The last 20 years have seen the widespread incorporation of power electronics into a variety of applications due to their flexibility, efficiency, reliability, and cost advantages with respect to more traditional approaches to power management. They are used in products as diverse as home appliances, cell phone towers, aircraft, wind turbines, radar systems, and smart grids. This has led to the development of highly efficient, wide bandgap power electronic devices that are able to manage ever larger power levels at higher frequencies over wider temperature ranges with lower power loss. These developments promise improved performance of power electronics with a sizeable reduction in cost, size and weight. To realize these advantages, advanced packaging and thermal management approaches are being developed. These new structures with their increased packaging density have raised reliability concerns related to the increased heat fluxes; structural stability; novel interconnections; and cooler degradation. This session will discuss the latest developments in electronic packaging, thermal management, additive manufacturing, simulation, and reliability assessment that are making next generation power electronics a reality.
