Dushan Boroyevich (Member of US National Academy of Engineering, IEEE life fellow) received the Dipl. Ing. degree from the University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia, in 1976, the M.S. degree from the University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia, in 1982, and the Ph.D. degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA, USA, in 1986.
From 1986 to 1990, he was an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Power and Industrial Electronics Research Program, Institute for Power and Electronic Engineering, University of Novi Sad. Then, he was an Associate Professor with the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, where he is currently the University Distinguished Professor with the Department and the Deputy Director with the Center for Power Electronics Systems.
His research interests include electronic power distribution systems, multiphase power conversion, power electronics systems modeling and control, and integrated design of power converters. He was the President of the IEEE Power Electronics Society for 20112012. He is a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He was the recipient of four honorary professorships and numerous other awards, including the IEEE William E. Newell Power Electronics Technical Field Award and European Power Electronics Association (EPE) Outstanding Achievement Award.
Christina DiMarino is an assistant professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Virginia Tech and faculty in the Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES). She received her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech in 2014 and 2018, respectively.
Her research interests include power electronics packaging and high-density integration of wide-bandgap power semiconductors. She has received five best paper and presentation awards at international conferences and was awarded the Outstanding New Assistant Professor Award at Virginia Tech in 2022.
She is a Member-at-Large for the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS), Chair for the PELS Technical Committee 2 on Power Components, Integration, and Power ICs, an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, and is a member of the PELS Women in Engineering (WIE) Committee. She has also served on the technical committees for several IEEE conferences.
Richard Zhang received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Tsinghua University in 1989 and 1993, respectively, and his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech in 1998. Dr. Zhang is the former Chief Technology Officer of GE’s Grid Integration Solutions a $1B business focusing on High Voltage DC Transmission and Flexible AC Transmission Systems (HVDC & FACTS). Prior to joining Virginia Tech in 2021, Dr. Zhang was an Executive leader holding various technology and business leadership positions during his 22 years of career with GE in various GE organizations, such as GE Global Research Center, GE Oil & Gas, GE Power Conversion, GE Renewables, and GE Energy Connection.
During 1998-2008, Dr. Zhang led power electronics research at GE Global Research Center serving all GE industrial businesses, including GE Oil & Gas, GE Aviation, GE Renewables, GE Power, GE Healthcare, GE Transportation, GE Lighting, GE Appliance, and GE Industrial Systems, as well as working with government agencies, such as DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), ONR (Office of Naval Research), and DOE (Department Energy), to advance the frontier of power electronics technologies. From 2008 to 2016, Dr. Zhang led power electronics, rotating machine, and automation technologies in GE Oil & Gas, GE Power Conversion, GE Renewables, GE Energy Connection, and GE Grid Integration Solutions, based in France, China, and the UK. He led diverse global teams with more than 600 people that span 22 sites in 9 different countries (US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Finland, China, India, Brazil). Most recently, the advanced HVDC valve and HVDC control technology that Dr. Zhang led resulted in GE winning the 1.4 GW HVDC project in the North Sea in the UK – the world’s largest and longest distance offshore HVDC project for offshore wind farm tie-back. Richard served as Chairman of Industrial Advisory Board for CPES at Virginia Tech; served as Chairman, Board of Directors for Powerex – a power semiconductor and packaging company in the US; served as a steering committee member for SuperGrid Institute SAS in France; and served as an AdCom member for IEEE Power Electronics Society. Dr. Zhang has 47 journal and conference publications and invited talks, including 4 IEEE Transaction Award Papers. Dr. Zhang has over 105 global patents granted or pending in 42 patent families. Dr. Zhang is a Fellow of IEEE for his technical leadership in the development of high-power electronics.