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Roberto Petrella (he/him/his)

Silicon Austria Labs GmbH

Roberto Petrella was born in Pescara (Italy), in 1971.
He received the master’s degree in electronic engineering, with full marks and honors, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of L’Aquila, Italy, in 1996 and 2001, respectively.
In November 2006, he was an Assistant Professor with the University of Udine, Italy, and became an Associate Professor in 2016.

He is the Co-founder of Koala Electronics s.r.l., a spin-off of the University of Udine dealing with electronic power electronic converters and electrical drives.

From September 2021 he also joined Silicon Austria Labs GmbH as a part-time staff scientist.

His main research interests include advanced modelling and control of power electronic converters and electrical drives, high-frequency resonant converters, multi-phase and multi-level converters and related modulation strategies, power electronic converters and drives for electric/hybrid vehicles, renewable-energy generation systems and steel industry (medium voltage high power).

He has co-authored more than 120 technical papers and one international patent.

He served IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications as Associate Editor from 2017 to 2021.
He received four prize papers from the Industrial Drives Committee of the IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition in 2009, 2017 and 2025, and one outstanding presentation Award from the IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference in 2014.
He was a Plenary Speaker at the IEEE International Electric Machines and Drives Conference, Chicago, USA, in 2013.
He was involved in the organization of several international conferences as track co-chair, chairman, reviewer and member of the organizing committee.
In 2026 he has been appointed as European Liason Officer for the Industrial Power Converters Committee of the Industry Application Society of IEEE.

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