Hilton Fort Worth

PSMA Chairman Carl Blake led the meeting and provided an overview of the membership statistics and the changes since the last meeting and the accomplishments since the last Planning Meeting. He emphasized that the technical committees are the heart of the organization and it is in these committees that the real work of PSMA is done.

Michel Grenon, Secretary/Treasurer, prepared a 6-Quarter financial forecast that indicated that the levels of expenses are expected to increase moderately while income from membership dues will have modest growth and the APEC surpluses will continue at recent levels. He forecast that the Association will remain in good financial position which will allow funding to support Special Projects that should bring value to the membership.

Aung Tu & Don Woodard

There was a report from each of the technical committees which summarized their accomplishments in the past year and ongoing programs and projects. Seven of the technical committees have submitted proposals for Industry Sessions at APEC 2014.

• The Alternate Energy Committee provided an update on committee members and plans for a four presentation Industry Session at APEC 2014. In addition, the committee is planning a pre-APEC 2014 one day workshop Saturday March 15 on Engineering Efficient Buildings which is being spearheaded by Philip Krein.

• The Capacitor Committee provided a report summarizing their 2013 activities. In 2014 the committee will be focusing on organizing a seven presentation Industry Session for APEC 2015 updating the latest technical advances in capacitors.

Frank Cirolia, Phil Krein, Jim Spangler, Ada Cheng & Ed Herbert

• Ed Herbert, Co-Chair of the Energy Efficiency Committee, reported that the EPRI-PSMA Workshop, held the Saturday before APEC 2013 titled "Are You Smart Enough for the Smart Grid?" went well with 46 participants (organizers, speakers and attendees). The committee is considering having a follow-up workshop on “The Smart Grid” at APEC 2016. They are planning an Industry Session on “Energy Storage” for APEC 2014.

Mark Lucas & Seth Paradise

• The Energy Harvesting Committee provided a report summarizing the history of the committee, membership and recent accomplishments. At APEC 2013 the committee organized a seven presentation Industry Session titled “Forging Ahead: Global Commercialization of Energy Harvesting Technology”. The session included a Roundtable Discussion and, for the first time, a working demonstration of 6 energy harvesting systems which followed the session.

For APEC 2014 the committee is organizing a seven presentation Industry Session on the technical details of key technologies that are driving successful commercialization in the areas of: Energy Harvesting transducers, energy conversion, energy storage, power management, ultra-low power microcontrollers, sensors and wireless radio solutions. In addition, at the end of the session there will be working demonstrations of energy harvesting systems.

Steve Carlsen, Jim Spangler & Ada Cheng

• Steve Carlsen, Magnetics Committee Co-Chair, reported that the committee conducted a survey to obtain input for future activities of the committee. For APEC 2014, the committee is organizing an Industry Session on “How are magnetics catching up to SiC and GaN?” The committee is also beginning to discuss and consider a Phase IV Core Loss Study.

Frank Cirolia, Phil Krein & Steve Carlsen

• Frank Cirolia, Chair of the Marketing Committee, reviewed the recent activities of the committee including plans for APEC 2014. For the second year, the committee is proposing to sponsor a “PSMA Passport Game” to increase visibility and traffic to PSMA member exhibit booths during APEC.

• Kevin Parmenter, Nanotechnology Committee Co-Chair, reviewed the committee membership and reported that Nano 300 course is on track to be released in Oct. For APEC 2014 the committee is organizing a seven presentation Industry Session.

The committee holds monthly committee teleconferences and posts the minutes on the Nanotechnology Technology Forum on the PSMA web site.

Don Woodard, Doug Hopkins & Kevin Parmenter

• The Packaging Committee reported that they are proceeding with Phase 1 of the Special Project on 3D Power Packaging and are organizing a seven presentation Industry Session for APEC 2014 on 3D Power Packaging. The report also included an update on the planning for the PwrSoC14 Workshop scheduled to be held in the Boston MA area October 6, 7, and 8, 2014.

• The Transportation Power Electronics Committee is a new technical committee that has met each month starting in May of 2013 and averaged 8 people per meeting. The committee is focused on the key issues in Vehicle Power Electronics and is organizing a seven presentation Industry Session for APEC 2014.

• Aung Thet Tu, Technology Roadmap Committee Co-Chair, reported that the 2015 Power Technology Roadmap effort will kick-off at a meeting planned in March 2014 during the APEC2014 in Fort Worth. At that time, the co-chairs will form a team of volunteers to develop a theme for the report and the schedule of events.

In addition, the committee plans to recover all older Power Technology Roadmap reports (from 1994, 1997, and 2000, and others as needed) into an electronic version that will be available for download for PSMA members.

Following the committee reports Carl Blake led an interactive “brain storming” session to list the possible activities and focus for PSMA over the next year (and beyond) that will bring benefit to the membership.

Bob White

PSMA members can view the minutes of the Planning Meeting on the “Members Only” section of the PSMA web site.

Although a lot was accomplished during the busy weekend, it was not all work. Participants at the Planning Meeting joined members of the APEC Program Committee at the famous Billy Bob’s for dinner that evening.

Billy Bob’s

The APEC Program Committee met on Sunday and were joined by several PSMA members. Based on the results of their work we can all look forward to a very interesting and successful APEC 2014.

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.