PowerAmerica Members Elect New Chair, Vice Chair to Lead Organization

The PowerAmerica Institute at NC State University recently announced new leadership representing the organization’s 60+ member companies. Llew Vaughn-Edmunds, of AMAT, is the new chair of the PowerAmerica Membership Advisory Committee, while Stephanie Butler, of Texas Instruments, will serve as the new vice-chair.

The positions are elected annually by the membership of PowerAmerica, and are responsible for guiding the organization in fulfilling its mission of accelerating the adoption of silicon carbide and gallium nitride wide bandgap power electronics technologies.

“We are honored to have Llew as our new chair and Stephanie as our new vice chair to lead the organization’s membership. Their election to these roles is a testament to how well regarded they each are for their work in the community of SiC and GaN professionals,” said Dr. Victor Veliadis, Executive Director of PowerAmerica.

Llew Vaughan-Edmunds is Director of Strategic & Technical Marketing – PowerTechnologies, within the ICAPS Group at Applied Materials. He has over 20 years of power semiconductor experience at Infineon, International Rectifier, Fairchild and ON Semiconductor. He has been responsible for various product lines including Gate Drivers, IGBTs, Diodes, and Wide Band Gap (SiC/GaN). He holds an MBA from Chapman University, BS in Applied Electronics from Liverpool University, and a patent in GaN device technology.

Dr. Stephanie Watts Butler, P.E., is a systems technology innovation architect in GaN in High Voltage Power at Texas Instruments (TI) focused on application opportunities and product definition. She also has driven new high voltage and isolation technology innovations from concept to revenue by leading partnerships with TI’s technology organizations, manufacturing sites, universities, and product development teams. In her career, she has produced innovations in the areas of control, process and package technology, R&D management, and new product development. Dr. Butler has authored more than 40 papers and 17 U.S. patents. She is the Chair of JEDEC’s JC-70 Wide Bandgap Committee, a Fellow of the AVS, and a Senior Member of IEEE and AIChE. Dr. Butler is also a member of IEEE PELS WIE Committee and the Power Electronics Magazine Advisory Board. SWE honored Dr. Butler with their highest award, the Achievement Award for Outstanding Technical Contributions, and Business Insider named Dr. Butler to their most powerful female engineers list of 2017.