Chairman’s Message

1st Southern Power Electronics Conference – SPEC is a discussion forum with the participation of Brazilian and international experts from industry, business and academic sectors and research laboratories in order to discuss the advances and trends of power electronics, its applications and impacts in the industry, in the economy and in the human life, and sustainability. One of the goals of the conference is to establish a forum for Countries of the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Why the establishment of this forum? Why in Brazil? Why a focus on the Southern Hemisphere? The answers to these questions have a close relation to the history and large growth of power electronics as a technology that has allowed progress in several areas. Let us explain some of those reasons.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – IEEE is an association dedicated to promote excellence in technological innovation for the benefit of mankind, and is the world largest scientific-technical association. IEEE aims to meet professionals from all areas of Electrical Engineering and Electronics, Computer and related areas of science and technology.

Currently, the IEEE is formed by several technical and scientific societies, and one of these societies is the Power Electronics Society – PELS, with more than 8,000 associated professionals from industry, universities and research centers. The IEEE-PELS leads publications and dissemination of global advances in power electronics through scientific journals with high impact factor, as the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, and scientific conferences with the participation of professionals from all over the world. The traditional Power Electronics Specialist Conference – PESC, annual conference, held from 1983 to 2008 in different cities of the world, was so big that a sub-division in conferences to different regions of the world would be inevitable. From 2009 PESC changed name to Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition – ECCE, and is held annually in almost every continent. There are ECCE North America, ECCE Europe and ECCE Asia to bring together professionals from these regions.

Southern Hemisphere countries like Brazil, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, India, Australia and South Africa lacked a Conference like ECCE for the region. Several discussions were made on IEEE-PELS, and considering the strong Brazilian Society of Power Electronics – SOBRAEP and also the growth of power electronics in Brazil and the consequent increase of experts in the field were strong reasons to choose Brazil to host the 1st Southern Power Electronics Conference – SPEC. During a general meeting of the Brazilian Power Electronics Society, in 2013, Fortaleza was chosen to host the first SPEC due to the recognized infrastructure of the city to host big events and also for being a costal city in the Northeast of Brazil, in Ceará State, with 300 days of sunshine per Year, an average annual temperature around 27ºC (80ºF) and beaches with worm water. A constant and pleasant wind makes the place ideal for sports like windsurf and surf, as well as to produce electricity from wind parks. Fortaleza has many attractions that you can discover them just being there.

SPEC is an annual international event, so the official language is English. It will be held in 2015 in Brazil, and in 2016 in New Zealand. Countries like Australia, India and Chile have expressed their interest in hosting the SPEC in future years.

The 1st SPEC will be held from November 29th to December 2nd, 2015, along with the 13th Brazilian Power Electronics Conference – 13th COBEP, and it is expected to be attended by professionals from industry and academy of several Countries, notably countries of the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth.

Fernando Luiz Marcelo Antunes
General Chair COBEP SPEC 2015