The IEEE International Power Modulator and High Voltage Conference is a merger of the International Power Modulator Symposium and the High Voltage Workshop. Both meetings have had a long history. The Power Modulator Symposium’s first meeting was in 1950, when it was known as the Hydrogen Thyratron Symposium and organized by the US Army. Its 25th meeting was held in 2002. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory organized the first High Voltage Workshop in 1965, when it was called the Workshop on Voltage Breakdown in Electronic Equipment at Low Air Pressures. The 19th High Voltage Workshop was held in 2002.

In 2002 the International Power Modulator Symposium and the High Voltage Workshop were conducted jointly for the first time, under the name International Power Modulator Conference. After a successful first endeavor, it was decided to hold the joint meeting in even number years, with the second International Power Modulator Conference in 2004. Starting in 2006, the International Power Modulator Conference has been under the full sponsorship of the IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS), often along with supporting technical co-sponsorship from the IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS) and the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS). Shortly after the 2008 International Power Modulator Conference, the conference was officially renamed as the IEEE International Power Modulator and High Voltage Conference, in order to recognize the legacy and tradition of both predecessor meetings.

The IEEE IPMHVC continues the tradition of providing a forum for the exchange and dissemination of technical information on systems and components related to power modulator technology and pertaining to high voltage issues in defense and commercial applications. The conference is intended for engineers and scientists involved in the design, fabrication, specification, or utilization of these systems. The conference also intends to facilitate the technical exchange of multi-industry repetitive systems, power modulators, and high voltage technology related to practical issues of design, manufacture, packaging, testing, failure analysis, and others. This unique conference is specifically for researchers, test engineers, manufacturers, suppliers and all technologists who are concerned with designing, fabricating, specifying or utilizing various types of power modulators and high voltage equipment whether it be used in airborne, marine or terrestrial environments.

The IPMHVC is held every other year during even years and typically occurs during one of the summer months. The 2020 IPMHVC in Knoxville, TN was to be co-located with the Electrical Insulation Conference (EIC) but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The IPMHVC executive committee and the EIC Board of Governors hosted the co-located conferences in 2022 in Knoxville, TN. The 2024 IPMHVC will be held in Indianapolis, IN.

Abstracts are invited for submission during the fall of the preceding year and example technical program topics include the following: