How was your Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC)? For PSD, APEC is like the Super Bowl, World Cup, and Wrestlemania all rolled into one. Other shows might have more attendees or larger layouts. Some events attract celebrity guests or take place in literal casinos. But no gala is as germane to the foundation of our brand’s very existence as APEC.
2026 saw the premier showcase for the practical and applied aspects of the power electronics business return to the seventh-most populous city in the US (and home of The Alamo, the Spurs, and the best Tex-Mex cuisine on the planet), San Antonio, and while I probably went up a pants size from all the stellar grub, it was another smashing success (the show, not the weight gain).
Naturally, APEC focused heavily on industrial applications, one of the most fundamental – nay, foundational – topics in our industry. A plethora of Lecture and Dialogue Sessions addressed this crucial vertical directly or tangentially, and many (if not most) of the new products I saw at innumerable booths had industrial functionality.
As a market, industrial electronics is trending upwards, driven by AI and data centers, automation, and green and renewable technologies (amongst others), and it’s expected to continue its steady ascent.
Last month, PSD covered Power Supplies, and not coincidentally, many of our contributors ventured into industrial territory, like Antaira Technologies’ “Industrial PoE Switches: Powering the Edge Computing Revolution.” And in April, we’re dealing directly with the industrial field.
For example, Triad Semiconductor’s Tony Doy discusses “Why Current-Mode Architectures Are the New Blueprint for Industrial Sensing.” Noting that traditional voltage-mode architectures are hitting performance ceilings, Tony recommends the Analog Front End (AFE), which “ensures that the transition from physical sensor data to digital interpretation is seamless and secure.”
“The "Universal AFE," inspired by the extreme requirements of professional audio, moves from voltage-mode to current-mode processing internally so designers can achieve levels of precision and noise rejection previously considered mutually exclusive,” he says.
Meanwhile, Matthew Russell, Master’s student at University College Cork, and a student engineer at Bourns Electronics Ireland, explains why “Gate driver-based converters are becoming more widely used for a broad variety of industrial applications.”
While gate driver circuits are becoming ever more critical, they also produce elevated levels of conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI), alluding to the need for effective EMI management. To do so requires choosing from amongst various transformer options.
Indeed, “transformer structure significantly influences the conducted EMI performance of gate driver circuits,” notes Matthew, and the article explains which transformer type is the more effective solution for conducted EMI.
Enjoy the April issue!
Best Regards,
Jason Lomberg
North American Editor, PSD
