■  Keynote Speaker 1

Carlos Guedes Soares, Distinguished Professor

Fellow of the Portuguese Academy of Engineering
Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering (CENTEC)
Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal

Title: Strategies for Maintenance Planning of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines

Abstract: An overview will be presented of the overall trends of production of wind energy worldwide, including its evolution offshore. The general characteristics and mode of operation of the wind turbines is presented and the use of FMEA for identifying the modes of failure and their risk levels is discussed. Reference is made to existing databases of failure data and the problem of estimating failure rates of the various components is addressed. Given the lack of data for offshore wind turbines a method is presented to adjust failure data from onshore to offshore conditions using expert opinions. Maintenance models used for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines are mentioned and risk-based maintenance planning and health monitoring are described. Given the nature of the platforms and the difficulty in accessing them with specialized vessels, opportunistic maintenance is more important than in installations onshore. So, strategies for opportunistic maintenance approaches are discussed and problems are identified.

Biography: Carlos Guedes Soares is a Distinguished Professor of the Engineering Faculty (Instituto Superior Técnico) of the University of Lisbon and Scientific Coordinator of the Centre for Marine Technology and Ocean Engineering (CENTEC), which is a research centre of the University of Lisbon that is rated as “Excellent” and funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. He concluded his postgraduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA in 1976, and at the Norwegian Institute of Technology of the University of Trondheim, in 1984 and has since then been at the University of Lisbon (Technical University of Lisbon until 2013). He has supervised more than 75 PhD students and has co-authored more than 900 journal papers and several more in Conferences. He has been Chair or Co-Chair of various conferences in the series of OMAE, ESREL, IMAM, ISSC, ICCGS, MARSTRUCT, MARTECH and RENEW Conferences. He has been Editor of the Reliability Engineering and Systems Reliability Journal for about 30 years, the last 10 of which as Editor-in-Chief. .He is a Fellow of SNAME, RINA, IMarEST, ASME, Ordem dos Engenheiros, Member of ASCE, AGU and SRA and a Fellow of the Portuguese Academy of Engineering.

■  Keynote Speaker 2

Loon Ching Tang, Professor

Fellow of Academy of Engineering
National University of Singapore, Singapore

Title: Reliability Engineering: From Practice to Theory

Abstract: In this presentation, I shall present some of the actual industrial projects related to reliability that I have been involved with over the past 30 years to highlight the gaps between practice and theory in reliability engineering. This is followed by elucidating the development of various approaches in bridging these gaps. In particular, we discuss the gaps between research and applications in testing for high reliability parts, reliability centred maintenance, and degradation modeling, and listed some of the associated results over the years. We also point out some of the directions for future research in response to some of the problems faced by practitioners in managing repairable systems.

Biography:  Dr Loon Ching TANG is currently professor of Department of Industrial Systems Engineering & Management at the National University of Singapore and Fellow of Academy of Engineering, Singapore. He obtained his Ph.D degree from Cornell University in the field of Operations Research in 1992 and has published extensively in areas related to industrial engineering and operations research. He has been presented with a number of best paper awards including the IIE Transactions 2010 Best Application Paper Award and 2012 R.A. Evans/P.K. McElroy Award for the best paper at Annual RAMS. Prof Tang is the main author of the award-winning book: Six Sigma: Advanced Tools for Black Belts and Master Black Belts. Besides being active in the forefront of academic research, in the last 30 years, Prof Tang has served as a consultant for many organizations, such as the Ministry of Home Affair, Singapore Power Grid, Republic of Singapore Air Force, Seagate, HP, Phillips, etc, on a wide range of projects aiming at improving organizational and operations efficiency; especially through better management of engineering assets. He is currently the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Quality & Reliability Engineering International, editorial review board member of Journal of Quality Technology and a fellow of ISEAM.

■  Keynote Speaker 3

Lu Jin, Professor

University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, Japan

Title: Optimal Policies for Condition-based Maintenance

Abstract: With the improvement of ICT technology, maintenance policies have gradually shifted from corrective and time-based preventive maintenance to condition-based maintenance. In condition-based maintenance, the underlying condition of the target system is periodically observed by sensors. Appropriate maintenance is carried out when the system is judged to be operating abnormally (dangerously) or to require maintenance in accordance with the observed information on the target system. One of the current challenges with condition-based maintenance is how to search for the optimal policy. This talk will focus on the optimal decision-making of condition-based maintenance. Research on optimal maintenance policies has mainly followed one of two approaches. The first involves finding computationally feasible algorithms for solving the optimization problem. The second approach of research on optimal maintenance policies is to specify the structural properties of the optimal solution to help determine an optimal policy more efficiently. This talk will review the recent research on the optimization of maintenance policies in both approaches, then discuss the structural properties of maintenance policies for complex systems based on both theory and simulation-based results.

Biography: Lu Jin received her B. E. degree from Harbin Engineering University, China, in July 2000. She received her M.E. and Ph.D. in engineering in 2003 and 2006 from the University of Electro-Communications (UEC), Tokyo. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Informatics, University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo. Her current research interest includes system reliability, maintenance planning and optimization, and decision-making with uncertainties. She received the Outstanding Young Scientist and the Best Paper Award of IEEE Reliability Society (Japan Chapter) in 2006, the Nikkei QC Literature Prize in 2014, and several paper awards as a co-author. She is a member of the Japanese Society for Quality Control (JSQC) and Reliability Engineering Association of Japan (REAJ), the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE), Japan Society of Maintenology, and IEEE.

■  Keynote Speaker 4

Yiliu Liu, Professor

Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

Title: Sustainable safety and safe sustainability: Some Nordic experiences

Abstract: The upcoming speech aims to offer a comprehensive exploration of two concepts: sustainable safety and safe sustainability. The previous one focuses on ensuring the safety of emerging techniques that contribute to the achievement of sustainability development goals. The latter one, on the other hand, investigates reliability, safety, and maintenance engineering, with a specific emphasis on minimizing emissions and energy consumption. This concept recognizes the importance of maintaining safety requirements while simultaneously prioritizing environmentally friendly practices. Some research projects and valuable experiences from Norwegian research institutions, as well as the offshore, wind power, and hydrogen industries, will be presented. These examples will showcase practical applications and innovative solutions that exemplify the principles of sustainable safety and safe sustainability.

Biography: Yiliu Liu is a professor at the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. His main research interests include system reliability and resilience, safety-critical system and safety barrier analysis, and risk-informed decision-making etc. He recently pays more attention to the applications of his research in the sectors of renewable energies and sustainability. Dr. Liu has published more than 150 papers on international journals and conferences. Currently, he is the co-chair of Sweden-Norway joint section of IEEE Reliability Society, and the editor-in-chief for International Journal of Reliability and Safety, and the director of International RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability, and safety) master program at NTNU. He also manages several internationally collaborative projects in the fields of safety and reliability engineering.

■  Keynote Speaker 5

Won Young Yun, Professor

Pusan National University, Busan, Korea

Title: Location Problems in Lamp Systems Considering System Reliability

Abstract: In this talk, I introduce location problems in two-dimensional lamp systems considering system reliability. Suppose n lamps are used to cover the service area, where each lamp can cover a circular area with a radius r. The lamp could be failed with some probability and the system is working when working lamps cover the whole service area without any dark areas. The system reliability is the probability that the whole area is covered by working lamps. The lamp location problem is to determine the locations of lamps in the service area to maximize the system reliability. Firstly, I explain how to calculate the system reliability in two-dimensional lamp systems. Secondly, heuristic methods are proposed to determine the lamp locations. Finally, we investigate the performance of the heuristic methods proposed by numerical examples.

Biography: Won Young Yun received the B.S.E degree in Industrial Engineering, Seoul National University, Korea in 1982, his M.S., and D.Eng. degrees in Industrial Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Department of Industrial Engineering, Daejeon, South Korea. in 1984 and 1988, respectively. Since 1998, He has been a Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering at Pusan National University, Busan, Korea. His current research interests include the System Reliability Theory, Warranty Policies, Maintenance Policies in Complex Systems, Reliability Centered Maintenance, and Simulation.

■  Keynote Speaker 6

Hu-Chen Liu, Professor

Tongji University, China

Title: Intelligent Quality Management: Theoretical Framework, Key Technologies, and Research Prospect

Abstract: This report introduces the concept of intelligent quality management based on the current research progress and the actual development of China’s manufacturing industry. First, the theory model of intelligent quality management is proposed from the technical, activity, and value dimensions. Then, nine key technologies (i.e., Internet of Things, big data platform, cloud computing and edge computing, machine learning, machine vision, digital twins, wireless communication, visualization, and blockchain) and their application scenarios are discussed. Finally, future researches of the intelligent quality management are pointed out from the perspectives of theoretical research, technical research, and application research.

Biography: Hu-Chen Liu is currently a Professor with the School of Economics and Management, Tongji University. He has published more than 80 journal papers and five books. His main research interests include quality and reliability management, intelligent manufacturing, and operation management. He is the editor member of many journals including Science & Technology Review and Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics. Prof. Liu is an Associate Academician of the International Academy for Quality, and is a Senior Member of the IEEE Reliability Society, the INFORMS, the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, and the China Association for Quality.

■  Keynote Speaker 7

Yuan Chen, Research Professor

The Fifth Electronics Research Institute of the
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China

Title: Ruggedness and Reliability of SiC MOSFETs

Abstract: The superior characteristics of Silicon Carbide (SiC) render it an optimal replacement for Silicon-based power electronic components in applications requiring high efficiency, high frequency, and elevated temperatures. With the development of new-generation power electronics systems, including applications in photovoltaic systems, electric vehicles, charging piles, and so on, SiC MOSFET (silicon carbide metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistors) is accelerating the replacement of Si-based devices. Although SiC MOSFETs have superior performances to Si devices, obvious differences between the properties of SiC and Si materials and devices provide challenges to the ruggedness and reliability of SiC MOSFETs. A few potential reliability issues are associated with SiC MOSFETs, including threshold voltage instability, gate-oxide reliability, body-diode degradation, etc. Extensive characterization studies of SiC MOSFETs’ endurance capability under harsh conditions including unclamped inductive-switching (UIS), short-circuit (SC), transmission line pulse (TLP), power cycling (PC), high-temperature gate bias stress (HTGB) and radiation effects have been reported by our team. The ruggedness and reliability of SiC MOSFETs under different conditions will be discussed here.

Biography: Yuan Chen is a research professor of the Fifth Electronics Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China. She received her Ph.D. in Electronics and Information from University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. Since 2007, she has been with the National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Reliability Physics and Application of Electronic Component, the Fifth Electronics Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Her current research interests are reliability and life prediction of power devices, such as Si MOSFET/IGBT and SiC MOSFET. She is the Principal Investigator (PI) of more than 20 government projects including the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Foundation for Outstanding Youth in Natural Science of Guangdong Province, and so on. She is the author or co-author of more than 40 publications in journals and international conferences, such as IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, Microelectronics Reliability, and so on. She holds over 20 patents, both internationally and from China. She has contributed to the development of 8 standards at the national, industry, and group levels. Recognized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, she has received 3-second prizes for advances in Science and Technology. Furthermore, she has been honored with the title of Woman Pace-setter of Guangdong Province and Excellent Young and Middle-age people by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

■  Keynote Speaker 8

Yunhui Mei, Professor

Tiangong University, China

Title: Power semiconductor device packaging targeting at high reliability

Abstract: The development of power density and efficiency within automotive motor control systems, together with the enhancement of safety and dependability during operation, represent global challenges that required immediate solutions as one of the three critical technologies of electric vehicles. The development of high-power density and dependable motor drive regulators for vehicles is globally recognized as the principal solution. Power electronic devices serve as the fundamental components for motor control and energy conversion to ensure reliable, enduring operation under high-temperature conditions. The presenter has dedicated substantial time to the scientific exploration of power electronic device fabrication, materials, and high-reliability packaging designs. The candidate has recently conducted studies on the problem of “how to overcome packaging failures of power electronic devices and achieve high-reliability device design and manufacturing”. This research primarily focuses on packaging design methods that coordinate packaging failure mechanisms, low parasitic inductance, efficient heat dissipation, and the long lifespan of power electronic devices. Innovative research findings have been made in the highly dependable manufacturing technique of devices based on novel packaging materials that are high temperature resistant. This presentation integrates the presenter’s individual research proficiency with the theoretical underpinnings of the topic, the cutting-edge packaging and reliability studies for power electronic components, and the relevant achievements made.

Biography: Yunhui Mei, Professor, Executive Vice Dean of School of Electrical Engineering, Tiangong University. He has been engaged in the research of power electronic device packaging and reliability for a long time. In recent years, he has presided nearly 30 projects. He is serving as a director of the China Power Supply Society, deputy director of the Component Committee, IEEE Senior Member, editorial board member of the Journal of Power Supply, and deputy chairman of the Tianjin Power Supply Society. He has published over 140 academic papers, including 100 SCI papers and 27 granted invention patents. He have won the IEEE CPMT Young Award, the First Prize of the Technology Invention Award of the China Power Supply Society, the First Prize of the Technology Invention Award of the China Electrical Engineering Society, and the First Prize of the Tianjin Technology Invention Award, Henry Fok Education Fund of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Award for Youth in Colleges and Universities, IEEE International Power Electronics Annual Conference APEC Best Presentation Award, National Third Generation Semiconductor industry Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance (CASA) “Special Contribution Award”, etc.