Krein retires after 30 years as faculty member

1/29/2016 Daniel Dexter, ECE ILLINOIS

Research Professor Philip Krein retired in 2015, after working to establish ECE ILLINOIS as a leader in power electronics.

Written by Daniel Dexter, ECE ILLINOIS

Since joining the ECE ILLINOIS faculty in 1987, Professor Philip T Krein (MS ’80, PhD ’82) has helped establish the department as a leader in power electronics after spending a total of 30 years as a faculty member. He retired in 2015 and is still working at ECE ILLINOIS as a research professor.

Philip T Krein
Philip T Krein
Krein made significant strides in developing alternative energy sources, particularly the optimizing the use of solar power as a feasible energy resource.

“Progress is always about energy,” Krein said. “It probably always will be about energy and how you manage it better, use it better, and use it more efficiently. Energy will always be one of the foundations of any society.”

Krein joined the ECE ILLINOIS faculty in 1982, departed to work three years in industry, and re-joined in 1987. In addition to his research, Krein has also served as the president of the IEEE Power Electronics Society from 1999-2000. In this role, he was able to promote several initiatives like the International Future Energy Challenge, which encourages college students to develop energy efficient devices.

Along with his own professional achievements, Krein said that he takes the most pride in the contributions his students over the years have been able to make in the field. He marvels at the caliber of students that the University brings in for him to have the opportunity to teach and collaborate with.

Although he is officially retired, Krein plans to continue to work on a variety of both technical and educational projects, including taking on the leading role in the new NSF research center, P.O.E.T.S.

“The great thing about ECE ILLINOIS is collaboration and the degree to which people really demand to work with each other on projects that are more interesting when they are done in teams,” Krein said. “It gives us the ability to accomplish a lot more than any of us can accomplish individually.”


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This story was published January 29, 2016.