The IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) Wuhan Chapter has officially been formed on July 30 2018. As the main activity in the opening ceremony, Dr. Fred C. Lee from Virginia Tech was invited for the first guest lecturer program held by IEEE PELS Wuhan Chapter at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan, China, on 26 October 2018. Dr. Fred C. Lee is an IEEE Fellow, a member of the US National Academy of Engineering and a foreign member of Chinese Academy of Engineering. He is also the founder of the Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES), USA, and a recipient of the distinguished IEEE William E. Newell Power Electronics Award. He was the president of IEEE PELS from 1992 to 1994.

The program was hosted by Dr. Dong Jiang, professor of the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (SEEE), HUST, also the acting chairman of IEEE PELS Wuhan Chapter. He announced the formation of IEEE PELS Wuhan Chapter, and a welcome speech was given by Dr. Ronghai Qu, President of IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) Wuhan Chapter and Dr. Wei Xu from IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES) Wuhan Chapter. This was followed by the introduction of the speaker by Dr. Jian Chen, professor of SEEE, HUST. Near 400 people joined this forum, including teachers and students from HUST, Wuhan University and Wuhan Institute of Technology.

The distinguished lecture given by Dr. Fred C. Lee was titled 'The Next Generation of Power Supplies'. Dr. Lee first gave a comparison between the histories of power electronics and microelectronics industries, and further explained that despite great challenges, the power electronics industry involves more opportunities, which will be closely linked to improvements in power devices, materials, and fabrication techniques. Focusing on the recent advances in wide bandgap (WBG) power semiconductor devices, he provided an in-sight discussion about their advantages and existing problems. He also discussed the integration of passive components along with the potential improvements of efficiency, power density and manufacturability in future power electronic products using WBG power semiconductor devices. Several examples of recent practical projects were given. The lecture was very interactive and many interesting questions were raised about various issues in the applications of WBG power semiconductor devices.

Apart from the guest lecture, the Chapter has also organized a Power electronics forum (joint forum with Wuhan Power Supplier Society) on October 27th 2018. This forum invited over 20 corporations worldwide from the power electronics industry and other interested students at the universities in Wuhan to discuss the recent trends and challenges in power electronics, which will be held annually.