Kaushik Rajashekara (Fellow, IEEE) received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. In 1989, he joined the Delphi division of General Motors Corporation in Indianapolis, USA, as a Staff Project Engineer. In Delphi and General Motors, he held various lead technical and managerial positions, and was a Technical Fellow and the Chief Scientist for developing propulsion and power electronics systems for electric, hybrid, and fuel cell vehicle systems. In 2006, he joined Rolls-Royce Corporation, as a Chief Technologist for electric systems for electric and hybrid aircraft systems. In August 2012, he joined as a Distinguished Professor of Engineering with the University of Texas at Dallas, TX, USA. Since September 2016, he has been a Distinguished Professor of engineering in University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA. He has authored or coauthored over 300 papers in international journals and conferences, has 37 US and 15 foreign patents, and has written one book. He has received a number of awards including the 2022 Global Energy Prize and 2021 IEEE Medal on Environment & Safety Technologies for his contributions to electrification of transportation and renewable energy. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and an International Fellow of Indian, Chinese, and Japanese Academies of Engineering. His research interests include power/energy conversion, transportation electrification, renewable energy, and microgrid systems.

Plenary Lecture:          DC Fast Charging Technologies for Electric Vehicles

Abstract: Fast charging of electric vehicles plays an important role in adoption and widespread use of electric vehicles. Fast charging offers a practical solution for drivers during their journeys to charge the vehicles in 10 to 15 minutes to drive for another 300 to 400km or even more depending on the vehicle and charger capacity. Hence, there is an increasing importance to advance the fast charging technologies of EV batteries and their deployment. In this presentation, the following topics will be discussed: Charging system configuration of EVs, Fast Charger requirements, technical specifications, requirements, fast chargers with ac and dc distribution network, ac/dc front end topologies, dc/dc converter topologies, partial power converters, and impact of fast charging on the grid. Future trends will also be discussed.

Peter Vadasz obtained his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering, in 1979 and 1983, respectively, from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. He completed the Doctor of Science degree in 1988, also from the Technion. From 1991 till 2002 he was affiliated with the Faculty of Engineering at University of Durban-Westville, South Africa being Professor and Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering between1992 and 1998. In 2002 he joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at Northern Arizona University as Professor & Department Chair, holding the Chair position until 2008. A Board Member of the Royal Society of London Proceedings A (2013-2019), an Associate Editor of the Journal of Heat Transfer (2007-2010), Editor of the Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology (2002-2011), he is also a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Honorary Professor at Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China (2015-2020), Extraordinary Professor at University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa (2013-2015), and Honorary Professor at University of KZNatal, Durban, South Africa (2008-2016). In August 2000 he received the National Research Foundation (NRF) "A" rating evaluation, a privilege bestowed only with scientists that are established "world leaders, for the quality and impact of their recent research outputs". This was the first ever and the only NRF (previously FRD) "A" rated scientist at University of Durban-Westville. There were at that time 48 "A" rated scientists in South Africa. In February 2001 the Royal Society of London published a paper by Straughan, B. (Proc. Royal Society A , Vol.457, pp.87-93, 2001) that names a new dimensionless group, the Vadasz Number (Va). The scientific significance and impact of this dimensionless group in oscillatory convection in porous media was first introduced by Prof. Vadasz in his paper: Vadasz, P., J. Fluid Mechanics 376, pp.351-375,1998, and subsequently in: Vadasz, P., Transport in Porous Media 41(2), pp.211-239, 2000. The Vadasz number is currently being widely used in connection with oscillatory convection in porous media. He featured in Stanford list of the World's TOP 2% Scientists in 2022. He also featured as a TOP Scholar in Scholar GPS among the top 0.5% of all scholars worldwide in 2024. Peter Vadasz's professional topics of interest are: Fluid Dynamics, Heat Transfer, Energy Conversion and Storage, Transport Phenomena in Porous Media, Investigation of Non-Linear Effects, Stability, Bifurcation and Routes to Chaos, Quantum Mechanics, Continuum Mechanics, Bio-Engineering, Engineering Economics Cost Analysis and Optimization.

Plenary Lecture:          Gravitational and Electromagnetic Fields and Their Corresponding Poynting Vectors Leading to Newtonian and Maxwellian Waves

Abstract: Emerging Newtonian gravitational waves similar to Maxwellian waves in electromagnetism are being demonstrated theoretically. The derivations of these equations directly from the second Newton law and mass conservation applied to a continuous mass distribution, e.g. a compressible fluid or equivalent have been already shown to lead to a form identical to the Maxwell equations for electromagnetism subject to a certain condition. Consequently, Newtonian gravitational waves are Lorentz invariant when the speed of wave propagation equals the speed of light. The resulting equations can be used to derive a gravitational Poynting vector in complete analogy to the electromagnetic Poynting vector. A stationary solution is shown to exist for a spherical mass creating the gravitational field. Evolution of a gravitational wave emerges and is being presented as a linear neutrally stable solution around this stationary one.

Lucian Dăscălescu (Life Fellow IEEE) received the graduate degree (with first class Hons.) from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in1978, the Dr. Eng. degree from the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest, Romania, in 1991, and the Dr. Sci. degree in 1994, and then, the "Habilitation à Diriger de Recherches" Diploma in Physics both from the University "Joseph Fourier, Grenoble, France. His professional career began with CUG (Heavy Equipment Works), Cluj-Napoca. In 1983, he moved to the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, as an Assistant Professor, later becoming an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering. From 1991 to 1992, he received a Research Fellowship at the Laboratory of Electrostatics and Dielectric Materials, Grenoble, where here turned in1994, after one year as an Invited Research Associate and Lecturer with Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan, and three months as a Visiting Scientist with the University of Poitiers, France. For four years, he taught a course in electromechanical conversion of energy with the University Institute of Technology, Grenoble. In 1997, he was appointed as a Professor of Electrical Engineering with the University Institute of Technology, Angouleme, France, where he was for 25 years the Head of the Applied Electrostatics Research Unit. Retired since September 2022, Dr Dascalescu continues his research activities as Emeritus University Professor with the "Tribo-electrostatics" team of PPRIME Institute of CNRS, University of Poitiers and ISAE/ENSAM. He is the author of several textbooks in the field of electrical engineering and ionized gases. He holds 20 patents, has written more than 280 papers, supervised more than 40 Ph.D. theses, is a member of the editorial board of several scientific journals and international conferences, and was invited to lecture on the electrostatics of granular materials at various universities and international conferences all over the world. Prof. Dascalescu was the Chair of the Electrostatics Processes Committee, and the Vice Chair of the IEEE France Section. He is a member of the board of the French Society of Electrostatics. He has been awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa of the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, University of Pitesti and University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania.

Plenary Lecture:          A Historical Perspective of the Challenges and the Recent Advances of the Electrostatic Separation Technologies

Abstract: From the first patent related to seed cleaning, filed by T.B. Osborne in 1880, to the wide-scale application in mineral beneficiation since the middle of the 20th century, and the diversity of equipment developed for recycling of valuable materials (metals, plastics) from industrial waste during the last two decades, the electrostatic separation imposed itself as a low-cost, environmentally-friendly technique capable to selective sorting of electrically charged or polarized bodies under the action of electric field forces in various domains. This technique is currently facing several major challenges: (i) increase simultaneously the hourly throughput, the recovery and of the purity of the products in the recycling industry; (ii) processing complex granular and powdery mixtures, including toxic substances, such as the brominated flame retardants; (iii) selective sorting of flake-like and fibrous materials. Described in this invited lecture are several innovative solutions developed by the authors in the recent years: (i) a newly patented high-throughput, modular, multi-functional electrostatic separator; (ii) an original tribo-electrostatic separation technique of complex mixtures of brominated plastics; (iii) a modified industrial installation for the triboelectric charging and electrostatic separation of polyethylene and polystyrene flakes from packaging waste; (iv) patent-pending electrostatic devices for the recovery of PET fibers from end-of-life tires and hoses. Further research should expand the application of the electrostatic separation techniques in at least the following areas: (i) recycling of composite materials; (ii) processing of fine powdery mixtures in food and pharmaceutical industries; (iii) recovery of valuable materials from micronized waste electric and electronic equipment.