Hangzhou, China zpec@zju.edu.cn
Hangzhou, China zpec@zju.edu.cn
Biography: Johann W. Kolar is Professor Emeritus at ETH Zurich and former Head of its Power Electronic Systems Laboratory. He received his M.Sc. (1997) and Ph.D. (1999, summa cum laude) from the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien). He introduced several breakthrough converter topologies, including the VIENNA Rectifier, Sparse Matrix Converter, and SWISS Rectifier, and made fundamental contributions to ultra-high-speed motor systems and automated multi-objective converter design. Since 2023, he has been a Specially Appointed Professor at the Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science, Japan, and since 2024 a Guest Professor at TU Wien, contributing to research and academic exchange in advanced power electronic systems. He has personally supervised 94 Ph.D. students to completion, authored more than 1,000 publications, and holds over 200 patents. His honors include the IEEE William E. Newell Power Electronics Award, the IEEE PELS R. David Middlebrook Achievement Award, the EPE Outstanding Achievement Award, and the 2025 IEEE Medal in Power Engineering. He is an IEEE Life Fellow, an International Member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He has co-founded four ETH Zurich spin-offs and continues research in wide-bandgap power converters, artificial intelligence in power electronics, solid-state transformers, and life-cycle assessment of power electronics systems.
Biography: Jose Rodriguez received the Engineer degree in electrical engineering from the Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, in Valparaiso, Chile and the Dr.-Ing. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany. He has been professor and President of Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, Universidad Andres Bello and Universidad San Sebastian, all in Chile. Now, he is Director of the Center for Energy Transition at the University of San Sebastian in Santiago de Chile. He has coauthored two books, several book chapters and more than 1000 journal and conference papers. His main research interests include multilevel inverters, new converter topologies, control of power converters, and adjustable-speed drives. He has received a number of best paper awards from journals of the IEEE. Dr. Rodriguez is member of the Chilean Academy of Engineering. In 2014 he received the National Award of Applied Sciences and Technology from the government of Chile. In 2015 he received the Eugene Mittelmann Award from the Industrial Electronics Society of the IEEE. In years 2014 to 2025 he has been included in the list of Highly Cited Researchers published by Web of Science.
Biography: Xinbo Ruan received the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA), Nanjing, China, in 1991 and 1996, respectively. In 1996, he joined the Faculty of Electrical Engineering Teaching and Research Division, NUAA, where he became a Professor in the College of Automation Engineering in 2002. From August to October 2007, he was a Research Fellow in the Department of Electronic and Information Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China. From March 2008 to August 2011, he was also with the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. He is the author or co-author of 15 books and more than 300 technical papers published in journals and conferences. His main research interests include resonant and soft-switching power converters, power converter topologies and control, grid-connected converters and system for renewable energy, modeling and stability of power converters, and envelop tracking power supply. Prof. Ruan was a recipient of the Sustainable Energy Systems Technical Achievement Award from IEEE Power Electronics Society in 2022, the Delta Scholarship by the Delta Environment and Education Fund in 2003, and the Special Appointed Professor of the Chang Jiang Scholars Program by the Ministry of Education, China, in 2007. From 2005 to 2013, and from 2017 to 2025, he served as a Vice President of the China Power Supply Society. From 2014 to 2016, he served as a Vice Chair of the Technical Committee on Renewable Energy Systems within the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society. Currently, he serves as a Co-EIC for IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, an Editor for IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics on Power Electronics, and an Associate for IEEE Open Journal of Industrial Electronics Society. He served as an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics (2011-2021) and IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems - II: Express Briefs (2016-2023). He was the General Chair of IPEMC-ECCE Asia 2020 and the General Secretary of IPEMC-ECCE Asia 2009, a Technical Program Committee Chair of the IEEE 7th Annual Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE 2015), and a Tutorial Committee Chair of the IEEE 12th Annual Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE 2020). He is an IEEE Fellow.
Biography: Dr. Xing Huang is the Founder and Chairman of PN Junction Semiconductor LLC (known as "PNJ"), a leading Chinese wide-bandgap semiconductor company specializing in SiC power devices. He received his Ph.D. from North Carolina State University, where he was advised by Prof. B. Jayant Baliga (Inventor of the IGBT, IEEE Life Fellow) and Prof. Alex Q. Huang (Pioneer of Solid-State Transformer). With near two-decade experience in SiC/GaN R&D, Dr. Huang has been instrumental in advancing power devices for critical renewable applications. His research contributions include the invention of 10 kV+ bidirectional blocking SiC devices for AC smart grid fault protection and studies on SiC devices under extreme operation conditions. Under his leadership, PNJ Semiconductor has developed over 200 SiC products spanning 100 V to 6500 V, including MOSFETs, diodes, and JFETs. These products are now powering the global energy transition and have been deployed in over 5 million electric vehicles with zero field failures. The company's planar-gate SiC MOSFETs, featuring a 3.2 um cell pitch, SiC JFETs, and proprietary embedded PCB packaging technology (parasitic inductance < 3 nH) enable superior efficiency and reliability in applications including AI centers' HVDC power distribution, Solid-State Transformers (SST), and Solid-State Circuit Breakers (SSCB) for HVDC grid protection. PNJ manufactures in both Lubbock, TX, USA and Ningbo, Zhejiang, China, providing flexibility to serve global customers. Dr. Huang has published over 10 peer-reviewed papers (350+ citations) and holds 120+ patents.
