What do you get when a PhD in physics swaps the lab coat for a journalist’s pen and a global stage in power electronics? You get Dr. Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio — and one of the most fascinating episodes we’ve ever gone through.
In this powerful electrifying conversation, we explore ⚡ What pulled him from academia into the heart of the GaN and SiC game changers 📚 Why he had to write not one, but two separate books on these breakthrough materials 🧠 How power electronics is quietly fueling AI, edge computing, smart grids, and the IoT 🔥 The real-world wins where GaN and SiC leave traditional silicon in the dust 💡 His unexpected hobby, his dream time-travel conversation, and advice for the next generation of power players And yes — he’s the first power electronics expert ever on the show. Dr. Maurizio doesn’t just talk about tech. He talks about vision. About gaps that needed filling. About turning sparks of curiosity into chapters, careers, and global impact. This isn’t just an episode. It’s a roadmap to what’s next in power. 🎧 Listen in and find out where the future of electronics is really headed — and how you can be part of it. In this podcast series, discussion on VLSI and its related fields is presented, focusing on recent developments and advancements in the industry. Topics such as the latest trends and innovations in semiconductor technology are explored, offering insights into the evolving landscape. Career guidance is shared, providing practical advice for navigating the field, along with success stories that highlight the journeys of professionals who have made their mark in VLSI. Whether for students, professionals, or those interested in the subject, valuable knowledge is offered to help stay informed and succeed in this dynamic area. Guest : Dr. Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio
Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio is editor-in-chief of Power Electronics News and embedded.com, as well as an EE Times correspondent. He holds a Ph. D. in Physics and is a Telecommunications Engineer. He has worked on various international projects in the field of gravitational waves research, designing a thermal compensation system (TCS) and data acquisition and control systems, and on others about x-ray microbeams in collaboration with Columbia University, high voltage systems and space technologies for communications and motor control with ESA/INFN. TCS has been applied to the Virgo and LIGO experiments, which detected gravitational waves for the first time and earned the Nobel Prize in 2017. Since 2007, he has been a reviewer for scientific publications for academics such as Microelectronics Journal and IEEE journals. Moreover, he has collaborated with different electronic industry companies and several Italian and English blogs and magazines, such as Electronics World, Elektor, Mouser, Automazione Industriale, Electronic Design, All About Circuits, Fare Elettronica, Elettronica Oggi, and PCB Magazine, as a technical writer/editor, specializing in several topics of electronics and technology. From 2015 to 2018, he was the editor-in-chief of Firmware and Elettronica Open Source, which are technical blogs and magazines for the electronics industry. He participated in many conferences as a speaker of keynotes for different topics such as x-ray, space technologies, and power supplies. Maurizio enjoys writing and telling stories about Power Electronics, Wide Bandgap Semiconductors, Automotive, IoT, Embedded, Energy, and Quantum Computing. Maurizio has been an AspenCore content editor since 2019. He is currently editor-in-chief of Power Electronics News and Embedded, and a correspondent for EE Times. He is the host of PowerUP, a podcast about power electronics, and the promoter and organizer of the PowerUP Virtual Conference, a summit where each year great speakers talk about the power electronics design trends. Moreover, he has contributed to a number of technical and scientific articles as well as a couple of Springer books on energy harvesting and data acquisition and control systems.
Useful Links (provided by our Guest) As we have discussed in the Podcast :
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-63238-9
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-63418-5
https://www.powerelectronicsnews.com/10-things-to-know-about-gan/
https://www.powerelectronicsnews.com/10-things-to-know-about-sic/
https://www.powerelectronicsnews.com/
Watch the podcast here:
Credits : Image by Lucas Wendt from Pixabay
