On October 21, 2022, Tsinghua-Virginia Tech Joint Seminar on Advanced  Power Electronics   was successfully held  online and offline . This seminar is hosted by the Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Electronics (EEA) of Tsinghua University, co-hosted by IEEE PELS Beijing Chapter and Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES) of Virginia Tech University, and organized by IEEE PELS Students ’ Branch of Tsinghua University with media support provided by the Journal Center of China Electric Power Research Institute and iEnergy. The seminar  was chaired by Associate Professor Sun Kai, Assistant Dean of EEA .

Prof. Kang Chongqing, Dr. Glenda Scales and Academician Dushan Boroyevich made opening address

At the beginning of the seminar, Professor Kang Chongqing, Dean of EEA, Dr. Glenda Scales, Associate Dean of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Virginia Tech (VT ECE), and Professor Dushan Boroyevich, academician of the American Academy of Engineering, gave opening speeches and reviewed the favorable cooperation between EEA, Tsinghua University and VT ECE in academic research and talent training, including comprehensive cooperation and exchanges such as academic conferences, personnel exchange visits, course opening, and joint training of students since the signing of the bilateral memorandum of cooperation in 2018, and they placed their high expectations on this joint seminar.

Professor Li Yongdong gave a report

In the keynote lecture session, Professor Li Yongdong from EEA gave a report entitled “Status and Trends of Electrification of Railway and Ships”, in which he introduced the latest research on electric energy conversion for electrified traction of the next-generation high-speed railway, electrified propulsion of ships and multi-electric aircraft, etc.

Prof. Rechard Zhang gave a report

Professor Richard Zhang from the Center for Power Electronics Systems at Virginia Tech gave a report titled “Towards Electrified Green Infrastructure”, in which he introduced the development and trend of power electronics for electrified green infrastructure.

Associate Professor Ji Shiqi gave a report

Associate Professor Ji Shiqi from EEA gave a report titled “Switching Transient Control and Application for Power Semiconductors”, in which he introduced the technologies of switching transient control and application for power semiconductors, including the latest progress on series voltage sharing control and active gate control, etc.

Assistant Professor Christina DiMarino gave a report

Assistant Professor Christina DiMarino from the Center for Power Electronic Systems at Virginia Tech gave a report entitled “Packaging and High-Density Integration of (Ultra) Wide-Bandgap Power Semiconductors”, in which she introduced the difficulties and research progress on the packaging and high-density integration of (ultra) wide-bandgap power semiconductors

Group photo of some online participants

The student’s report session of the joint seminar was chaired by Xiao Yikang, Students’ Branch of Tsinghua University, IEEE PELS. Six doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows from Tsinghua University and Virginia Tech gave academic reports, covering the latest hot issues on wide-bandgap power devices, converter optimization design and control, and power electronics system simulation in the power electronics field. Wang Chao, Ren Chunpin and Jia Shengyu from Tsinghua University respectively introduced the operation and fault-tolerant control strategies of modularized multilevel converters, the proton radiation optimization of reverse resistance IGCT and discrete-state event-driven power electronics modeling and simulation methods; Ruizhe Zhang, Qing Lin, and Minh Ngo from Virginia Tech shared the latest research results of overvoltage stability of GaN HEMTs, input impedance characteristics of power factor correction circuits and optimization design of high-frequency transformers.

This joint seminar provided a good communication platform for teachers and students of the two universities and members of IEEE PELS China. A total of more than 210 people participated in the seminar through Zoom Meeting, and more than 2,300 colleagues of the industry watched the online live broadcast, which further reinforced the exchange between Chinese and American universities and between the academia and the industry, and promoted the development of power electronics science and technology.