Freedom and Democracy

As an engineer I have lived in freedom. Looking back, I have been involved in power electronics for 65 years. My first years were as a little boy when I spent many hours working to get my Märklin model train running. Later as an engineer, I helped Mr. Lenz and Märklin with high-density MOSFETs from Harris, for the digital drive of the locomotives. So, my memories show that I grew up in peace and had a good life.
For nearly four decades I have supported PCIM Europe. I remember Gerd and Christine working hard to get conference contributions and new companies to exhibit. It was fun for me, and I was pleased to offer my contribution as a board member. I am still here and enjoy travelling to PCIM. The asparagus season is always a motivation to travel to Nuremberg and hopefully June is not too late.

As is traditional, I will run my PCIM Podium focused on wide bandgap devices on Wednesday the 13th of June. The Podium will take place in Hall 7 on the Technology Stage with SiC from 11:20 to 12:15 and 13:15 to 14:15. The GaN podium will take place from 14:20 to 15:20. I am looking forward to seeing you there.

Working in power electronics is our job, but we are also human beings living on planet earth, and we should live in peace. Therefore, we must work hard to ban the aggressors and isolate them. War cannot be the way to manage our life on earth. Nature has enough big challenges to solve. Global warming can be limited by using semiconductors that reduce unwanted losses in systems.
At this point, I can only repeat what I said last year. All these memories and past stories about war, which were told by my parents, return while watching the news on TV. There are never winners after wars. I have grown up in peace but have missed Grandpas and Uncles because they served in the military and did not return home from World War one and two. War definitely destroys the resources needed to save our environment so that our children can have a safer world. We are all losers in the end, but mainly it will be the wider population who will suffer the most. It has an impact on all of us. My hope is that all of our children and grandchildren will grow up in peace and that war will not escalate to all areas of the world. Working to stop the war must be our most important task. Politicians travel into war zones like tourists, and all is broadcasted on TV. The soldiers have families too, who also suffer. My wish is that the younger generation can grow up in peace. I am tired of seeing, on a daily basis, more destruction; I want to make the world a better world, and power semiconductors can at least contribute to reducing global warming, and wide bandgap devices are particularly promising in this respect.
At the end of the year, we will meet again in Munich for my WBG conference at the Munich Airport Hilton Dec. 3rd and 4th. After last year’s great success, our program has experts from all around the world.

Bodo’s magazine is delivered by postal service to all places in the world. It is the only magazine that spreads technical information on power electronics globally. We have EETech as a partner serving our clients in North America. If you speak the language, or just want to have a look, don’t miss our Chinese version at bodospowerchina.com. An archive of my magazine with every single issue is available for free at my website bodospower.com.

My Green Power Tip for the Month:
Plan your travel wisely and use the most efficient way of travel, visiting as many contacts as possible during your trip.

Kind regards,
Bodo