Four researchers from the Berkeley Power and Energy Center (BPEC) received awards for outstanding oral and poster presentations at the 40th IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC 2025), the flagship conference in power electronics.
Syed Tahmid Mahbub, a second-year EE PhD student advised by Professor Robert Pilawa-Podgurski, received a Best Presentation Award for his oral presentation titled “Analysis and Implementation of Minimum-Sensor Capacitor Voltage Estimators for Flying Capacitor Multilevel Converters.”
Sourav Naval, a second-year EE PhD student advised by Professor Jessica Boles, received a Best Presentation Award for his oral presentation titled “High-Efficiency Isolated Piezoelectric Transformers for Magnetic-Less DC-DC Power Conversion.”
Nagesh Patle, a third-year EE PhD student advised by Professor Robert Pilawa-Podgurski, received a Best Presentation Award for his poster presentation titled “Achieving Soft-Charging and Over 20% Input Current Ripple Reduction in a 48-to-6 V Dickson Converter Using 3-Phase Split-Phase Control.”
Yicheng Zhu, a postdoctoral scholar and former PhD student in Berkeley EECS advised by Professor Robert Pilawa-Podgurski, received a Best Presentation Award for his oral presentation titled “Design-Oriented Modeling and Multi-Objective Optimization of Two-Phase Coupled Inductors in Multiphase PWM Converters.”
The APEC Best Presentation Awards are based on several criteria, including the quality of slides, clarity of presentation, and the presenter’s ability to respond to audience questions. The award is considered a significant academic and professional achievement in the field of power electronics. APEC 2025 saw record-breaking attendance and was held this year in Atlanta, GA.
