Launching of ITRW 1.0 

The International Technology Roadmap for Wide Bandgap Power Semiconductors (ITRW) has been developed as an IEEE Power Electronics Society Initiative to inspire leadership in the emerging and fast moving field of wide bandgap power electronics. The impact of wide bandgap power electronics has been nothing short of revolutionary across all aspects of power electronics giving dramatic changes in efficiency, performance and physical size.

In 2015 the IEEE Power Electronics Society initiated the ITRW project to develop a strategic roadmap to provide vision and leadership to academia, industry and consumers as to where the wide bandgap technology was moving.  Several working groups were formed as well as an industry advisory board and a global steering committee to ensure that the resulting work would be genuinely global in nature, and build on the IEEE’s role as a neutral forum for advancing humanity. Meetings have been held across the world since the inaugural meeting in December 2015 at TU Delft, including North America, Europe, and Asia to allow as many stakeholders as possible to influence the work of the roadmap and provide their valuable input.

The publication of this inaugural ITRW roadmap is a direct result of the sponsorship and leadership provided by the IEEE Power Electronics Society, with a long term commitment of several presidents supporting this initiative including Prof. Bram Ferreira, Prof. Alan Mantooth and Prof. Frede Blaaberg. As can be seen from the extensive list of volunteers who have contributed to the roadmap, much time and effort has been provided by the PELS community at large and this is reflected in the diversity of technology (both fundamental and applications oriented) presented in the ITRW roadmap. The team has also highlighted key technological successes to illustrate how wide bandgap power electronics have made a major impact across the world from grid connected systems, to mobile communications and computing and transport electrification.

The first edition of the roadmap is launched during the special session.   

1.       Overview of ITRW goals, scope and relation to other roadmaps

2.       Working Group Materials and Devices

3.       Working Group Packaging and Integration

4.       Working Group GaN System Integration and Application

5.       Working Group SiC System Integration and Application

Session Chairs:

Braham Ferreira received his B.Sc., M.Sc. and PhD in electrical engineering from the Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1980, 1982 and 1988 respectively.  In 1981 he was with the Institute of Power Electronics and Electric Drives, Technical University of Aachen, and worked as a systems engineer at ESD Pty (Ltd) from 1982-1985.  From 1986 thru 1997 he was at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Rand Afrikaans University, where he held the Carl and Emily Fuchs Chair of Power Electronics in later years.  Since 1998 he is holding the chair in Power electronics and Electrical Machines at the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands, served as head of the Department during 2006-2010 and is currently director of the Delft-Beijing Institute of Intelligent Science and Technology.

Dr. Ferreira is author and co-author of 100 journal and transactions papers, 300 conference papers and 15 patents, and was awarded 15 prize paper awards. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and recipient of the IEEE IAS Gerald Kliman Innovator Award.

IEEE Activies – South Africa Joint IAS/PELS/PES/IES chapter, chair (1993-6);  South Africa Section, chair (1991-2);  IEEE representative on SAIEE Council (1992-7); IEEE AFRICON ’96, technical program chairman; IAS Power Electronic Devices and Components committee, chair (1998-9); Benelux Joint IAS/PELS chapter, founding chair  (1999-2001); PELS Transactions, associate editor (2000-2014); PELS AdCom member-at large( 1999-2005);  PELS treasurer (2005-2010); PELS Vice-President Meetings (2011-4); PELS President (2015-6), ITRW Chairman (2015-).

Other activities – Dutch Representative on the Executive Council of the European Power Electronic Association [EPE](1999 – 2002, 2007-2010); Dutch working group CIGRE National Study Committee 14 [ application of power electronics in utilities], chair (1999 – 2002);  FEPPCON, technical program co-chair (2001, 2004, 2009); EPE Solar Energy Chapter, founding chair (2011).

Speakers:

Braham Ferreira, University of Twente, Netherlands, Peter Wilson, University of Bath, UK

Robert Kaplar, Sandia National Labs, Victor Veliadis, North Carolina State University

Mark Johnson, Nottingham University, UK, Daniel Shi, ASTRI

Fred Wang, University of Tennessee, Sibylle Dieckerhoff, Berlin University of Technology, Germany, Laili Wang, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China

Jin Wang, Ohio State University, Chaobo Dai, GEIRI, Ste Grid, China