IEEE Electrification Magazine - September 2013 - 72

VIEWPOINT

Promoting New and
Important Technologies
By Russell Lefevre

S THE MAJOR WORLDWIDE
professional society for
engineers and computer
scientists in the electrical and electronics fields, the IEEE is at the forefront of emerging technologies.
IEEE Electrification Magazine (EM) is
a major milestone in the process of
developing our position in the new
arena of transportation electrification. As the chair of the EM Steering
Committee and the past chair of
the IEEE Transportation Electrification Initiative (TEI), it has been one
of my goals to develop a publication
that would address this important
technology. The electrification of
the transportation sector offers the
future a reduction of the dependence of the world on carbon-based
fuels with their attendant negative
effects on the environment.
An important observation is that
a microgrid can be thought of as
loads and energy sources within
electrical boundaries that act as a
single controllable entity with
respect to the grid. Using this definition, the electrical system on board
electric vehicles, electric ships, electric trains, and electric planes can
be considered a microgrid with a
limited number of sources and mul-

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MELE.2013.2277495
Date of publication: 23 October 2013

tiple loads. This enables the transportation electrification community
to develop new insights into how
such entities can be integrated into
a modern transportation system.
EM is dedicated to providing a
forum for those developing related
concepts and disseminating information on all matters related to
onboard microgrids.
This magazine is also intended to
address off-grid microgrid applications including small-scale electricity supply in areas far away from
high-voltage power networks. Feature articles will focus on advanced
concepts, technologies, and practices associated with all aspects of
electrification in the transportation
and off-grid sectors from a technical
perspective in synergy with nontechnical areas such as business,
environmental, and social concerns.
EM is especially intended to provide
essential information to practitioners in the microgrid fields.
The IEEE has a history of promoting new and important technologies and methodology to promote
these technologies consists of conferences and publications. A field
closely related to transportation
electrification, the smart grid, has
two influential transactions and a
very successful newsletter. Other
initiatives, including cloud computing and life sciences, have followed

I E E E E l e c t r i f i c atio n Magaz ine / SEPTEMBER 2013

this model. EM is the first publication in the field to provide a venue
for technologists. This first issue
begins to fulfill the goal of promoting transportation electrification
technology. We look forward to a
continuing dialogue with practitioners, academics, and other stakeholders who enable a continuing
increase in the state of knowledge
in this very important field.
The magazine is sponsored by
the three IEEE Societies-the
Power & Energy Society, the Power
Electronics Society, and the Industrial Applications Society-that
have been the most active and
influential in the transportation
electrification community. The
technical co-sponsors are the IEEE
Industrial Electronics Society, the
IEEE Vehicle Transportation Society, and the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society. EM will
support the work of these Societies as well as the TEI. The editorial
board of the magazine includes
world-class acknowledged experts
in each of the fields of interest.
These Societies and the TEI intend
that EM will become the most
influential entity in the rapidly
developing field of transportation
electrification, especially as applications using microgrid concepts
come to the forefront.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Electrification Magazine - September 2013