Vehicle and Transportation Systems Achievement Award

The IEEE PELS Vehicle and Transportation Systems Achievement Award is established to recognize innovators and researchers who have made outstanding technical contributions to the advancement of power electronics in-vehicle and transportation systems.  The award may not be given more frequently than annually, nor does it need to be given every year (e.g., the award will only be given in years when a suitable candidate is selected based upon meeting all the eligibility and selection requirements).  This award is administrated by the PELS Technical Committee of Electrified Transportation Systems (TC 4).

Eligibility: Any active IEEE member is eligible to receive this award.  There is no restriction on nationality, age, gender, or IEEE member grade.  The award is not to be made to a company.

Criteria: The criteria considered by the Award Committee include:

• the quality of technical achievement and contribution to the field
• advancement of the technology
• sustained impact on the relevant technical community and the profession
• the benefit to society
• the quality of the nomination

Presentation: If an award is given, it will be presented once a year at the IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo (ITEC).

Award Items:

• Award plaque
• A one-time honorarium of USD 1,500
• Reimbursement of up to USD 1,000 towards the recipient's necessary conference registration, travel, and accommodation costs incurred to attend the award ceremony

Submitting a Nominee: When submitting a nominee, you will be asked to log into your existing IEEE account (or register for a new one) to identify as a nominator.  Subsequently, select the IEEE PELS Vehicle and Transportation Systems Achievement Award and enter the required data and documents.  Please note: an up to five-page curriculum vitae of the nominee will be required along with up to two reference letters that contain the following: name, title, contact data, referee's main field of interest, the relationship between the referee and the nominee, nominee's achievements for the selection criteria indicated in the award description, the reason why the referee personally recommends the nominee, referee's signature, and date.

The portal to submit applications is now open.  Please submit your nomination by 31 March 2023.                                                                                                                 

Please send any questions to the PELS Awards Committee.   

Submit a Nomination

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2022 Honoree: Alireza Khaligh

For advancement of power electronics for electrified transportation systems including electric vehicles and more electric aircraft 

Alireza Khaligh is a Professor and Director of the Maryland Power Electronics Laboratory (MPEL) at the University of Maryland at College Park (UMD). Prof. Khaligh’s major research interests include modeling, analysis, design, and control of power electronic converters for transportation electrification, renewable energies, and wearable electronics. He is an author/co-author of more than 200 journal and conference papers, and a recipient of various awards and recognitions including 2020 Nagamori Award, 2020 Jimmy Lin Award for Innovation from Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UMD, 2019 Outstanding Systems Engineering Faculty Award from the Institute for Systems Research at UMD, 2017 Overall Invention of the Year Award from Office of Technology Commercialization at UMD, three Best Vehicular Electronics Awards from IEEE Vehicular Electronics Society (VTS), and 2010 Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award from Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), among many others.  Prof. Khaligh was the General Chair of the 2016 IEEE Applied Power Electronic Conference and Expo (APEC), the General Chair of the 2013 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo (ITEC), an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, and an Associate Editor for IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics.  He is currently the Deputy Editor-in-Chief for IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification (TTE).