PEOPLE
Alumni
CPES is one of the largest university power electronics groups in the United States, with several hundred alumni. Our alumni have become technological and business leaders around the world.
We ask all our alumni to keep in touch with our community by joining the CPES Alumni group on LinkedIn.
We are proud to spotlight the accomplishments of our alumni and hope visitors find their stories as inspirational as we do.
SPOTLIGHT ON ALUMNI
Chen, Qing (Que)(Ph.D. 1994)
VP of Engineering
Flextronics International - FlexPower
"The graduate study at VPEC changed my life profoundly. The center created an environment that is characterized by intellectual stimuli and team spirit. It was an enjoyable place to study and work. Thanks to Dr. Lee, all the faculty and staff and fellow students, I learned so much during my stay at VPEC, which laid a solid foundation for my professional career in various companies and different geographical locations."
Chen, Wei(Ph.D. 1998)
CEO
Silergy Corp.
"Over decades, VPEC/CPES has persistently pursued the best power conversion technologies to achieve the highest efficiency and power density. The single-minded approach has guided me throughout my career and contributed to business success."
Hua, Gary(Ph.D. 1993)
CEO
Inventronics, Inc.
"In 1993, Hua cofounded VPT with Fred Lee and Dan Sable. In 1999, he founded e-Power, which was sold in 2001 to Bel Fuse Inc. He founded Inventronics in 2007, in Hangzhou, China. In 2011, he was named a Top 20 China CCTV Economy Person of the Year."
Lotfi, Ashraf(Ph.D. 1993)
VP/Fellow
Intel
"VPEC and Professor Lee's luminary leadership have been the primary drivers forging my passion for this field of power electronics and more importantly my intense commitment to continue its advancement with innovative technologies. It was the broad spectrum of projects, new technologies, advanced lab capabilities, industry sponsorships and most importantly the open, undictated, creative research direction at VPEC that laid the foundation for me to continue to technologically advance the field many years after graduating."
Jovanovic, Milan M.(Ph.D. 1988)
Senior Vice President R&D
Delta Products Corporation
"In hindsight, joining the Power Electronics Research Group (PERG) at Virginia Tech led by Dr. Lee has been the defining moment of my career. Besides receiving an outstanding power electronics education, as a member of PERG, I was given the opportunity to perform cuting-edge research for leading technology companies and government entities. This involvement helped me discover the satisfaction of innovative work that has been the major inspiration for dedicating my entire career to R&D."
Qian, Jinrong(Ph.D. 1997)
Business Unit Manager, Battery Charging Products
Texas Instruments
"Learn not only knowledge, but more importantly learn how to lead, drive, collaborate, and communicate with the teams for achieving challenging goals."
Sable, Dan(Ph.D. 1991)
CEO
VPT Inc.
"The experience from CPES has been invaluable both in my professional and academic career. Professionally, the CPES experience gives instant credibility in the market to VPT customers. Since the start, VPT has hired about 20 engineers who have received a Bachelors, Masters, or PhD from Virginia Tech. The experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Academically, the CPES experience is something that I can share with my ECE students, many of whom strive to become CPES members."
Xu, MingCEO, FSP-Powerland Technology Inc.
Associate Professor, CPES-Virginia TechProfessor, Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityProfessor, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
"Other than comprehensive power electronics knowledge learned in CPES, the professional methodology and research philosophy is the most important part we gained in CPES, which ensures right process and solid work with reasonable value attitude."
Zhang, Richard(Ph.D. 1998)
Product Platform Leader, China/Executive Technology
GE Power Conversion
"So much great learning at VPEC/CPES from professors, staff, bright minds of fellow students, close link with industry deeply imprinted and became second nature in my career:
• Stive to excel with dedication and pride
• Always explore inovative technology boundary for things that matter
• Leadership, team work and collaboration
• Communication, communication, communication - from articulating technology and value story to influencing people
• Walk the talk, accountability, deliver to make impact
