LEADER'S CORNER

A President's Itinerary

Meeting challenges head on
Hans B. (Teddy) Püttgen

 
As you read this message, my term as IEEE Power Engineering Society (PES) president will be ending. I would like to seize this opportunity to share some of the highlights of the past two years and also draw some broad conclusions. I will do so through the following diary of events and meetings I attended on behalf of PES.

January 2004: San Francisco

The PES Governing Board met in San Francisco, California. This was the occasion to integrate new faces and roles: President-Elect John McDonald, Treasurer Al Rotz, Secretary Noel Schulz, Membership and Chapters Vice President Enrique Tejera, Technical Information Services Vice President Mani Venkata, and Education and Industrial Activities Vice President Vijay Vittal. Malcolm Thaden joined as Member-at-Large while Brian Lee came on board as Regions 1–7 representative. With this "rookie" crew, it was good to rely on the experience of Past President John Estey and Executive Director Robert Dent.

In San Francisco, we also had the opportunity to meet with the Local Organizing Committee of the 2005 General Meeting.

February 2004: Savannah

I attended my first IEEE Technical Activities Board (TAB) series in my role as president of PES. I will return to these meetings later. For now, it is sufficient to say that I left a bit incredulous as to how large, complex, and drawn out these meetings are.

April 2004: Charleston and Washington, D.C.

The PES Executive Committee (ExCom) met in the charming city of Charleston, South Carolina. This spring meeting is generally devoted to the next year's budget. Fortunately, the PES financial outlook is brighter as "central" IEEE gets its finances in order. After a few years of very restricted opportunity, we can envision new initiatives, such as digitizing our intellectual property (IP), that is, all past published materials. The impact of electronic access to our IP was also discussed.

Together with our sister Societies Power Electronics Society (PELS), Industry Applications Society (IAS), and Social Implications of Technology (SSIT), PES organized a two-day specialized (or "boutique") meeting on the hydrogen economy. Held in Washington D.C., the meeting was targeted at legislators, public officials, and their staffs. It provided an objective and technically sound presentation of the pros and cons of the hydrogen economy without overburdening the audience with technical details.

The meeting, organized under the leadership of Saifur Rahman, was a true success. Based on this venture into smaller and highly focused meetings, we decided to offer similar types of events dealing with ship electrical systems (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in July 2005) and with wind energy integration (Washington, D.C., in May 2006). PES will continue to work with its sister Societies to offer such focused meetings when applicable.

June 2004: Denver and Kansas City

The PES General Meeting was held in Denver, Colorado, followed by the inaugural meeting in Toronto, Canada. While the Toronto meeting occurred in July and under difficult conditions due to the SARS situation, the Denver edition was held in June, that is, closer to the intended date for the event. The veteran Denver Committee put on a first-rate production. Two initiatives got under way in Denver.
  • I met with a group of individuals interested in launching activities and creating a formal structure to address the many issues related to the integration of wind power into modern power systems (the focus of this issue of IEEE Power & Energy Magazine). This marked the beginning of what has led to the creation of a formal committee within the Technical Activities Department and also to the decision to hold the Washington meeting on this subject.
  • A panel session was held to discuss various issues related to ethics in our profession, followed by a formal meeting on the topic later that year. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)'s William Hederman played a key role in launching this important topic.
The Governing Board held its second meeting of the year in Denver. The topic of electronic access to our publications received significant scrutiny, driven by the IEEE decision to allot revenues derived from publication activities based on the content published electronically and on actual material downloads instead of on the number of pages printed.

I attended the IEEE/TAB series in Kansas City, Missouri, and my sense of bewilderment was not abated. One of the worthwhile activities during these meeting marathons is the meeting we regularly hold with our IEEE sister Societies: PELS, IAS, Industrial Electronics Society, and SSIT. During these meetings, we construct collaborative activities such as boutique meetings for the benefit of all of our members.

August 2004: Paris

I attended the CIGRE meeting in Paris, France. CIGRE has completed an extraordinary task in fully reorganizing and restructuring its study committees (what we refer to as technical committees). PES should take good note of this effort; it is indeed time for us to consider undertaking a similar task.

October 2004: New York and South Bend

The inaugural offering of the Power Systems Conference and Exposition (PSCE) was held in New York City. This event, to be held during the fall of even-numbered years, replaces the PICA conference. Under the determined leadership of Organizing Committee Chair John Paserba and Technical Committee Chair Jerry Heydt, the event far exceeded expectations with almost 700 attendees and a "full house" (52 exhibitors) exposition. PSCE is off to a great start with the follow-up scheduled for 2006 in Atlanta, Georgia.

ExCom met in Piscatway, New Jersey, at IEEE headquarters, where the PES staff office is located, presenting a great opportunity to understand the many tasks they perform flawlessly and often under difficult conditions.

Along with other organizations representing various engineering disciplines, PES coorganized a two-day conference dealing with ethics in the engineering profession. The event was held on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. The conference, which benefited from the support of FERC in general and William Hederman in particular, was highly successful with several electric utility chief executive officers and top managers providing very interesting presentations.

November 2004: Shanghai, Sao Paulo, San Antonio, and Singapore

The first 24 days of November turned out to be rather hectic!

At the invitation of the Chinese Society of Electrical Engineers (CSEE), I gave two keynote talks at the World Engineering Conference (WEC), which is cosponsored by many engineering professional organizations under the auspices of UNESCO. Shanghai is an amazing city where "old" China collides with "new" China, and it is a city bursting at the seams. The WEC, attended by several thousand, was held in a conference facility the like of which exists at only a few other locations. During one of the plenary sessions, I shared the podium with high-level officials describing ongoing electric power development projects in China. The scale of these projects is almost beyond belief. The race to satisfy the requirements of an economy growing by 10% annually and to fulfill the demands of a population whose standard of living is rapidly expanding is a challenge our industrial society has not yet witnessed.

From Shanghai, I traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil, to participate in the opening of the 2004 T&D Conference and Exposition, Latin America. This is the second time PES sponsored this event in Sao Paulo under the able leadership of Jose Jardini. Brazil is an enormous market with huge potential for electric power equipment manufacturers. It was fascinating to discuss the ecological impact of "mega" hydro projects such as Three Gorges in China and Itaipu in South America. While it is now well recognized that these projects have a real impact on local ecologies, we are also starting to suspect that they may create yet undetermined global impacts.

After a quick trip to France—to address a few "opportunities" at the European campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)—I traveled to San Antonio, Texas, to attend yet another IEEE TAB series. Another constructive meeting was a gathering of the leadership of the four largest IEEE Societies: Computer, Communications, Signal Processing, and PES. During such talks, we discuss common interests and coordinate responses to topics addressed at the meetings.

From San Antonio, I was on to Singapore to participate in the plenary session of PowerCon, PES's anchor meeting in the Asia Pacific region. PowerCon, presented in the fall of every even-numbered year, is cosponsored by PES and CSEE. As is with all Singapore events, the meeting was a flawless success and very well attended. Student participation and involvement was excellent.

January 2005: Tampa

The PES Governing Board met in Tampa, Florida. We welcomed Keith Gray as the incoming vice president for Technical Activities. This was also the opportunity to meet with the 2007 General Meeting Local Organizing Committee.

February 2005: San Francisco

The TAB series was held in San Francisco. One of the major topics was the realignment of IEEE's more than 40 Societies and Councils, presently into its ten Divisions, each represented on the IEEE Board. Currently, PES is the sole Society in Division VII, and other than PES, only the Computer and Communications Societies have Divisions solely allocated to them.

April 2005: Panama City

At the invitation of Enrique Tejera, ExCom met in Panama City. Thanks to a great visit organized for ExCom, we explored the Panama Canal, which truly is a technological marvel. Though it we also gain an appreciation for water management at a "mega" scale. We also met the dedicated Panamanian volunteers who welcomed us with open arms. We saw the need to conduct additional activities in Central America.

During the budget process, we agreed to launch the process of converting PES publications, initially back to the early 1970s and later beyond, to a digital and searchable form so they can be posted on the IEEE Xplore electronic database. As PES is rich in technical legacy, this will provide a significant benefit to our members while securing additional income under the new IEEE revenue sharing plan.

May 2005: Delft and Santiago de Chile

The University of Delft, The Netherlands, at the encouragement of several local utilities, is launching a new research and development (R&D) center, KSANDR, which has similar aims and objectives to the NEETRAC activity I direct at Georgia Tech. It is interesting to note that utilities in Europe, reacting to new market dynamics driven by de-/re-regulation, are starting to seek ways to outsource some of their testing as well as R&D activities; this trend has been ongoing in the United States for some time. I was invited, in my role as PES president, to give a keynote address during the inaugural ceremony at the University of Delft.

At the urging of IEEE's traveling ambassador, Ted Hissey, I responded to an invitation and presented a keynote address during an official event of the national association of manufacturers in Peru, with which IEEE had signed an agreement. During my brief stay, I met with the local IEEE and PES volunteers. They are a great group; they very much want PES to be more active in Peru and Latin America. We should further pursue the idea of creating a conference, similar to PowerTech or PowerCon, which could rotate between countries.

June 2005: San Francisco, Chantilly, and St. Petersburg

The PES General Meeting was held in San Francisco. A seminal moment occurred during the Awards Luncheon, where I had the pleasure and honor of announcing a contribution to the PES Awards Endowment Fund in memory of John Pope, a past president of PES and a dear friend who passed away after a courageous battle with multiple myeloma. John's wife, Kay, and daughter Elizabeth were present; it was a moment of intense emotion for all.

The Technical Activities Department also approved the creation of a special committee to coordinate all technical activities within PES related to wind power with Dick Piwko as chair.

By tradition, the PES Governing Board also meets during the General Meeting. The Board decided to energetically promote affiliate membership to individuals outside of the United States who are already members of their local professional society and wish to join PES. For such individuals, the cost for IEEE affiliation is 50% of IEEE membership dues. Also, two strategic topics were addressed:

  • At the suggestion of Pierre Bornard, Region 8 representative, realignment of Chapters in an area that includes Europe, Africa, and the Middle East will better reflect recent political evolution.
  • PES recently signed an agreement with Bullseye International in an effort to better coordinate the promotion of all of our meetings. Bullseye International will also handle all PES advertising activities; Barry LeCerf, Bullseye's chief executive officer, offered a broad overview of intended activities to the Board.
At the mid-2005 TAB meetings, in Chantilly, Maryland, the realignment of the various Societies and Councils within the ten Divisions was again discussed. PES was very much "in play." Several proposals were circulated to group PES with other Societies within one Division; after much discussion, Division VII emerged unchanged with only PES. During the TAB meeting, the proposal to create an electronic library specifically centered on PES, PELS, and IAS publications was accepted. This feature will not only enhance the visibility of our Society to nonmembers but should also eventually increase revenues.

The first PowerTech conference under full PES sponsorship occurred in St. Petersburg, Russia. Under the capable leadership of Carlo-Alberto Nucci, PowerTech, which occurs in the summer of odd-numbered years, has truly become a mature event with a strong following. Indeed, participation from outside of Europe is increasing. Again, the student participation was excellent, both in quantity and quality.

July 2005: Durban

Ever since I joined the Board, I have felt a need for PES to have a real presence in Africa. It further occurred to me that the most opportune location to launch such an initiative was in South Africa. At the suggestion of Georgia Tech colleague Ron Harley, I met with Pat Naidoo of Eskom in South Africa during the Denver meeting. Little did he know what he was about to get involved in! After a short conversation, I asked if he would "volunteer" to organize a meeting in South Africa. Pat, a gentleman of unlimited energy and contagious enthusiasm, undertook the organization of what became an outstanding event in Durban. The meeting, fully sponsored by PES, was co-organized by the Institute of Electrical Engineers of South Africa, the South African Power Pool that groups 12 countries, and by the University of Kwa Zulu Natal; the meeting was held on the university's beautiful campus. Africa is a continent of immense raw energy resources, which it intends to deploy as a major economic development tool. Now that the path as been opened, PES should endeavor to be proactive with additional Africa activities.

August 2005: Dalian

Consistent with sustained efforts to become a more global organization, we held the first Asia-Pacific T&D Conference and Exposition in 2002 in Yokohama, Japan. The next offering occurred in Dalian, China. The event was cosponsored by CSEE; their hospitality and dedication are truly outstanding. As we know, China already is and will continue to play a major role in our industry as a market place, as a manufacturer of power equipment, and even more so as a producer of leading-edge R&D. Our CSEE partnership is perhaps the most vibrant of our international collaborations, and it will become increasingly important in the future. Mr. Lu, President of CSEE, deserves much credit for the development of this mutually beneficial collaboration.

The tragic events occurring in New Orleans, Louisiana, resulted in the postponement of the planned Transmission & Distribution Conference and Exhibition. Of greater importance is the concern for the safety of our members and volunteers in the area. The CIGRE-PES Symposium, which had been scheduled in conjunction with T&D, was relocated to San Antonio. In November, I will travel to Orlando to attend the TAB series.

A few other developments should be mentioned before I close:

  • We have continued to invite industry leaders to participate in focus groups during our major events. These meetings are becoming increasingly important and serve as a true communications vehicle from PES to top managers in our industry while providing us with a sense of how to better address their perceived needs. These meetings also help us to communicate our value proposition to industry leaders. It's a slow process indeed, but it is starting to pay off.
  • We continue to strive to better serve our authors. We do this by focusing on rapid review turnaround times; while our record is not perfect, it is continuously improving. We have also significantly increased the page count of our transactions. The result is clear: authors are returning to PES in growing numbers.
  • Our magazine, IEEE Power and Energy Magazine, is being increasingly well received by our members and gathering accolades from the publishing industry.
  • We seek to become more visible to audiences outside of our traditional "influence sphere." We do so by boutique meetings, such as the Hydrogen Economy meeting, and also by offering our well-received one-day "Power Systems Basics for Non-Engineering Professionals" course at a growing number of locations.
  • We seek to significantly enhance PES membership by promoting affiliate membership.
One final comment relates to the human resource issues in our industry. As our industry has restructured and reinvented itself, a significant pool of expertise has been lost through retirements and layoffs. To make matters worse, this industry has been known to not hire many entering engineers, which has resulted in a lack of student interest.

Industry leaders are becoming aware of this critical situation. If there is one common theme I hear during my travels, it is that of the availability of well-educated and trained engineers to enter our profession. Most industry leaders recognize that PES can and should play a major role in addressing this critical problem. While I do not have the solution, I am confident that PES must expand its activities toward young engineers and students.

In conclusion, I would like to invoke the French announcement upon a king's death: Le roi est mort—vive le roi (the king is dead—long live the king). I wish my successor John McDonald much success. I wish him as much enjoyment as I have had during the past two years. PES will be in good hands.