Power-electronics industry often suggests that academiais not practical. While some ofthat is understandable, in several cases, it seems industry is seeking problem-specific skilland desires that the learning curve for a new student be low to reduce the overall laborcost. This fosters application-specific(practical) skills. While this is needed, especially fora well-established field like power electronics, the challenge is that, given the finite timeavailable to the student researchers, time allocation appears to have shifted graduallytowards primarilyacquiring practical skills and away from acquiring a solid foundation infundamental scientific knowledge. For instance, while there are a multitude of papers onMPC in power electronics, few students are focusing on calculus of variations, which formsthe basis of such optimal control and provides the pathway for new synthesis; or, studentsworking on active gate dynamics modulation of power semiconductor devices often rely onsimple analytical equations, without understanding the fundamentals of the physics ofsuch semiconductor devices; or, students working on problems in magnetics orelectromagnetics with sole reliance on available software tools or cookie-cuttingapproaches without having a deeper understanding of Maxwell’s equations and the physicsoffields and dynamics. These are just a few examples of a pervasive issue and often yield aplethora of incremental works with limited impact on broader technological, scientific, andsocietal advancements. With the advent of AI-based EDA tools, there is agreater pressureto reduce the design cycle, which, in turn, could potentially exacerbate the problemoutlined above. In this PELS roundtable, I would like to have an engaging discussion withyoung as well as experienced personnel from academia and industry as to what can we docollectively to attain a balance between practical industrial needs without compromisingfundamental scientific understanding and the creative pathways for newer foundationaland impactful inventions.