I’m on the steering committee for the IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference, having served as general chair in 2017. It’s held ever year in March (or possibly late February). It’s a bit unusual in that it has very strong academic participation AND very strong industry participation, including an exposition. At our peak, we had over 5000 attendees and over 300 exhibitors. We were growing every year, like a runaway freight train.
APEC’20 was supposed to be in New Orleans starting March 16. Those first few months of 2020 were pretty crazy, with meetings several times a week to figure out what to do. We finally had to pull the plug, in a manner that was unsatisfying to everyone involved. Like the train crash in Back to the Future III.
In 2021, we had hoped to be able to hold it in Phoenix as planned, and even shifted to June in hopes that the COVID status would improve, but again were unable to gather in person. (I’m not going to lie—I wasn’t looking forward to JUNE in Phoenix!) I was the mastermind behind THE BEST VIRTUAL APEC EVER! And, Lord willing, the only one. We had decent engagement, probably the best of any virtual conference, but it just wasn’t the same.
Last week, we had our first real conference of the pandemic, in Houston. All of our metrics were around the 60% point—2900 attendees, 220 exhibitors, etc. We had little to no attendance from Asia (especially China). Basically, we have experienced a ten-year setback. Hopefully, the growth over the next few years is quick so that we can return to pre-pandemic size in fewer than ten years, but we shall see.
Still: IT WAS AWESOME! Seeing all my colleagues again. Having a long conversation over (non-alcoholic) beer. Short, casual connections with lots of people. Seeing what’s going on in industry—new products, companies I had forgotten, mergers and spin-offs. Rejuvenating my creativity in the technical presentations.
I’m not known as a people-person. I’m an introvert, and conferences exhaust me. I hate travel, too. But I love going to APEC every year, and I hope to never miss one again. Really, what makes it special is the people. Having spent the first decade of my career in industry (including a start-up) makes me value the perspective that practicing engineers have. The ones who come to APEC are engineers who are dedicated to their craft. Like academics, they strive to understand the limits of technology while pushing them a little bit further in service of their project goals.
Most importantly, they are my community. We all need to feel like we are part of something bigger than ourselves. I’m a member of several different communities: my university, my church, my town, Steelers fans, elk hunters, etc. APEC gives me an opportunity to transcend geography and connect with people who share a love of power electronics, a goal of improving efficiency and cost-effectiveness of everything from handheld devices to electric vehicles to solar energy to satellites. Going to APEC, wherever it is held, feels like going home.
Can’t wait ‘til APEC’23 in Orlando!