PELS Ph.D. Thesis Talk (P3 Talk)

IEEE PELS Ph.D. Thesis Talk (P3 Talk)

About the Award

The IEEE PELS Ph.D. Thesis Talk (P3 Talk) competition showcases Ph.D. projects to both the academia and industry areas of the power electronics community. The topic of the Ph.D. thesis should be one of the focus areas of PELS. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Big data and machine learning applications in energy conversion
  • Electrical energy storage
  • Electromagnetic interference (EMI) and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC)
  • Energy conversion for Information Technology and communication systems, cyber security
  • Energy efficiency for residential, commercial, and industrial applications
  • Energy harvesting
  • High power/voltage power conversion
  • High voltage isolation and lightning strike protection 
  • Lighting applications and displays
  • Modeling and control of components, converters, and systems
  • Passive components and materials
  • Power conversion topologies, modulation, and control
  • Power electronic devices (Si, wide bandgap, and/or ultra-wide bandgap) and applications
  • Power electronic packaging, integration, and advanced manufacturing
  • Reliability, diagnostics, prognostics, and health management
  • Renewable and alternative energy
  • Rotating/linear electro-mechanical devices and drive systems
  • Smart grids, micro-grids, and utility applications
  • Thermal management, advanced cooling technologies
  • Transportation electrification
  • Wireless power transfer (WPT)

Award Prize:

Up to 5 presenters are selected each year. Each winner receives the following:

  • A certificate
  • An honorarium of 1,000 USD
  • Presentation published on the Society’s website
  • Reimbursement of up to USD 1,000 toward the recipient’s necessary conference registration, travel, and accommodation costs incurred to attend the Awards Ceremony.

Submitting a Nominee

Click the button below to view the P3 Talk 2024 Guidelines:

The portal to submit an application is closed.

Award Details

Recognizing Outstanding Achievements

Eligibility Requirements & Criteria

Eligibility: All Ph.D. graduates across the world who are PELS members and have defended their thesis and received their Ph.D. or doctoral certificate or proof of a final thesis defense after 31 March of the year preceding the award are eligible.  There are no other restrictions to affiliation, age, gender, IEEE member grade, or nationality. Previous participants are NOT eligible.

As a prerequisite for eligibility, applicants with the submission of a video express their consent that the video may be published by PELS and assure that it does not contain copyrighted or confidential material.

Criteria: The topic of the Ph.D. thesis should be in one of the focus areas of the Society. Video submissions are judged on the following:

  • Achieved outcomes
    • Clear research objectives, problems, and hypothesis
    • Rich in engineering judgment and insight
  • Design methodology
    • Methods are technically and mathematically accurate
    • Well supported with analysis and experimental evidence
  • Problem definition
    • Contribution to the field
    • Value for practicing engineers or researchers
  • Quality of video and presentation
    • Effective use of visual aids
    • Present material in a well-organized way
    • Present within 180 seconds or less, the applicant personally appears in the video, and proper use of English
    • Video and audio quality

Past Recipients

YearThesis TopicRecipient NameAffiliation
2023Power Electronics Meet Piezoelectrics: Converters, Components, and MiniaturizationJessica BolesMassachusetts Institute of Technology (USA)
High Power Lightweight Solid-state Circuit Breaker Development and Motor Drive Design for Electrified Aircraft PropulsionZhou DongUniversity of Tennessee, Knoxville (USA)
Direct Current Solid-State Circuit  Breakers: Advanced Approaches to Improve Lifetime, Safety, and ReliabilityReza KheirollahiDrexel University (USA)
Design of High-Density Filter Building Blocks for SiC-Based Three-Phase Power ConvertersRipunjoy PhukanVirginia Tech (USA)
Advanced Predictive Control for Back-to-Back Current-Source Motor Drives With Transformerless OperationCheng XueUniversity of Alberta (Canada)
2022Discrete State Event-driven Modeling and Simulation Approach for Power Electronics SystemsBochen ShiTsinghua University (China)
Wide Operating Range Resonant ConvertersMausamjeet KhatuaCornell University (USA)
Multi-Level Flying Capacitor Buck Converters with Digital-Predictive Current-Mode ControlGiovanni BonannoUniversity of Padua (Italy)
Design of MHz Power Amplifiers Using Wide Bandgap DevicesJiale XuStanford University (USA)
Stability of Wireless Power ReceiversKerui LiUniversity of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
2021Electromagnetic Model-Based Measurement, Sensing, and Detection for Wireless Power TransferSung Yul ChuUniv. of Michigan (USA)
Hard-Switched Robustness of Wide Bandgap Power Semiconductor DevicesJoseph KozakVirginia Tech (USA)
Hybrid Switched-Capacitor Power Converters: Fundamental Limits and Design TechniquesZichao YeUniv. of California, Berkeley (USA)
Impedance Modeling and Stability Analysis of Grid-Interactive ConvertersYicheng LiaoAalborg Univ. (Denmark)
Reliability Evaluation and Condition Monitoring of Wide bandgap DevicesFei YangUniv. of Texas, Dallas (USA)
2020Design Considerations for Radio Frequency Power ConvertersLei GuStanford Univ. (USA)
Mission Profile based System-Level Lifetime Prediction of Modular Multilevel ConvertersYi ZhangAalborg Univ. (Denmark)
Synchronised Control of Grid-Interactive Inverters using Stationary Frame Resonant RegulatorsAfif NazibRMIT Univ. (Australia)
Three-Layer Control Strategy for LLC Converters: Large-Signal, Small Signal, and Steady-State OperationMehdi MohammadiUniv. of British Columbia (Canada)
Torque Estimation in Permanent Magnet Synchronous MachinesMaria Martinez GomezUniv. of Oviedo (Spain)
2019Advanced Control Functionalities for Photovoltaic and Energy Storage ConvertersEmanuel SerbanUniv. of British Columbia (Canada)
High Gain DC-DC and Active Power Decoupling Techniques for Photovoltaic InvertersJinia RoyArizona State Univ. (USA)
Operational Principles and Applications of Global Synchronous Pulse Width ModulationTao XuShandong Univ. (China) / Aalborg Univ. (USA)
Sensorless Control and Commissioning of High Anisotropy Synchronous Motor DrivesPaolo PescettoPolitecnico di Torino (Italy)
Switching-Mode Power Converters For Visible Light Communication TransmittersJuan RodriguezUniv. of Oviedo (Spain)

Questions?

Please send any questions to the PELS Awards Committee.