Vote for the election of members to the DEIS Administrative Committee (AdCom) for a Three-Year Term 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2022.
The IEEE DEIS Bylaws provide that six new members shall be elected annually to the Administrative Committee. For the 2019 AdCom Member-at-Large election, we have eleven candidates listed on the ballot. The DEIS AdCom Member-at-Large election ends on October 16, 2019. The button directly below will take you to the ballot.
Update: Voting is now closed.
Bios and candidate statements are below:
KEVIN ALEWINE (AM’01-M’09-SM’17) has been involved with wind generation technologies for many years while focusing his 40+year career on electrical insulation systems and materials for rotating machines, transformers and electronic applications. He is currently the director of technical sales for Shermco Industries Machine Services Division. Additionally, he serves as the lead for insulation systems and new technologies development for Shermco. Kevin is active on several IEEE standards working groups and is the general chair for the IEEE DEIS sponsored 2019 Electrical Insulation Conference. He is a past chair of the American Wind Energy Association O&M Committee focusing on improving the reliability and profitability of wind energy projects. He led the team developing the initial and 2nd editions of their Recommended Practices for Wind Project Operations and Maintenance, published in 2013 and 2017, respectively. Additionally, he was the technical program chair for the AWEA Windpower 2014 conference. Kevin has authored multiple papers and webinars for both IEEE and AWEA and is often featured in industry publications including North American Windpower, Windpower Engineering and Development, Wind Systems, Power Magazine and the NETAWorld Journal. Kevin is a senior member of IEEE. In non-business experience, Kevin has also served on the boards of directors for several non-profit arts organizations.
Statement: As a member at large for the DEIS ADCOM, I would bring a wide range of business and technical experience as well as offering support for various marketing endeavors. I also have a strong background working with both volunteer organizations and paid staff structures. Additionally, my employer continues to offer strong support for my involvement with non-profit industry associations. I would be glad to help in anyway needed.
ISTVAN DENES (M’18) is a senior expert of the Robert Bosch GmbH, responsible for the team: CT3 Connectivity – Functional Integration of Sensors. In 2010-2015 he coordinated various corporate activities as well as publicly funded projects on electroactive polymers. His research field concerns the technological and economic aspects of polymer based electro-mechanical systems. He got his M.Sc. in mechanical engineering and holding a Ph.D. in power electronics being supervised by the IEEE Fellow Prof. Istvan Nagy. In 2012 he was completing his studies at the Steinbeis Business Academy receiving the MBA title. He has been granted the Scholarship of the Hungarian Republic in 1998-2000. He is a Bosch delegate in the SEMICON Europa/Flex conference committee. He is a member of the European Scientific Network forArtificial Muscles (ESNAM), referee for project proposals of the funding announcement of the German Ministry of Science “InnovativeElektrochemie” in 2016 and of the announcement “Ingenieurs Nachwuchs” in 2017.
Statement: Bosch considers solid-state LIDAR as a key technology for self-driving cars – besides RADAR and video. For the assembly and the interconnection of such systems, System-in-Package (SiP) technologies with Wafer-Level Packaging (WLP) and Panel Level Packaging (PLP) will play an essential role. Especially PLP shows potential for the cost-effective upscaling of the production of RF millimeter-wave and microwave electronic systems, requiring very precise control of the properties of the relevant electrical-insulation materials. A detailed understanding of the essential dielectric properties is required along the whole production chain. SiP concepts are used for assembly and interconnection of the sensors with integration of the high- and low-frequency circuitry into one unit. Important challenges are the identification and the characterisation of adequate dielectric materials for SiP. Bosch also works on several electro-active transducer materials for sensors and actuators including e.g. dielectric elastomers (electro- electrets) and some of their device applications. Here again, it is essential to know and to accurately predict the behavior and the long- term stability of the respective materials in real devices. This includes electrical breakdown, aging and fatigue of the electro-active dielectric materials, and materials and device technologies for improving the performance of the new sensors and actuators on the basis of soft electro-active dielectrics.
Therefore if elected I will focus my efforts:
- on bringing together experts both from the field of Assembly and Interconnection Technologies(AIT) and from the field of dielectric materials science and engineering under the roof of the DEIS,
- to encourage interaction between the industrial and the academic professionals within DEIS in order to highlight new approaches for the measurement and interpretation of the relevant material properties,
- to make available these and other related new approaches not only for the practicing researchers and engineers, but – through conferences, publications and education activities – also for the younger generation within the DEIS.
I hope that you will vote for me as an industrial dielectrician with a strong research background and with the desire to advance DEIS as a place where dielectricians from industry, from academia and from the public and private R&D sector can communicate, collaborate and find mutually beneficial synergies.
ISSOUF FOFANA (M’05-SM’09) joined the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC), Quebec, Canada in 2000, first as an Associate Researcher and now as a Professor. Dr. Fofana has held the Canada Research Chair on insulating liquids and mixed dielectrics for electrotechnology (ISOLIME) from 2005 to 2015. He is actually holding the Research Chair on the Aging of Power Network Infrastructure (ViAHT), director of the MODELE laboratory and director of the International Research Centre on Atmospheric Icing and Power Network Engineering (CenGivre) at UQAC. Professor Fofana is an accredited professional engineer in the province of Quebec and an elected Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). He is actively involved in the area of High Voltage engineering with emphases on the insulation diagnostic and modelling relevant to power equipment. He is an associate editor for IET Power Transmission and Distribution, Electrical Engineering (Springer), member of working groups (CIGRE and ASTM). He has published more than 280 papers in journals and conferences
Statement: It always has been my pleasure to volunteer in the area of dielectrics and electrical insulation. I have been active for the Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena (CEIDP) as a member of the executive committee from 2013 to 2015, as a member of the technical program committee since 2008, and as a Board member (2016 to 2020). In addition, I am serving as a member of the International Scientific/Advisory Committees of few IEEE DEIS-sponsored or technically sponsored conferences: ICHVE since 2015, ICDL since 2008 and CATCON since 2017. I also served as associate Editor of the DEIS flagship journal (2016-2019) and chair of the DEIS TC on Liquid Dielectrics. If re-elected as a member-at-large to the DEIS AdCom, I will continue representing the DEIS membership and improving the exchange between DEIS and its membership, helping to increase the membership and attracting students and young engineers to the society. I am also committing myself to be an active participate of AdCom.
ALLEN L. GARNER (S’02-M’06-SM’13) received the B.S. degree (with high honors) in nuclear engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 1996. He received an M.S.E. in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1997, an M.S. in electrical engineering from Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, in 2003, and a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 2006. He was an active duty Naval officer from December 1997 to December 2003, serving onboard the USS Pasadena (SSN 752) and as an instructor of the Prospective Nuclear Engineering Officer course at Submarine Training Facility, Norfolk VA. He is currently selected for promotion to Captain in the United States Navy Reserves. From 2006 to 2012, he was an electromagnetic physicist at GE Global Research Center, Niskayuna, NY. Since August 2012, he has been an Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. His research interests include the application of pulsed power and plasmas for studies of biodielectrics, gas breakdown at microscale and nanoscale, and directed energy technologies. In 2016, he also served as a Summer Faculty Fellow at Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Prof. Garner received a University of Michigan Reagents’ Fellowship and a National Defence Science and Engineering GraduateFellowship. He has been awarded two Meritorious Service Medals, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and five Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. He was the Session Chair for the Biological, Medical, and Environmental session in the 2012 IEEE International Power Modulator and High Voltage Conference (IPMHVC), Publications Chair for the 2014 IPMHVC, Technical Chair for the 2016 IPMHVC, and Treasurer for the 2018 IPMHVC. He also received the 2016 IEEE NPSS Early Achievement Award. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Michigan.
Statement: I would like to leverage my experience from industry, government, academia, and IEEE conference preparation to ensure that we provide beneficial, cost-effective services to our membership.
MONA GHASSEMI (GSM’07-M’12’-AF’13-M’14-SM’16) received her M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees both with the first honor in electrical engineering (power system and high voltage engineering) from the University of Tehran, Iran in 2007 and 2012, respectively. She spent two years researching as Postdoctoral Fellow at high voltage laboratory of NSERC/Hydro-Quebec/UQAC Industrial Chair on Atmospheric Icing of Power Network Equipment (CIGELE) and Canada Research Chair on Power Network Atmospheric Icing Engineering (INGIVRE), University of Quebec at Chicoutimi (UQAC), QC, Canada from 2013 to 2015. She also was Postdoctoral Fellow at the Electrical Insulation Research Center (EIRC) of Institute of Materials Science (IMS) at the University of Connecticut from 2015-2017. In 2017, Dr. Ghassemi joined the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech (VT)) as an assistant professor and a member of VT’s Power and Energy Center (PEC) and Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES). Her research interests include electrical insulation materials and systems, high field technology, Multiphysics modeling, and electromagnetic transients in power systems. Dr. Ghassemi is a registered Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) in the Province of Ontario, Canada since 2015, Associate Editor of IET High Voltage Journal, and Associate Editor of International Journal of Electrical Engineering Education. She is member of two CIGRE working groups (JWG C6/B4.37 and D1.74). Her activities in Technical Committees include Program Committee member of IWIPP 2019, ESTS 2019 and ECCE 2019 as well as Session Chair of the mentioned conferences and EIC 2019. She published more than 60 refereed journal and conference papers and one book chapter and has served as reviewer for several IEEE Trans. including TDEI, PWRD, TPS, TPEL as well as other international journals.
Statement: Emerging high voltage, high-density wide bandgap (WBG)-based power electronics generating fast, repetitive voltage pulses pose a severe threat to existing insulation systems. Although this is the most significant barrier to realizing WBG-based conversion systems envisaged in more/all electric aircraft, ships, trains, vehicles, and power grids, it provides new opportunities for future research for DEIS. Thus, one way for DEIS growth is a collaboration with other IEEE Societies such as Power Electronics Society (PELS) and Industry Application Society (IAS). In this regard, I involved in managing IWIPP 2019, which is a new periodic conference co-sponsored by DEIS, PELS, IAS, and Electronics Packaging Society. If elected, my efforts will be to strengthen our society by connecting with other societies; better introducing and advertising DEIS activities; developing joint working groups, conferences, meetings, and workshops; and bringing young new people to our community. I would like to promote the IEEE DEIS among students and young professionals. In this regard, some of my plans are to encourage DEIS’s conference organizing committees to consider more roles for our new fresh blood as session chairs, technical committee, etc.; increasing the number of best paper awards in DEIS conferences and journals; and increasing the number of student fellowships.
NORIMITSU ICHIKAWA (M’06-SM’12) was born in Yamagata, Japan in February 1978. He received a B.Eng. degree from the Kogakuin University, Shinjuku, Japan, in 2000, the M.Eng., and Ph.D. degrees from the Shibaura Institute of Technology, Koto, Japan in 2002 and 2008, respectively. He was a Ph.D. candidate with the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Japan, from 2002 to 2005. From 2004 to 2005, he was a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. From 2005 to 2009, he was a Researcher with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (formerly National Institute of Industrial Safety). Since 2012, he has been an Associate Professor with the Kogakuin University, where he was an Assistant Professor from 2009 to 2012. His current research interests are in the field of electrical safety, electrostatics, and electrical discharge. He is a senior member of IEEE and IEEJ, and member of the Institute of Electrical Installation Engineers of Japan (IEIEJ), and the Institute of Electrostatics Japan (IEJ). He is an Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Biomedical Systems & Emerging Technology (former, Automatic Control of Physiological State and Function). He was a Chairperson of the technical committee on the Smart Facility (SMF) of the industry applications society of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan (IEEJ). He serves on the IEC TC81 and TC85 Standards Committee.
Statement: I am fully aware of responsibilities and commitments of the AdCom member. I am willing to contribute to the IEEE DEIS and perform the AdCom member’s obligations. The DEIS is one of the prestigious societies and its society is supported by manyvolunteers. The AdCom is one of the most important committees of the DEIS since its decisions affect not only the operation of the DEIS, but also its members. One of the main responsibilities of the AdCom is to make decisions in such a way that the DEIS will achieve its objectives as stated in its constitution. Hence, it would be the responsibility of each member-at-large of the AdCom to make positive contributions for the accomplishment of the objectives and goals of the DEIS. This would require the AdCom members to be dedicated and to act in a responsible way in order to grow the DEIS. I am also well-aware that the participation of teleconference etc. in the AdCom meetings is important since many decisions of the DEIS are made in these meetings collectively. I serve as a volunteer in several positions, including as an Editor-in-Chief, the chairperson, the secretary for journals and committees. If elected as a Member-at-Large to IEEE DEIS AdCom, I would use my experience to serve and represent the DEIS membership to the best of my ability. Expansion of the society, long term sustainability, promoting collaborative studies, and education and training of young engineers will be among my objectives.
MASATAKE KAWADA (M’00) received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Musashi Institute of Technology, which is presently Tokyo City University, Japan, in 1993 and 1995 respectively, and his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Osaka University, Japan, in 1998. He was an assistant professor at Nagoya Institute of Technology from 1998 to 2002, and then joined Tokushima University in 2002, where he is currently a professor. From 2005 to 2006 he was a visiting scholar at the University of Southern California, USA. He teaches electric power systems, power generation and transformation, and electromagnetic compatibility in power systems in English at Tokushima University, seeking ways to better provide an understanding of electric power engineering for students and giving them opportunities to notice that a global view is required. He has been a member of the IEEE for 20 years since 2000 and the IEEE DEIS for 16 years since 2004. His research interests lie in the development of diagnostic techniques using radio sensing and advanced signal processing techniques for power equipment in power and railway systems. In recent years he has mainly studied insulation diagnostic techniques for ground coils of the superconducting magnetic levitation (Maglev) systems.
Statement: I have presented my research results at the IEEE Electrical Insulation Conference or International Symposium on Electrical Insulation every year since 2008, that is, the IEEE DEIS is my home ground and from now on too. Through attending the international conferences held by the IEEE DEIS, I could build a global network across borders with members and have been inspired to do research at a higher level. I would like to play a part in growing the IEEE DEIS more fruitful and creating environment to do international collaborative works more active, e.g. by exchanging students, researchers, and/or engineers between universities, research institutions, and/or companies. Thank you for considering voting me into the Administrative Committee of the IEEE DEIS.
BEHZAD KORDI (M’06-SM’12) received the B.Sc. (with distinction), M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees all in electrical engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran, in 1992, 1995, and 2000, respectively. During 1998 and 1999, he was with the Lightning Studies Group at the University of Toronto, Canada. In 2002, he joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Manitoba, Canada where he is currently a full professor and the director of McMath High Voltage Laboratory. His research interests include high voltage engineering and applied electromagnetics. His high-voltage expertise is centered on remote condition monitoring of high voltage apparatus and systems, lightning simulation and modeling, and high voltage transmission lines and cables. He is nationally and internationally recognized for his research work on lightning studies. The combination of his expertise in high voltage apparatus condition monitoring and applied electromagnetics makes him an emerging leader in the development of novel, efficient, remote condition monitoring systems for high voltage apparatus. Dr. Kordi was the chair of URSI Canada Commission E in 2012-2013. He is an active member of a number of Cigré working groups. Dr. Kordi is a registered professional engineer in the province of Manitoba and was the recipient of 2012 IEEE EMC Richard B. Schulz best transactions paper award. He has authored/co-authored over 100 scientific papers published in technical/scientific journals or presented at international conferences. He has contributed to the training of over 30 students and postdoctoral fellow. Since 2017, he has been a member of IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society Administrative Committee. Dr. Kordi is an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation.
Statement: During the past few years that I have been a member of the Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society of IEEE, I have found this membership very rewarding. The Society members and researchers that I have had the opportunity to meet at the Society’sAdministrative Committee (AdCom) meetings, conferences, and other occasions always show great enthusiasm in what they do and provide support to their fellow members. In the coming years, need for more reliable electric power and the emergence of new areas in technology that are related to dielectrics and insulation systems will pose new challenges to the Society. If re-elected as a member ofthe Society’s Administrative Committee (AdCom), I will use the skills and knowledge I have gained throughout the years that I have been involved with other societies and scientific/technical groups to make our Society stronger to meet the requirements of the 21st century. Expansion of the society, enhanced visibility, long term sustainability, promoting collaborative studies, and education and training of young engineers will be among my objectives.
ALI A. RAZI-KAZEMI (S’11-AM’13-M’17-SM’19) received his B.Sc. in electrical engineering from K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran in 2007, and M.Sc. (Hons.) in electric power engineering from University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, in 2009, and the Ph.D. degree in electric power engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran in 2013. He was a researcher at Aalto University, Espoo, Finland during 2013-2014. He is an Associate Professor at K. N. Toosi University of Technology (KNTU), Iran, Tehran. He is currently a research Fellow at Aberdeen University, Aberdeen, UK. He has also been elevated to Senior member IEEE since 2018. His main interests include breakdown in high-pressure gas, arcing models, transients in power systems, condition monitoring of power components.
FEIPING WANG (M’15) received his PhD degree from Tongji University, China in 2007. After his research activity in the University of Potsdam and Fraunhofer IAP (both in Germany) from 2007 to 2013, he joined as a professor in the department of High Voltage and Insulation Technology of Chongqing University, China. Currently, he (mainly focus on Asia-Pacific region) is the Co-Chair of the IEEE-DEIS Membership and Chapters Committee, the Board Member and the member of Technical Program Committee of IEEE CEIDP, the member of the International Scientific Committee of IEEE ICHVE and CNCE. He is contributing to CIGRE WG B2.69 on the subject of Coatings for Power Network Equipment. In 2016, he organized the IEEE ICHVE conference as the Conference Secretary & Chair of Local Organization Committee and will chair the CNCE 2020 conference. From 2016 to 2020, he works on organization of Sino-German Symposium of Functional Dielectric Materials. He is working as the Editorial Board member for IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine. His research foci include solid and liquid insulation dielectrics and functional dielectric systems for sensors and actuators. He has published more than 100 contributions on peer reviewed journals and international conferences.
Statement: I would like to join AdCom as a member-at-large to bring more students and young professionals to DEIS, which is vital for the growth of our society and the development of members. This should be better visible and practicable to find space and chance for young members to contribute themselves, and with contributions being valued properly. As the region-R10 Chair of DEIS Membership and Chapters Committee, besides the focus that encouraging young students and scholars to participate with DEIS affairs, my other effort is to develop incentives for students to stay as professional members and to initiate DEIS Chapters and the organization of DEIS student Chapters. One example is that I am setting up the DEIS Chongqing Chapter, with this goal in mind.
QIMING ZHANG (M’97-SM’99-F’07) received a BS in physics from Nanjing University, China, and his Ph. D. from the Penn State University in 1986. He joined the Penn State Materials Research Laboratory in 1991 as a research faculty, conducting research in ferroelectric materials and related devices, and joined the electrical engineering department of Penn State in 1996 as an associate professor of electric engineering. Currently, he is a Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. The research areas in his group include fundamentals and applications of electronic and electroactive materials. Since joining Penn State, he has conducted research covering a broad range of dielectric materials and devices for electrocaloric effect and solid state refrigeration, energy storage, film capacitor technology, energy harvesting, ferroelectric polymer actuators and sensors. He is an IEEE Fellow and a Fellow of American Physical Society. He has over 450 publications and has an h- index of 80 (google scholar). He was the general chair of 15th International Symposium on Electrets, held in Baltimore in Aug. 2014, and was the guest editor for the special issue of IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulators: Electrets and Related Phenomena (Vol. 22(3), 2015).
Statement: I would like to be considered for AdCom Member-at-Large of DEIS. Rapid advancement in the clean and renewable energy technologies and energy storage technologies places great demands on better dielectric and electric insulation materials, and better understanding of material phenomena related to electric energy storage and insulation at high electric fields, which also provide great opportunities for the industries and academia for which this society serves. After serving as the general chair for ISE-15 in 2014, I feel that the society faces challenges and also has great opportunities to expand its activities to and integrate them with emerging technology areas, such as energy harvesting for mobile devices, wearable devices, and big data and machine/deep learning, so that our journal impact factor can be improved, our society can attract graduate students and young researchers (new faces), and R&D results in our area can be published in highly visible journals. My research experience on broad range of dielectric and electric insulation materials and devices and my many years of services to IEEE will be valuable in serving the AdCom of DEIS.
