By Prof Dr. Zulkurnain Abdul Malek and AP Ir. Dr. Lau Kwan Yiew (UTM)

The 13th International Conference on the Properties and Applications of Dielectric Materials (ICPADM) was successfully held on 12-14 July 2021. The 13th ICPADM 2021 was a virtual conference hosted by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia via the Institute of High Voltage and High Current and sponsored by the IEEE DEIS and TNB Labs Malaysia. The theme of the conference was “Emerging Dielectrics for Energy Sustainability”.

The conference began with opening remarks delivered by the General Chair of ICPADM 2021, Professor Dr. Zulkurnain Abdul Malek, the International Advisory Committee Chair of ICPADM, Dr. Harry Orton, and the Vice Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Professor Datuk Ts. Dr. Ahmad Fauzi Ismail, followed by a video presentation of “Malaysia Truly Asia” by Tourism Malaysia.

From left to right: Professor Zulkurnain, Dr. Orton, and Professor Ahmad Fauzi Ismail delivering their opening remarks

Four plenary lectures were delivered live during the conference. The first plenary lecture entitled “Reliability of HVDC and MVDC Electrical Asset: The Challenge of Insulation Design” was delivered by Professor Dr. Gian Carlo Montanari (Florida State University, USA). The second plenary lecture entitled “Nanocomposites: Pathways to Dielectric Success” was delivered by Professor Emeritus Dr. Alun S. Vaughan (University of Southampton, UK). The third plenary lecture entitled “High Dielectric and Energy Storage Polymer Dielectrics” was delivered by Professor Dr. Shengtao Li (Xi’an Jiaotong University, China). The last plenary lecture entitled “Electrical Insulation Properties of Innovative Functionally Insulating Material toward Application to Electric Power Apparatus” was delivered by Professor Dr. Masayuki Hikita (Kyushu Institute of Technology, Japan).

From left to right: Professors Montanari, Vaughan, Li, and Hikita delivering their plenary lectures

A total of 149 participants from 21 countries joined the conference, with 117 papers presented over 18 oral sessions based on 6 main tracks, namely, condition monitoring, dielectric phenomena, electrical insulation, general dielectrics, nanomaterials, and others. A virtual tour was also carried out through 5 video presentations prepared by TNB Labs Malaysia, TNB Research Malaysia, and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

During the closing ceremony, 5 Best Paper Awards were announced and a video on the 14th ICPADM 2024 to be held in Phuket, Thailand, was presented. In their closing remarks, Professor Zulkurnain and Dr. Orton thanked the committee members, the sponsors, the plenary speakers, the reviewers, and all the participants for making the 13th ICPADM 2021 a success.