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the 39th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES) (IECON 2013) was

held on 10–13 November 2013, at Aus-tria Centre Vienna in historic Vienna, Austria (Figure 1). This conference was a special occasion as it is the IES’s flagship conference.

Vienna is best known for its long cultural history and attractions. The classical style of music originated and flourished among composers liv-ing in Vienna such as Beethoven, Mo-zart, and Strauss, earning the city its title as the “capital of classical music.”

Famous for its seamless blend of ba-roque architectural history and art nouveau, the city is filled with impres-sive palaces, art museums, and other historical and contemporary cultural attractions. In modern times, Vienna has become an industry, research, and academia link between western, central, and eastern European coun-tries. During IECON 2013, the world industry, research, and academia participated in the wealth of presenta-tions, tutorials, special sessions, and social activities in addition to enjoy-ing historical and beautiful Vienna.

Following in the footsteps of the previous editions and focusing on in-dustrial and manufacturing theory and

applications of electronics, controls, communications, instrumentation, and computational intelligence, the pur-pose of IECON 2013 is to promote ac-tivities in various areas of industrial electronics by providing a forum for the exchange of ideas, presentation of tech-nical achievements, and discussion of future directions. IECON 2013 brought together an international community of experts to discuss the new state-of-the-art research results, perspectives of future developments, and innovative ap-plications relevant to power electronics and energy conversion, renewable ener-gy and sustainable development, power systems, electronic system on chip and real-time embedded control, signal and

the IES is soliciting nominations for the following Society awards. The deadline for nominations is

1 May 2014. For more details, includ-ing eligibility, prize, and nomination procedures, please refer to the award specifications at http://ieee-ies.org/index.php/about/awards/ or make an inquiry at awards@ieee-ies.org. Please submit the nomination form and refer-ence forms to the IEEE IES Awards and

Honors Committee Chair Prof. Hiroma-sa Haneda at awards@ieee-ies.org.

Dr.-Ing. Eugene Mittelmann Achievement AwardThis award is offered to a member with outstanding contributions to the field of industrial electronics.

Anthony J. Hornfeck Service AwardThis award is offered to a member with outstanding meritorious services to the IEEE IES.

Bimal Bose Award for Industrial Electronics Applications in Energy SystemsThis award is newly established in 2014. It is offered to a young re-searcher member with outstanding contributions to the field of industrial electronics applied to power electron-ics and energy systems.

J. David Irwin Early Career AwardThis award is offered to an early ca-reer member with significant contri-butions to the advancement of the field of industrial electronics.

IEcon 2013—the largest IEcon Ever

call for IEs awards nominations

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MIE.2014.2305900

Date of publication: 19 March 2014

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MIE.2014.2305894

Date of publication: 19 March 2014

64 IEEE IndustrIal ElEctronIcs magazInE ■  March 2014

image processing and computational intelligence, electrical machines and drives; control systems and applica-tions, sensors, actuators, and systems integration, mechatronics and robot-ics, factory automation and industrial informatics, information processing and communications, and related areas.

IECON 2013 was the largest IECON ever, with the largest industry forum and industrial exhibition (Figure 2), and the most contributed papers, high-qual-ity tutorials, student events, countries represented, and side events. It was a truly interdisciplinary and international conference and the leading event in the field. IECON 2013 offered the largest variety of papers and presentations de-scribing original work on abstractions,

algorithms, theories, methodologies, and case studies in the area of industrial electronics. IECON 2013 had 1,983 pa-pers submitted from more than 80 coun-tries. From these, 1,350 papers were orally presented after first going through a rigorous review process, followed by a quality control process conducted by the Program Committee. The technical program consisted of two keynote talks, an Industrial Forum, a Student Forum, 311 technical sessions in 12 tracks (plus 66 special sessions), and 12 tutorials.

The technical activities were made even more memorable by the carefully planned social program. Around 1,000 attendees filled the welcome recep-tion on 10 November at the Vienna City Hall (Figure 3), which was hosted by

the city of Vienna. The wonderful food and live music was a sign of the great hospitality that would be enjoyed by all throughout the conference. Confer-ence attendees enjoyed buffet lunches daily. During the banquet (Figure 4), a keynote address was delivered by the rector of the Technical University of Vienna, Prof. Sabine Seidler (Figure 5). The warm fellowship of the evening was punctuated by the beautiful epony-mous music and dances of Vienna, and many took to the dance floor for a re-laxing moment. Finally, the music and cheer of the closing party reminded all in attendance that Vienna and the IES community have a bright future.

Dr. Gerald Deboy (INFINEON Austria) delivered the open-ing keynote “Challenges and System Solution for Maximizing Energy Effi-ciency in SMPS and PV Applications” (Figure 6) to a packed auditorium. The presentation and follow-up dis-cussions covered a broad spectrum of technological issues that confront energy management using switched-mode power supplies in renewable energy systems. Deboy reviewed achievements from semiconductor devices to system-level scenarios for power distribution topologies and dis-tributed management. This presenta-tion truly touched numerous facets of IES technical interests.

The Industry Forum hosted seven sessions over two days, which ex-plored the potential of industrial electronics technologies from the perspective of practicing engineers. Industry speakers discussed technol-ogy state of the art, future directions, and challenges in five categories: 1) cloud computing for industrial automation, 2) advances in cyber-security for industrial infrastructure, 3) advances in electric vehicle sys-tems, 4) smart grid developments and demonstration projects, and 5) light-emitting diode lighting advances.

Several additional technical events were concurrent with IECON 2013. The theme, “Engineering Education in Sus-tainable Development,” was carried by the Seventh International Confer-ence on e-Learning in Industrial Elec-tronics. Second, a one-day workshop

FIGUrE 1 – From left, IEcON 2013 Program chair Peter Palensky, head of the austrian Institute of Technology (aIT) Energy Department Brigitte Bach, and IES President Gerard capolino.

FIGUrE 2 – attendees having discussions during the industrial exhibition.

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[International Workshop on Intelligent Energy Systems (IWIES)] brought to-gether academia, industry, standard-ization, and public policy makers to discuss developments and concepts for the increasingly complex intelligent energy system or smart grid. Finally, there was a special invitation-only tour hosted by the energy department of the Austrian Institute of Technol-ogy (AIT). Participants toured the new Smart Electricity System Technology (SmartEST) laboratory, which offers a unique R&D environment for issues of large-scale distributed energy integra-tion and smart grid applications. The tour included dinner, talks, and an eve-ning in the city center.

The conference was not merely a big conference—we are especially proud that this event also achieved “Green Meeting” certification for its sustainable operations, including food from local farmers, electricity from re-newable sources, sophisticated waste management, and the use of public transport. The vibrancy and success of IECON 2013 was the direct outcome of outstanding volunteer efforts from the organizing and program commit-tee, thousands of reviewers, and all participants. We are deeply indebted and grateful for the contributions of key local cosponsors: the AIT, the Vienna University of Technology, as well as corporate support from Infi-neon Technologies and the Kapsch Group. We would also like to thank the

FIGUrE 3 – attendees at the welcome reception.

FIGUrE 4 – The ballroom atmosphere during the conference banquet.

FIGUrE 5 – Vienna University of Technol-ogy rector Sabine Seidler during the dinner speech.

FIGUrE 6 – From left: IES President-Elect John hung, Dr. Gerald Deboy, and Program chair Peter Palensky.

66 IEEE IndustrIal ElEctronIcs magazInE ■  March 2014

keynote speakers, invited speakers, and authors for their participation and attendance. See you at IECON 2014 in Dallas, Texas.

—IEEE IECON 2013 General ChairsDietmar Dietrich (AUSTRIA), John

Y. Hung (USA), and Ren C. Luo (TAIWAN)

—IEEE IECON 2013 Program ChairsPeter Palensky (AUSTRIA), Luis

Gomes (PORTUGAL), and Mo-Yuen Chow (USA)

call for 2014 aBB lifetime contribution to Factory automation award nominations

nominations are sought for the 2014 ABB Lifetime Contribu-tion to Factory Automation

Award. The award was founded by ABB Corporate Research and the IEEE IES Technical Committee on Factory Auto-mation. This award is presented to indi-viduals in grateful recognition of their lifetime contribution to the factory and industrial automation field and for

meritorious technical contribution and technical leadership. The award pre-sentation ceremony takes place at the annual IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation.

The nomination should include the title, name, and affiliation of

the nominee; a description of the nominee’s contribution to the field (a minimum of 500 words); and any additional supporting material. In addition, please provide the contact address and a short biography of the nominee (no fewer than 300 words).

Please submit the nomination ma-terial by 15 May 2014 to the chair, ABB LCFA Award Committee, at abb_lcfaa@iestcfa.org. For more information on the award, please visit the Web site: http://iestcfa.org.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MIE.2014.2305901

Date of publication: 19 March 2014

call for nominations for IEEE Power medal

nominations are invited for the IEEE Medal in Power Engineer-ing for outstanding contribu-

tions in power technologies (power engineering, power electronics, etc.). It is the highest award for power engineers in the IEEE and consists of a gold medal, a bronze replica, an honorarium, and a certificate. The award is sponsored by

four IEEE Societies: the IEEE Power & En-ergy Society, the IEEE Power Electronics Society, the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, and the IEEE Industry Applica-tions Society. Details about the award can be found at http://www.ieee.org/about/awards/medals/ poweng.html.

The nominations and the endorse-ment letters (three to five) are to be submitted electronically to the IEEE Awards Department (awards@ieee.org) by 1 July 2014.

Medal Committee Members ■ Bimal K. Bose,

chair ■ Leopoldo G. Franquelo,

vice chair ■ Hirofumi Akagi ■ Prabha S. Kundur ■ Kouki Matsuse ■ Daleep C. Mohla ■ Hugh Rudnick ■ David D. Shipp ■ Maria Ines Valla.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MIE.2014.2305893

Date of publication: 19 March 2014