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| Dr. Vladimir Blasko | Dr. Hao Huang | Prof. Longya Xu |
We are excited to share the wonderful news that two members of our extended WEMPEC community, Prof. Longya Xu and Dr. Vladimir Blasko, were elected this year to the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE). This is one of the highest honors bestowed on US engineers for outstanding career achievements.
Prof. Xu earned his PhD in 1990 as an early WEMPEC student working on reluctance machines with his advisor, Prof. Tom Lipo. He then served as a highly successful faculty member at The Ohio State University for 32 years where he co-founded and led OSU’s Center for High Performance Power Electronics (CHPPE) for 11 years before retiring in 2022.
Dr. Blasko, an adjunct professor in the ECE Department at UW-Madison since 1999, was a post-doc in WEMPEC during 1989 before joining industry. He pioneered the development of regenerative grid-connected power converters and many other innovations while working at Otis Elevator, Rockwell Automation, and UTRC. He is currently working with the Sikorsky division of Lockheed Martin Company.
We want to belatedly acknowledge the NAE election of Dr. Hao Huang in 2021. Dr. Huang is also an adjunct professor in the ECE Department who retired from GE Aviation in 2020 after having served as their Technology Chief in Electrical Power for 13 years. He played a major role in launching and supporting GE’s active R&D program in electrified aircraft propulsion.
Congratulations to all three of our longtime friends and honored colleagues! They join a growing list of WEMPEC folks who have also been elected to NAE: Prof. Emeritus Tom Jahns who has been a member since 2015, the late Prof. Bob Lorenz and the late Prof. Tom Lipo.
As a Corporate Member of WEMPEC, you’ll have the opportunity to meet Prof. Xu, Dr. Blasko and Dr. Huang at our WEMPEC Annual Review this May. They will be featured in a special panel session about aircraft electrical propulsion on Thursday, May 18th. The discussion will be moderated by our own Prof. Emeritus Tom Jahns.