mid-September, all the submissions of proposals for both the very popular Industry Sessions as well as the highly informative Professional Education Seminars will be under consideration. The Industry Session tracks which will run in parallel with the Technical Sessions are expected to be as popular as ever.

Back at APEC 2019, over 1500 attendees arrived early to take advantage of the Sunday and Monday morning Professional Education Seminars. The committee is planning for a repeat of this attendance in 2022.

Booth selection for the APEC 2022 exhibit hall is now open and a fully booked and vibrant exhibition is in the works.

Registration opens in October.  Go to www.apec-conf.org to get all the information you need. In addition to making your reservation to attend, you will also be able to book your hotel accommodations. APEC has secured blocks of rooms at the close-in hotels to the convention center.  As usual, these rooms will sell out long before next March.

The entire APEC Conference Committee is excited about bringing our Premier Global Event in Applied Power Electronics to Houston, March 20-24, 2022.

Provided by Greg Evans, APEC 2022 Publicity Chair

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.