On the afternoon of November 14, the 13th session of the “Jingde Forum,” hosted by the Department of Electrical Engineering, was successfully held in Lecture Hall 3-217, West Main Building. The lecture featured Philip T. Krein, member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, IEEE Fellow, and Emeritus Chair Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, as the distinguished speaker. The event was attended by over 90 faculty members and students from both on- and off-campus, including Zheng Zedong, Party Secretary of the Department, and Sun Kai, Deputy Dean. The lecture was chaired by Sun Kai.

Sun Kai extended a warm welcome to Professor Krein on behalf of the department and introduced the origins and purpose of the “Jingde Forum” to the attendees. Subsequently, Zheng Zedong presented Professor Krein with a commemorative certificate and plaque on behalf of the department.

During the invited lecture, Professor Krein first presented on the topic “Exploring Ubiquitous Electric Charging Infrastructure for Passenger Cars,” systematically analyzing the operational and charging characteristics of different types of vehicles including passenger cars, school buses, delivery vehicles, and long-haul trucks. He discussed key issues such as charging costs, charging duration, and grid capacity requirements. Professor Krein pointed out that as vehicle electrification advances, most energy needs can be met through conventional power outlets in homes, workplaces, and truck parking areas. This approach is likely to become the mainstream charging method in the future. Therefore, establishing ubiquitous passenger vehicle charging infrastructure is a critical step in promoting the development of the electric vehicle industry. In the subsequent Q&A session, Professor Krein engaged in lively discussions with faculty and students on challenges in charging infrastructure deployment and the prospects of V2G technology.

Professor Krein then delivered a second lecture titled “Power Electronics and the Computing-Energy Nexus,” providing an in-depth analysis of the technical challenges and “power wall” bottlenecks faced by data centers, and explaining the dialectical relationship between low-energy computing circuits and high-performance power conversion. Based on a review of traditional data center power supply architectures, he focused on the opportunities and challenges that emerging AI data centers present to power electronics development. Professor Krein emphasized that addressing challenges in data center power supply requires a systematic understanding of the complementary relationship between computing and energy, treating both with equal importance in coordinated system-level design. He also highlighted the integration of artificial intelligence into power electronics design to achieve a synergistic model of “AI-driven power, power-empowered AI.” In the final Q&A session, Professor Krein shared his insights on the role of electrochemical energy storage in data center power systems.

About Philip T. Krein

Professor Philip T. Krein is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the U.S. National Academy of Inventors, and an IEEE Fellow. He currently serves as Emeritus Chair Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and as Distinguished Visiting Professor at Zhejiang University. His research encompasses high-performance power electronics for data centers and AI systems, electrified transportation infrastructure, and renewable energy integration. Professor Krein received the IEEE William E. Newell Power Electronics Award in 2003, the IEEE Transportation Technologies Award in 2021, and the Zhejiang International Science and Technology Cooperation Award in 2024. He currently serves as a Distinguished Lecture Scholar for the IEEE Transportation Electrification Council.