08 December 2011
World experts talk industrial electronics
More than 800 of the world's experts in industrial electronics participated in the 37th annual conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IECON 2011) in Melbourne recently.
The transition from fossil fuels was among the topics discussed at the conference.
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They were welcomed by Professor Margaret Gardner AO, RMIT University Vice-Chancellor and President, as Honorary Chair of IECON 2011.
In her opening speech, Professor Gardner said the conference had attracted the world's leaders in industry, research and academia.
"I am particularly pleased for RMIT to be involved in the conference as RMIT's focus as a global university of technology and design is on creating technology solutions that transform the future for the benefit of people and their environments."
The event, which included the fifth International Conference on E-Learning in Industrial Electronics (ICELIE 2011), came as the IES celebrated its 60th anniversary. It was also the first time that the conference had been held in the southern hemisphere.
Delegates enjoyed four days of intensive technical sessions in industrial and manufacturing theory and applications of electronics, controls, communications, instrumentation and computational intelligence.
The success of the conference was demonstrated by the fact that IECON 2011 received 1,137 paper submissions, accepted 739 papers, and featured 47 special sessions with a focus on future technology trends and 11 tutorials on emerging issues.
The technical program was accompanied by four distinguished plenary speakers, industry panel discussions on smart grids, emerging technologies, knowledge management and integrated technologies, a postgraduate forum and Australian Synchrotron technical tours.
RMIT Chancellor, Dr Ziggy Switkowski, presented as a Distinguished Plenary Speaker on the topic of "Future Challenges in Energy, Technology and Innovation".
He urged leading technologists and research institutions to direct their efforts at developing reliable, affordable local sources of clean energy to lessen dependence on fossil fuels while maintaining an industrial-strength energy system.
He said supercharged growth in renewables, the emergence of significant geothermal power, and moderating demand through conservation and higher energy prices might provide the answer.
"This is a future which dramatically differs from the successful, if climate-unfriendly, formula of the past, and carries considerable risk."
Professor Xinghuo Yu, Director of RMIT's Platform Technologies Research Institute, was General Chair of IECON 2011.
He said the conference encouraged delegates to collaborate with national and international organisations to develop industrial technology applications to address global issues.
