OPTIM 2012 - 13th International Conference on Optimization of Electrical and Electronic Equipment

Written by Thomas Monaco Thursday, 15 September 2011 10:28

Dear participants to OPTIM 2012,

It is our pleasure and honour to welcome you to the 13^th International Conference on OPTIMIZATION OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT, sponsored and organised by Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania, between 24th – 26th of May 2012. As in previous editions, OPTIM’2012 is co-organized by University Politehnica of Timisoara and Technical University of Cluj-Napoca and it is technically co-sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) through three of its societies: Industrial Electronics (IES), Industrial Applications (IAS) and Power Electronics (PELS), along with the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).

OPTIM is organized every two years in the same mountain region of Transylvania, Romania - a multiethnic region with strong medieval architecture treasures - by three major Romanian Universities totalling more than 40,000 engineering students. Past editions were attended by world calibre personalities, as keynote address speakers and/or Honorary Chairmen, such as: Prof. Thomas Lipo (USA), Prof. Joachim Holtz (Germany), Prof. Dierk Schröder (Germany), Prof. Robert Lorenz (USA), Prof. Michel Poloujadoff (France), Prof. Rik de Doncker (Germany), Prof. Hirofumi Akagi (Japan), Prof. Frede Blaabjerg (Denmark), Prof. Dushan Boroyevich (USA), Prof. Kay Hameyer (Germany), Prof. Marian Kazmierkowski (Poland), Prof. Ralph Kennel (Germany), Dr. Dan Ionel (A.O. Smith Company, USA), Dr. Michael Merkle (Robert Bosch Automotive, Germany) and other representatives of major international companies.

The conference is being held at Cheile Gradistei Holiday Complex (www.cheilegradistei.ro), situated in the splendid and vibrant mountain village of Moieciu (altitude of 900m), 7 km from Bran (“Dracula's”) Castle and 30 km from Brasov city. This offers amazing sceneries in Transylvania’s countryside, along with excellent conference facilities. A special acknowledgement is due to the local organising committee as well as to Mr. Garbacea, manager of the Cheile Gradistei resort, for their work towards providing a great venue, conference facilities and support.

We gratefully praise and acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the technical committee, including many officers and volunteers of the IEEE, IET and the three co-organising universities, as well as the invaluable contribution from the invited speakers, track chairs and reviewers, who all made this conference possible. We express our gratitude for their enthusiastic, hard and excellent work. Together with the sponsor and technical co-sponsors, they welcome you to the conference with wonderful surroundings, interesting menus and well equipped rooms, to complement an interesting and attractive technical programme and six plenary invited presentations from prestigious speakers. This year they are:

• Prof. Bogdan (Dan) Wilamowski, USA, IEEE Fellow, past Pres. of IEEE IES, EIC of IEEE TIE El and TII.
• Prof. Leopoldo Franquelo, Spain, IEEE Fellow, President of IEEE IES
• Prof. Kouhei Ohnishi, Japan, IEEE Fellow, past President of IEEE IES
• Prof. Andreas Steimel, Germany. IEEE Senior Member, Ruhr University Bochum.
• Prof. Eric Monmasson, France, IEEE Senior Member, University of Cergy-Pontoise, Paris.
• Dr. Kaushik Rajashekara, USA, Chief Technologist, Rolls-Royce Corporation, Indianapolis, USA.

The medium size and duration of the Conference has traditionally sparked lively discussions and led to new professional and friendly relationships. The attendance of many PhD students is another characteristic of the OPTIM biannual conference. The cultural program in the third day, with visits to carefully preserved medieval sites such Bran Castle and the cities of Brasov, Sibiu and Sighisoara, a dedicated Organon Concert in the world’s famous Black Church of Brasov, together with mountain hiking trips, add educational enjoyment for participants and their spouses. All participants will be given transportation by Minibus (3.5 hours driving) from/to the Bucharest International Airport, which may be easily reached from anywhere in the world. We should also mention that all costs related to the Conference are moderate and represent very good value for money.
We are confident that you will enjoy the conference and venue, where you will meet old friends and colleagues, find new ones and attend many high-quality technical activities as well as very enjoyable social ones. All conference committees and volunteers have been working hard and will keep doing their best to make this conference a remarkable and unforgettable event.

We look forward to welcoming you to OPTIM 2012 in Romania!

Professor Marcian Cirstea, IET Fellow, IEEE Senior Member
Conference Chairman

Professor Ion Boldea, IEEE Fellow
Conference Vice-Chairman

Professor Sorin Moraru, IEEE Member
Local Organizing Committee Chairman