Looking Ahead
For more than 35 years, APEC has grown to be the leading conference in North America for power electronic professionals. We look forward to continuing this legacy in 2023. For more information about the history of APEC, read on.
The demise of the Power Concepts, Inc. International Power Electronics Conference (1975-1984), better known by its registered service mark POWERCON, left the power electronics industry without a conference focused on the working engineer. There were other power electronics conferences, such as the more specialized IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference (PESC), but these were generally oriented more towards the publishing of advanced research than solving the problems of the day.
APEC has been sponsored by PELS, IAS and the PSMA since 1990, and was previously sponsored by IEEE Power Electronics Council and then the Power Electronics Society (PELS).
The conference has enjoyed a growing success throughout the years. An important part of the success has been the management support provided by SmithBucklin. SmithBucklin is a professional conference and event management firm that has been hired to support APEC. Although the Steering Committee periodically solicits bids for providing these services, SmithBucklin has consistently provided excellent service at the lowest cost to the conference.
An important part of the APEC program is the Exposition. For APEC ’92, the decision was made to give the Exposition Management to Courtesy Associates, as it was previously managed by another group. For the first time, the APEC Exposition sold out. The Exposition has grown from about 30 exhibitors in 36 booths in 1991 to more than 165 exhibitors filling 260 booths today.
APEC is now considered to be a leading conference for practicing power electronics professionals. The APEC program addresses a broad range of topics in the use, design, manufacture and marketing of all kinds of power electronics equipment. The combination of high-quality Professional Education Seminars, a full program of referred papers and an overflowing Exhibit Hall consistently provides an invaluable education each year.