On behalf of the organizing committee of the 5th International IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference (VPPC’09), I welcome all of you to join us in Michigan, September 7-11, 2009, for a great event dedicated to the sustainability of future transportation through the innovations and applications of hybrid, plug-in, and battery powered vehicles. The conference will be held in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at the first-class Fairlane Center conference facility of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, with the plenary sessions at the 4-star Ritz-Carlton official conference hotel. The banquet will be held at the historic Henry Ford Museum on Thursday, September 10, 2009. The conference will feature two plenary sessions, five panel discussions, 36 oral sessions consisting of 242 presentations, and a poster session consisting of 97 technical papers.

This year, we received submissions from 1100 authors in 45 countries. Among the 435 submissions, 290 were accepted as regular papers. More than 300 people have already registered for the conference, of which 35% are from outside the US and 15% are students. Additionally, a unique feature for this year’s conference is the introduction of the "Technical Forum" which allows those who do not wish to write a regular paper to present their work in parallel with the regular technical sessions. There were 69 technical forum papers submitted and 49 were accepted to be presented at the conference.

In conjunction with VPPC’09, two top notch journals, the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology (TVT) and the International Journal of Power Electronics (IJElec), have each planned a special issue. I encourage you to consider submitting a paper to the IEEE TVT Special Issue on Vehicle Power and Propulsion and the IJElec Special Issue on Power Electronics in Electric/Hybrid Electric Vehicle Applications.

I would like to thank the plenary speakers, luncheon speakers, tutorial instructors, and panelists. We are fortunate to have these top experts from the government, industry, and academia to speak at the conference. I would like to extend my appreciation to the members of the organizing committee, international advisory committee, reviewers, and volunteers who have offered their time and expertise. I would like to thank the exhibitors and patrons of VPPC’09 for their generous support. The exhibits feature indoor displays of the latest technology and products in the vehicle power and propulsion field, as well as a fleet of advanced vehicles from automotive OEM and aftermarket conversion companies. I would also like to thank the University of Michigan, IEEE VTS, PELS, and the VPPC Steering Committee for their support.

The economic downturn has already had a huge negative impact on the automotive industry. This presents both challenges as well as opportunities. VPPC is a platform for us to share fresh ideas and innovative concepts and solutions for vehicular power and propulsion systems! Dear friends and guests, it is my sincere hope that you not only gain knowledge from the conference to better face the challenges ahead, but also to take with you the lifelong friendships forged during the conference.

I look forward to your participation!

Chris Mi, Ph.D, General Chair, VPPC'09

Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Director, DTE Power Electronics Laboratory
University of Michigan - Dearborn
4901 Evergreen Road
Dearborn, MI 48128 USA
https://www-personal.engin.umd.umich.edu/~chrismi/

President and Chief Technical Officer
1Power Solutions, Inc.
https://www.1powersolutions.com