Webinars

Bernie Carlson is the Vaughan Professor of Humanities and Chair of the Department of Engineering and Society at the University of Virginia as well as a lecturer in the TechInnovate program at the National University of Ireland Galway.

Bernie studied history and physics as an undergraduate at Holy Cross College, earned his Ph.D. in the history and sociology of science at the University of Pennsylvania, and did his postdoctoral work at the Harvard Business School.  He has written widely on the innovation process as well as on the role of technology in the rise and fall of civilizations.  His books include Innovation as a Social Process: Elihu Thomson and the Rise of General Electric, 1870-1900 (Cambridge University Press, 1991) and Technology in World History, 7 volumes (Oxford University Press, 2005).  His most recent book, Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age. (Princeton University Press, 2013) has been translated into nine languages.  In 2015, Bernie won both the Sally Hacker Prize from the Society for the History of Technology as well as the IEEE’s Middleton Award in Electrical History.  In addition to his books, Bernie has filmed 36 lectures on "Understanding the Inventions that Changed the World" for The Great Courses.

Bernie has advised a variety of organizations on the culture of innovation, and for over a decade, consulted with Corning Incorporated.  He has served on the editorial board of IEEE Spectrum as well as on the IEEE History Committee.

Professor Wen Cao (FIET, SMIEEE) received the B.Eng. in electrical engineering from Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China, in 1991, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical machines and drives from the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, in 2004.

Prof. Cao is currently the Chair Professor of Electrical Power Engineering with Aston University and also a distinguished professor at Anhui University, China. He is the Chairman for the Industrial Electronics Society, IEEE UK and Ireland Section; and a Committee Member for IET MPG. He received a “Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award” in 2016, the “Dragon’s Den Competition Award” from Queen’s University Belfast, in 2014, the “Innovator of the Year Award” from Newcastle University, UK, in 2013. He has been Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, IEEE Transactions on Industry Application, IET Power Electronics, and several other international journals. His research interests include fault analysis and condition monitoring of electrical machines and power electronics.