TEC Steering Committee

Don is a Distinguished Engineer and Senior Staff Manager with Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. He earned his PhD from Caltech and is an IEEE fellow. He is a chief technologist, a researcher in power electronic systems, and an authority in space power management. 

His accomplishments include 2 national standards, 4 industry firsts, 5 editorial positions, 7 professional educational and under/graduate courses, 15 patents and trade secrets, recipient of more than 30 awards, served on 70 industry and professional leadership positions, authored >100 research and technology articles and presentations, and >300 technology insertions and product developments with >1,800 space flight designs delivered without a single on-orbit failure. His Adiabatic Point-of-Load program has attracted US$15M customer funding in 5 years and his power product line values at greater than US$200M. His double forward technology was licensed to a major telecommunications company. His technology for in-space electric propulsion is being licensed to industry.

Bruno Lequesne (M’85-SM’89-F’97) received the Certified-Engineer degree from Centrale-Supélec, France, in 1978, and the PhD degree in electrical engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, USA, in 1984. He worked for 30 years in the automotive industry on transportation electrification research and industrial drives before starting his own consultancy, E-Motors Consulting, LLC, in 2014.

His automotive involvement includes working at General Motors Research Laboratories (1984-1999) and Delphi Research Laboratories (1999-2006). In September 2006, he moved to the Delphi Powertrain Division to manage a group within the Advanced Powertrain Engineering organization (2006-2009). After a year at the University of Alabama, he joined Eaton Corporate Research & Technology group to focus on the electrification of commercial vehicles and advanced industrial drives (2010-2014). Since starting his consultancy, he has contributed to the automotive, aerospace and renewable energy industries, working on motors, actuators, and systems. He is also an expert witness with courtroom experience.

Dr. Lequesne holds 53 patents, primarily on sensors, linear actuators, and automotive applications. He is the recipient of eleven Best Paper Awards, eight from the IEEE- Industry Applications Society (IAS), including two Transactions Paper Awards, and three from the Society of Automotive Engineers, including the Colwell (2000) and the Bendix (2007) awards. He was elected an IEEE Fellow in 1997, and received the IAS Kliman Innovator Award in 2007 and the IEEE Nikola Tesla Award in 2016.

He is also past president (2011-2012) of the IEEE Industry Applications Society, and currently serves on the board of the IEEE Transportation Electrification Community where he chairs the Long Range Planning Committee.

Hulya Kirkici is a Professor and the Department Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of South Alabama. She received B.S. and M.S. in physics from Middle East Technical University (METU), Turkey; and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Polytechnic University (currently NYU), NY.  Previously, Dr. Kirkici was Professor of electrical and computer engineering at Auburn University (1992-2016), visiting scholar/consultant and Summer Faculty Fellow at the Air Force Research Laboratory – Wright Patterson Air Force Base, (2014-2015), and visiting scientist/engineer at NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL (1999-2000). Dr. Kirkici’s research interests span from electrical insulation and high-frequency dielectric breakdown to repetitive pulsed power. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal and conference articles and given plenary and invited talks nationally and internationally (USA, Turkey, Japan, S.Korea, and China).

Dr. Kirkici is a Fellow of IEEE and recipient of the IEEE Eric O. Forster Distinguished Service Award (2015), IEEE William G. Dunbar Award (2014), and the IEEE Sol Schneider Award (2010).  Dr. Kirkici is a member of the American Physical Society (APS), Sigma Xi Scientific Honor Society, Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society, and American Association of University Women (AAUW).

Dr. Kirkici is Governor–at-Large of the IEEE-HKN Board, a member of the IEEE-HKN Bridge Magazine Editorial Board (2020-present), and a member of the IEEE N&A Committee, and Chair of the PSPB N&A (2020, 2022).  She has served on the IEEE Access Editorial Board (2014-2019), was the IEEE Vice President – Publications (2019); President of IEEE DEIS (2009-2010), Vice President of IEEE Sensors Council (2014-2015), Treasurer/Finance Chair of Publication Services and Products Board (PSPB) and a member of IEEE Finance Committee, among other volunteer services. 

Hulya Kirkici is a Professor and the Department Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of South Alabama. She received B.S. and M.S. in physics from Middle East Technical University (METU), Turkey; and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Polytechnic University (currently NYU), NY.  Previously, Dr. Kirkici was Professor of electrical and computer engineering at Auburn University (1992-2016), visiting scholar/consultant and Summer Faculty Fellow at the Air Force Research Laboratory – Wright Patterson Air Force Base, (2014-2015), and visiting scientist/engineer at NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL (1999-2000). Dr. Kirkici’s research interests span from electrical insulation and high-frequency dielectric breakdown to repetitive pulsed power. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal and conference articles and given plenary and invited talks nationally and internationally (USA, Turkey, Japan, S.Korea, and China).

Dr. Kirkici is a Fellow of IEEE and recipient of the IEEE Eric O. Forster Distinguished Service Award (2015), IEEE William G. Dunbar Award (2014), and the IEEE Sol Schneider Award (2010).  Dr. Kirkici is a member of the American Physical Society (APS), Sigma Xi Scientific Honor Society, Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society, and American Association of University Women (AAUW).

Dr. Kirkici is Governor–at-Large of the IEEE-HKN Board, a member of the IEEE-HKN Bridge Magazine Editorial Board (2020-present), and a member of the IEEE N&A Committee, and Chair of the PSPB N&A (2020, 2022).  She has served on the IEEE Access Editorial Board (2014-2019), was the IEEE Vice President – Publications (2019); President of IEEE DEIS (2009-2010), Vice President of IEEE Sensors Council (2014-2015), Treasurer/Finance Chair of Publication Services and Products Board (PSPB) and a member of IEEE Finance Committee, among other volunteer services. 

Matthias Preindl (IEEE S'12-M'15-SM'18) received a Ph.D. degree in Energy Engineering from the Doctoral School of Industrial Engineering at the University of Padua, Italy (2014), the MSc degree in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from ETH Zurich, Switzerland (2010), and the BSc degree in Electrical Engineering (summa cum laude) from University of Padua, Italy (2008).

Dr. Preindl is an Associate Professor of Power Electronic Systems at Columbia University in the City of New York since 2020. He joined the Department of Electrical Engineering as Assistant Professor in 2016 and is the principal investigator of the Motor Drives and Power Electronics Laboratory (MPLab) and a founding member of the Columbia Electrochemical Energy Center (CEEC).

Before joining Columbia University, he was a Sessional Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (2015) and a Post Doctoral Research Associate at the McMaster Institute for Automotive Research and Technology (2014-2015), both at McMaster University, Canada. He was a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, USA (2013), a visiting student at Aalborg University, Denmark (2009), and a trainee at the National Research Council (CNR), Italy (2008). Also, he worked in wind power industry as an R&D engineer at Leitwind AG, Italy (2010-2012).

Dr. Preindl serves as Area Editor (Co-EiC) of IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Associate EiC or Springer Nature/China SAE Automotive Innovation, and he was the general chair of 2022 IEEE/AIAA ITEC+EATS. He is a Fellow of IET and a Senior Member of IEEE. He obtained several honors including the FUTURA Award (2016), NSF Career Award (2017), the Masao Horiba Awards honorable mention (2019), Fast Company's World Changing Ideas Awards honorable mention (2022) and he is the co-recipient of best paper and presentation awards including the IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics best paper award (2019) and the MIT A+B best paper award (2022). His primary research interests are the design and control of power electronic systems with a specific focus on energy storage and motor drive systems for electrified transportation, renewable energy, and smart grid applications.

Dr. Veronika A. Rabl is an Executive Advisor at Quanta Technology and a consultant in the Washington, DC, area specializing in energy technology and policy. She has advised electric energy companies and governments around the world and has been an invited speaker at many events in the U.S. and abroad. She is an author, coauthor, and editor of numerous publications.

Veronika’s work spans energy efficiency, demand response, electric transportation, clean power supply, and electric grid modernization, as well as energy and environmental life cycle assessments. Most recently she has been a team lead and coauthor of the IEEE PES (Power and Energy Society) Energy Storage Primer. She helped launch the Engineering Founder Societies’ Technology for Carbon Management Grand Challenge Initiative; assessed EPA Clean Power Plan implementation options; reviewed ISO/RTO market rules and processes; co-chaired the IEEE Joint Task Force on the DOE Quadrennial Energy Review (QER); and co-chaired the development of a report on demand management alternatives for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Until 2001 Dr. Rabl served as General Manager and Director at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). She established EPRI’s load management research program and technology portfolio, including energy storage, energy management, and distributed load control systems. She then held a series of positions, covering both sides of the meter -- demand-side management, integrated resource planning, engineering load forecasting, power electronics and power quality, distribution systems, and metering.

Dr. Rabl is a Senior Member of IEEE, past Chair of IEEE-USA Energy Policy Committee, and member of the IEEE PES Industry Technical Support Leadership Committee. Veronika is a recipient of the IEEE-USA Professional Achievement Award for Individuals.

Veronika holds a Ph.D. from the Ohio State University and an M.S. from the Weizmann Institute, Israel.

Dr. Anant Singh received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Houston, Texas, USA in 2022. He earned his MS degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas, Texas, USA in 2016 and his B.Tech (Hons) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from SASTRA University in India in 2013.

Dr. Singh is currently employed as a Technical Specialist at Halla Mechatronics in Bay City, Michigan, USA. Prior to joining Halla Mechatronics in 2017, he worked with SunPower in Austin, Texas, where he developed Plug and Photovoltaic systems with the aim of reducing the overall cost of solar systems from 2015 to 2016. In 2013, he began his career as a Design and Development Engineer at TVS Motor Company in Chennai, India, where he was involved in the design and testing of various automotive electrical components. In 2014, he joined the Power Electronics and Drive Laboratory at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Dr. Singh is serving as the Special Session Co-Chair for ECCE 2023 and has been the webmaster of the IEEE-IAS Industrial Power Conversion Systems Department (IPCSD) since 2019. He served as the virtual platform chair for ECCE from 2019 to 2022 and is a reviewer for IEEE-Industrial Application Society Transactions and IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, as well as conference papers for ECCE, APEC, Power Africa, and iTEC. He was the webmaster for Power Africa 2018 and received a Special Award for Contribution to Halla Group Future Business in 2020. His research focuses on power converters, renewable energy systems, motor drives, and their control systems.

Peter Wilson is Professor of Electronics and Systems Engineering in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering.

He received his BEng from Heriot-Watt University, MBA from Edinburgh Business School and PhD from the University of Southampton, and has industrial experience at Ferranti, GEC-Marconi, Analogy, Inc. prior to taking up his previous academic post of Associate Professor at Southampton in the School of Electronics and Computer Science.

He is a Fellow of the IET, Senior Member of the IEEE, and is currently serving as Executive Vice President of the IEEE Power Electronics Society. He has been the Technical and General Chair of the IEEE Workshop on Behavioral Modelling and Simulation, and also held numerous leadership positions at conferences including ETS, EBTW and FDL.

He has published more than 150 academic papers, three books, and a patent, and has been principal investigator on numerous EPSRC grants. He is the supervisor of the Team Bath Racing Electric (TBRe) formula student electric racing team at Bath, co-supervisor of the Bath Zero Emissions Motorcycle racing team, and leads postgraduate teaching developments in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering.

Mark E Davis is an individual consultant with over 52 years in Government and Industry. He is an IEEE Life Fellow and the 2018 Dennis Picard Medal awardee.

Bob Rassa is a Director of Engineering Programs at Raytheon’s Space and Airborne Systems.

Primary responsibilities are focused on furthering the discipline of systems engineering within the US Department of Defense and defense industry. Experience in electronics design, test systems, logistics, systems engineering, and program management.

Mr. Rassa is founder and Chairman Emeritus of the National Defense Industry Association (NDIA) Systems Engineering Division, as well as a founding member of their Automatic Test Committee. 

Mr. Rassa is the Industry Sponsor of CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration, the world-wide-adopted model for process improvement for SE, SW, PM, and HW design), and serves as the Chair of the CMMI Steering Group.

He is an elected Fellow of IEEE and has held numerous offices within the IEEE and is currently Vice-President, Conferences, IEEE Systems Council. He is also Past President, IEEE Aerospace & Electronic Systems Society and Past President, IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Society

Mr. Rassa holds a BSEE from the University of California – Berkeley.

 He holds the US Patent for a satellite-based Advanced Maintenance System for Aircraft & Military Weapons, issued in August 1999, now being used on the F-22 and F-35.

He is recipient of the Westinghouse Order of Merit, the IEEE Third Millennium Medal, the McGinnis Professional Achievement Award from IEEE-AUTOTESTCON, the Lt Gen Thomas Ferguson Award for Systems Engineering Excellence from NDIA, the NDIA Gold Medal for Meritorious Service, the Raytheon Award for Excellence in Engineering Process Improvement, and the IEEE Distinguished Service Award from the IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Society.

Bruno Lequesne (M’85-SM’89-F’97) received the Certified-Engineer degree from Centrale-Supélec, France, in 1978, and the PhD degree in electrical engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, USA, in 1984. He worked for 30 years in the automotive industry on transportation electrification research and industrial drives before starting his own consultancy, E-Motors Consulting, LLC, in 2014.

His automotive involvement includes working at General Motors Research Laboratories (1984-1999) and Delphi Research Laboratories (1999-2006). In September 2006, he moved to the Delphi Powertrain Division to manage a group within the Advanced Powertrain Engineering organization (2006-2009). After a year at the University of Alabama, he joined Eaton Corporate Research & Technology group to focus on the electrification of commercial vehicles and advanced industrial drives (2010-2014). Since starting his consultancy, he has contributed to the automotive, aerospace and renewable energy industries, working on motors, actuators, and systems. He is also an expert witness with courtroom experience.

Dr. Lequesne holds 53 patents, primarily on sensors, linear actuators, and automotive applications. He is the recipient of eleven Best Paper Awards, eight from the IEEE- Industry Applications Society (IAS), including two Transactions Paper Awards, and three from the Society of Automotive Engineers, including the Colwell (2000) and the Bendix (2007) awards. He was elected an IEEE Fellow in 1997, and received the IAS Kliman Innovator Award in 2007 and the IEEE Nikola Tesla Award in 2016.

He is also past president (2011-2012) of the IEEE Industry Applications Society, and currently serves on the board of the IEEE Transportation Electrification Community where he chairs the Long Range Planning Committee.