About Professional Education Seminars
The APEC Professional Education Seminars focus on practical aspects of the power electronics profession and provide in-depth discussion of important and complex power electronics topics. Each of the three-and-a-half-hour seminars combine practical application with theory and are designed to further educate the working professionals and students in power electronics.
APEC 2025 Seminar Program at a Glance
The APEC 2025 Professional Education Seminars offer an outstanding opportunity to learn from distinguished and respected power electronics professionals. The table below shows summarizes the seminar program in an easy-to-understand grid with links to the abstracts and the speaker bios.
| Track | Session One: Sunday, MARCH 16 25, 2025 9:30 AM – 1:00 PM | Session Two: Sunday, March 16, 2025 2:30 PM – 6:00 PM | Session Three: Monday, March 17, 2025 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fundamentals | S01: Power Converter Design Basics Room A411 Speakers: Pradeep Shenoy, Brian King Texas Instruments, United States | S07: GaN 101: An Introduction To Gallium Nitride Transistors, How They Are Made, And How To Use Them Room A411 Speakers: Edward Jones, Nicholas Dellas Infineon Technologies Austria AG, Austria | S13: Fundamentals Of Magnetics Room A315/A316 Speaker: Alfonso Martinez Würth Elektronik, Spain |
| Magnetics | S02: Impact of Common Mode Choke Construction on EMI Filter Suppression Room A311/A312 Speakers: Szymon Pasko, Abiezer Tejeda Schaffner EMV AG, Switzerland | S08: Magnetic Scaling and Constraints Room A313/A314 Speakers: Alex Hanson, Alyssa Brown, Elaine Ng University of Texas Austin, United States | S14: Controllable and Variable Magnetic Components in Power Electronics Room A302 Speakers: Wilmar Martinez(1), Jens Friebe(2), Marco Liserre(3) (1)KU Leuven – EnergyVille, Belgium; (2)University of Kassel, Germany; (3)Kiel University, Germany |
| Applications | S03: Supercapacitor Assisted Power Converters and Protection Systems for Renewable Energy Systems Room A302 Speaker: Nihal Kularatna The University of Waikato, School of Engineering, New Zealand | S09: Near Field PROBES: Useful Tools in Power Electronics Room A315/A316 Speaker: Arturo Mediano University of Zaragoza, Spain | S15: An Introduction to Batteries and Vehicle Dynamics for Electric Vehicles Room A311/A312 Speaker: John Hayes University College Cork, Ireland |
| Simulation And Modeling | S04: Circuit-Based Dynamic Phasor for AC Systems and Gyrator Models for IPT Design Room A315/A316 Speaker: Chun Taek Rim Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Korea | S10: Master Class on Designing, Simulating, and Measuring a 2000 Amp Power Rail Room A302 Speakers: Heidi Barnes(1), Steve Sandler(2), Benjamin Dannan(3) (1)Keysight Technologies, United States; (2)Picotest, United States; (3)Signal Edge Solutions, United States | S16: Determining Switching and Conduction Loss in Si, SiC, and GaN Room A411 Speakers: Eric Persson(1), Mladen Ivankovic(2) (1)Infineon Technologies, United States; (2)Infineon Technologies, Canada |
| Design | S05: AI in Power Electronics Design: Present and Future Room A412 Speakers: Xinze Li (1), Alan Mantooth (1), Frede Blaabjerg(2) (1)University of Arkansas, United States; (2)Aalborg University, Denmark; | S11: Power Supplies Design for Data Center Power System Stability and Reliability Room A412 Speaker: Jian Sun Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, United States | S17: Towards Reliable Power Electronics: a Practical Outlook on Design-for-Reliability, Testing, and Condition Monitoring Room A313/A314 Speakers: Ionut Vernica(1), Yi Zhang(2), Huai Wang(2) (1)Plexim GmbH, Switzerland; (2)Aalborg University, Denmark |
| Converters | S06: Electric Moon: Powering the Moon with GaN-Based Isolated Multilevel Converters Room A313/A314 Speakers: Jin Wang The Ohio State University, United States | S12: Voltage Source Converter HVDC Transmission Systems—Evolutions, Fundamentals, Control, Modelling and Behaviour Room A311/A312 Speaker: Grain Adam NEOM Energy and Water (ENOWA), United Kingdom | S18: Mastering the Art of High-Frequency Multiphase LLC Converters Room A412 Speakers: Miroslav Vasic, Daniel Rios Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Spain |
APEC 2025 Seminar Abstracts and Speaker Biographies
S01: Power Converter Design Basics
This entry level seminar will provide a practical introduction to the design and testing of power converters. After some material covering the basics of power converters, this presentation will go step by step through the design process of two common converter topologies: a buck converter and a flyback converter. Each detailed design example will cover the motivating application, design parameters, component selection, control loop compensation, circuit board layout, and hardware testing/results. The target audience of this crash course seminar is those with little to no power electronics design experience.
Since time is limited in the seminar, extensive use of references to additional information where needed will be provided.
S01 Presenters: Pradeep Shenoy, Brian King; Texas Instruments, United States
Pradeep Shenoy leads Texas Instrument’s Power Design Services team focused on the automotive market. Pradeep has over 15 years of experience in power electronics working on projects ranging from solar energy conversion to electric vehicle battery chargers. He has served in several roles in the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) and the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) organizing committee. Pradeep obtained the B.S. degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He received various awards including the Illinois International Graduate Achievement Award in 2010, the Jack Kilby Award for Innovation in 2015, and the IEEE Richard M. Bass Outstanding Young Power Electronics Engineer Award in 2020.
Brian King has over 28 years of experience in power supply design, specializing in isolated AC/DC and DC/DC applications. Brian has worked directly with customers to support over 1500 business opportunities and has designed over 750 unique power supplies using a broad range of TI power supply controllers. He has published over 50 articles related to power supply design, and since 2016 is the lead organizer and content curator for the Texas Instruments Power Supply Design Seminar (PSDS) series, which provides training to thousands of power engineers world-wide on a regular basis. Brian received a MSEE (1996) and BSEE (1994) from the University of Arkansas.
S02: Impact of Common-Mode Choke Construction on EMI Filter Suppression
This workshop, drawing on measurements and expertise from Schaffner R&D Development Center, presents practical considerations for the design and construction of common-mode choke (CMC) and its impact on EMI filter suppression. Divided into four parts, the workshop offers a comprehensive exploration of CMC design and EMI filtering.
The first section introduces EMI filtering concepts, including their necessity, relevant standards, and the role of Power Converters (PE) in noise generation. It covers concepts ranging from Common- and Differential-Mode noise propagation and advanced practical topics on the design of CMC.
Part two compares magnetic materials based on measured parameters from various suppliers, examining permeability, temperature dependencies, and saturation in real-world applications cases.
The third segment explores CMC design and construction parameters, considering core geometry, construction methods, winding techniques, and potting effects on performance. It provides practical insights into choke design and material selection.
The final part addresses how the construction of CMCs impacts the performance of EMI filters in real applications, focusing on saturation and resonance phenomena. It includes methods for identifying saturation, mitigation strategies, and case studies. The workshop concludes with practical tips for optimizing EMI filter design and performance, offering valuable insights for industry professionals and researchers.
S02 Presenters: Szymon Pasko, Abiezer Tejeda; Schaffner EMV AG, Switzerland
Szymon Pasko is a Senior Lead Research Engineer at Schaffner EMV AG in Switzerland, now part of TE Connectivity, specializing in Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and Power Quality (PQ). Dr. Pasko’s doctoral research focused on the influence of EMI filter construction and power electronics converters in reducing conducted emissions. His work has been recognized with prestigious awards, including the main prize in the IX ABB contest for best Ph.D. thesis (2011/2012 edition) and the main prize in ENEA’s contest for best Ph.D. thesis (2011 edition).
At Schaffner, Dr. Pasko leverages his extensive knowledge to tackle complex EMC issues, design and optimize EMI filters, and analyze power quality. He has held various roles within the company, including Research Manager at the Innovation Center and Lead Research Engineer in the Automotive Division. His contributions have led to 24 scientific publications and 4 patents in the field of EMC and power electronics.
As a Senior Lead Research Engineer, Dr. Pasko’s work continues to advance the state-of-the-art in EMC, particularly in high-frequency power electronic applications.
Abiezer Tejeda is an electrical engineer with expertise in power electronics, wireless power transfer, and Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC). He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Auckland, where his research focused on designing magnetic couplers for wireless EV charging. Dr. Tejeda also earned M.S. and B.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Utah State University.
Currently, Dr. Tejeda serves as Lead Senior Research and Development Engineer at Schaffner EMV AG in Switzerland, now part of TE Connectivity. In this role, he leads the design and optimization of magnetic solutions for EMC and Power Quality (PQ) filtering applications, as well as for Power Converters applications. His responsibilities include design and simulation, development, testing, and providing expert guidance on magnetics for power electronics systems.
Prior to joining Schaffner, Dr. Tejeda worked as an Electrical Design Engineer at TDK-Electronics, developing high-power wireless charging systems for electric vehicles. His work has resulted in multiple patents and publications in leading journals like IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.
S03: Supercapacitor Assisted Power Converters and Protection Systems for Renewable Energy Systems
Supercapacitors are traditionally considered as energy storage devices with high power density and medium energy density. However, they can be treated as long time constant devices and that opens up a very unique path to design a new family of power converters and protection systems now known as Supercapacitor Assisted (SCA) techniques, based on a new umbrella concept now known as SCA-Loss Management (SCALoM).
SCA low dropout (SCALDO) converter is an extra low frequency DC-DC converter with built in DC-UPS capability with no EMC issues with similar or better efficiency to traditional switch-modes. It is already implemented in a silicon IC version. This technique which is not a variation of traditional switch capacitor converters and can be useful in renewable energy systems. EMC free implementation comes from its extra milli hertz to fractional hertz order energy re-circulation concept, eliminating dynamic switching losses in transistors and diodes.
SCA -surge absorber (SCASA) is a commercialized high-performance surge protector technique adhering to UL 1449 3rd Edition Std for transient surge protection. SCA-LED is a DC LED lighting technique with no battery packs. These patented SCA techniques are currently extended into powering whitegoods from renewables without batteries and also has become the basis of a unique new DC circuit breaker technique.
First half of seminar will present a summary of new SCALoM concept and how it is extended to the implementation of a new family of DC-DC converters, surge protectors, LED lighting converters and converters for DC whitegoods. This will include 12-5 V, 5-3.3 V converters and high power 48V converters. Second half will show how supercapacitor can be effectively used as the basis of transient surge protectors and DC Circuit breakers and other unique new SCA techniques.
Seminar will be an in-depth discussion on how supercapacitors can open an entirely new world of power converter and protection techniques for a paradigm shift.
S03 Presenter: Nihal Kularatna; The University of Waikato, School of Engineering, New Zealand
Nihal Kularatna is an electronics engineer with over 48 years of contribution to electronic engineering. He has authored ten reference books for practicing electronic engineers including the title DC Power Supplies, Power Management and surge protection for Power Electronic Systems (2012). His latest research monograph on sustainable energy and energy storage systems, titled Energy Storage Devices for Renewable Energy Systems: Rechargeable Batteries and Supercapacitors, was published by Elsevier in June 2021, summarizing novel supercapacitor assisted techniques, starting with an in-depth comparison of batteries and supercapacitors.
He was the winner of New Zealand Engineering Innovator of the Year 2013 Award. In 2021, he won the University of Waikato Postgraduate Research Supervision Staff Excellence Award. In 2015, University of Waikato conferred him with a DSc degree for his thesis “Contributions to Power Management, Telecommunications and Instrumentation – A Three Decade Journey”. He was the General Chair of IEEE-ICDCM 2023 held in New Zealand.
He is currently active in research in non-traditional supercapacitor applications, power supply topologies, transient propagation and renewable energy, with a contribution of over 175 papers to learned journals and international conferences. His supercapacitor assisted (SCA) techniques culminated numerous int’l patents.
He is presently employed as an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering, the University of Waikato, New Zealand. He frequently delivers invited tutorials, workshops and lectures supercapacitor assisted techniques.
S04: Circuit-Based Dynamic Phasor for AC Systems and Gyrator Models for IPT Design
Recent advances in modelling techniques in power electronics, focusing on circuit-based models, are covered. Circuit-based dynamic phasor models for AC converters & grids and gyrator models for inductive power transfer (IPT) systems are extensively explained.
First, power electronics models are reviewed. Conventional models such as state-space averaging, discrete state model, existence function model, DQ transformation, and dynamic phasor model are shortly reviewed with their limitations.
Second, the general unified circuit-based dynamic phasor for AC power systems is extensively explained. The switched transformer model is adopted as a general equivalent circuit of converter. The circuit-based single & multi-phase AC models and quantum transformation model are explained. Then, the unified-general dynamic phasor model is provided with fruitful application examples.
Third, the recently developed gyrator models for IPT systems are explained. The circuit-based static gyrator model is followed by the dynamic gyrator model for static and dynamic analyses of IPT systems, which is crucial for control of IPT. High order IPT systems are completely analysed with great ease.
Lastly, the magnetic mirror model for IPT design is explained. Its application to open core plates and parallel core plates is shown.
Through the proposed models, the power systems become regarded as conventional circuits.
S04 Presenter: Chun Taek Rim; Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Korea
Chun T. Rim (IEEE Fellow ’20) received the B.S. degree with Honor in EE from the Kumoh Institute of Technology (KIT), Korea, in 1985, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in EE from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea in 1987 and 1990, respectively. He was an Associate Professor with KAIST in 2007-2016, and a Full Professor with the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Korea since 2016. He was the presidents of the Korean Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) in 2018-2021 and the Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI) in 2021-2022, respectively. He has authored or coauthored 202 papers, written 19 books, and awarded 160 patents. He won numerous awards, including the Best Paper Awards of IEEE TPEL in 2015 and J-ESTPE in 2016 both in wireless power transfer (WPT). He has developed WPT of KAIST On-line EVs, 6 degree-of-freedom (DoF) mobile phones, and 12m-distance IoTs. He invented synthesized magnetic field focusing (SMF) technology and innovative modeling techniques such as unified-general dynamic phasor, gyrator models for IPT, and magnetic mirror model. He is now a Co-EiC of IEEE TPEL, dealing with WPT, renewable energies, and transportation electrification.
S05: AI in Power Electronics Design: Present and Future
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a promising force driving advancements in power electronics (PE) design, which covers but not limits to the optimization of discrete devices like capacitors and magnetic components, power semiconductors, hardware prototype, EMI filter, thermal management, modulation and control, etc. This seminar explores AI applications’ evolution in the PE design, including foundations, latest research progress, and future directions, with an emphasis on discussing cutting-edge advancements in depth.
Beginning with an introduction to AI applications in PE including basic concepts, the session will progress to more focused discussions on AI-empowered PE design. Key challenges in existing AI algorithms, such as data scarcity, model explainability, and application transferability, will be elaborated. Afterwards, the seminar will delve into the latest innovations, physics-in-architecture neural network (PANN), which is a lightweight, explainable, and flexible AI tailored for PE design with live code demonstrations to deploy PANN for Dual-Active-Bridge converter design. Furthermore, PE-GPT, a revolutionary design tool that leverages PE-specific generative AI agents for linguistically-guided autonomous design will be presented with interactive on-site code experiments. Finally, the session will discuss forward-looking future research, with autonomous and ethical AI systems for a new PE design paradigm.
This seminar is tailored for diverse groups of audiences, offering comprehensive overview about AI in PE and its design for newcomers, advanced methods and concepts for experts, and hands-on interactive code sessions to drive innovation in personal projects. This seminar aims to inspire more researchers and industry professionals to leverage AI to further drive the advacements of the industry.
S05 Presenters: Xinze Li(1), Alan Mantooth(1), Frede Blaabjerg(2); (1)University of Arkansas, United States; (2)Aalborg University, Denmark;
Xinze Li (Member, IEEE) received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and its Automation from Shandong University, China, 2018. He received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, 2023. He was honored as the sole recipient of the 2023 NTU Collaborative Research Award Winner. He was awarded the Outstanding Presentation Award at IEEE APEC 2023. Besides, he won the Second Prize Paper Award from the IEEE Industry Applications Society in 2022. His research interests include design process automation, light and explainable AI for power electronics, fault prognosis and health management, application of AI in power electronics.
Frede Blaabjerg (Fellow, IEEE) got a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering at Aalborg University in 1995. He became an Assistant Professor in 1992, an Associate Professor in 1996, and a Full Professor of power electronics and drives in 1998. From 2017 he became a Villum Investigator. He is honoris causa at University Politehnica Timisoara, Romania, and Tallinn Technical University in Estonia. His research interests include power electronics and its applications, such as in wind turbines, PV systems, reliability, harmonics, and adjustable speed drives. He has published more than 600 journal papers in power electronics and its applications. He has received 32 IEEE Prize Paper Awards, the IEEE PELS Distinguished Service Award in 2009, the EPE-PEMC Council Award in 2010, the IEEE William E. Newell Power Electronics Award 2014, the Villum Kann Rasmussen Research Award 2014, the Global Energy uPrize in 2019 and the 2020 IEEE Edison Medal. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics from 2006 to 2012. In 2019-2020 he served as a President of the IEEE Power Electronics Society. He is Vice-President of the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences. He is nominated in 2014-2019as the most 250 cited researchers in Engineering in the world.
H. Alan Mantooth (Fellow, IEEE) received the B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. degrees from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA, in 1985 and 1986, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA, USA, in 1990. He then joined the Analogy, a startup company in Oregon. In 1998, he joined as the Faculty with the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Arkansas, where he currently holds the rank of a Distinguished Professor. His research interests include analog- and mixed-signal IC design & CAD, semiconductor device modeling, power electronics, power electronic packaging, and cybersecurity. Prof. Mantooth established and serves as the Executive Director of the National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission. He is the Founding Director of the NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center on GRid-connected Advanced Power Electronic Systems and Deputy Director of the POETS NSF Engineering Research Center. He holds the 21st Century Research Leadership Chair in Engineering. He is a Past-President of the IEEE Power Electronics Society and Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE OPEN JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, and Eta Kappa Nu, and registered professional engineer in Arkansas.
S06: Electric Moon: Powering the Moon with GaN-Based Isolated Multilevel Converters
This seminar offers an in-depth exploration of the role of power electronics in space applications, focusing on the pioneering work of the Electric Moon team. Comprising students from Ohio State University and researchers from Venturi North America, the team participated in NASA’s Watts on the Moon (WOTM) Challenge, a competition aimed at developing innovative energy solutions for lunar missions.
The seminar will be organized chronologically, beginning with an introduction to the WOTM challenge, where participants are tasked with creating systems to generate, store, and distribute energy on the Moon. Following this, the seminar will delve into the specific approaches proposed by the Electric Moon team. This includes a detailed discussion of their system architecture, circuit topology, device selection, and evaluation processes, as well as the initial prototyping of a 1.5-kV, 1.5-kW isolated modular multilevel DC/DC converter, which was publicly demonstrated in the first year of the challenge.
As the presentation progresses, the focus will shift to the challenges faced during the second year of the competition. These challenges involved redesigning circuits and transformers to withstand extreme operating environments, developing and implementing a robust battery design, and conducting comprehensive system prototyping and final tests. The seminar will conclude with a summary of the lessons learned by the team throughout their journey.
This seminar is ideal for graduate students and research engineers who have a foundational understanding of power electronics. It promises to provide valuable insights into the practical aspects of power electronics in one of the most demanding environments imaginable.
S06 Presenters: Jin Wang; The Ohio State University
Jin Wang (IEEE Fellow) received his Bachelor’s degree from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 1998, his Master’s degree from Wuhan University in 2001, and his Ph.D. degree from Michigan State University in 2005. He worked at Ford for two years before joining Ohio State University (OSU) in 2007 as an Assistant Professor. He became a Full Professor at OSU in 2017. His current research interests include high voltage engineering and wide bandgap power device-based high-voltage and high-power converters. Dr. Wang has over 260 journal and conference papers and 10 patents.
Dr. Wang received the PELS Richard M. Bass Young Engineer Award in 2011, the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Award in 2011, the Nagamori Award in 2020, the IEEE Power
Electronics Emerging Technology Award in 2022, the IEEE William Dunbar Award in 2024. At OSU, Dr. Wang received the Boyer Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Innovation in 2012, the Lumley Research Award in 2013, and the Harrison Award for Excellence in Engineering Education, the highest award for mid-career engineering professors, in 2017. Dr. Wang initiated and served as the inaugural General Chair for the IEEE Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA) in 2013 and the IEEE Workshop on Power Electronics for Aerospace Applications (PEASA)/High Voltage in 2022.
S07: GaN 101: An Introduction To Gallium Nitride Transistors, How They Are Made, And How To Use Them
This seminar will provide a comprehensive introduction to gallium nitride power transistors and how to effectively design with them. Migrating power electronics designs from conventional transistors to new wide bandgap devices can pose many challenges. This is exaggerated even further with GaN, because the HEMT is a fundamentally different type of transistor from a MOSFET. A firm background in the comparative device physics between Si/SiC MOSFETs and GaN HEMTs helps to make sense of the new recommended design approach. Part I of this seminar will cover the device background, walking through a typical GaN datasheet and explaining it in the context of how the device works. Part II will build on this background with a step-by-step system design approach for GaN, including PCB layout, gate driving, and paralleling. The seminar will conclude with a quick look at some interesting new directions such as bidirectional GaN transistors and monolithic integration, as well as some key applications where GaN adds the highest value.
S07 Presenters: Edward Jones, Nicholas Dellas; Infineon Technologies Austria AG, Austria
Edward A. Jones is a Principal Engineer in GaN Application Development with Infineon Technologies. He completed his Ph.D. at The University of Tennessee in 2017, and his B.S.E.E. in 2007 at Virginia Tech. Prior to joining Infineon Technologies, Edward was a Senior Application Engineer at Efficient Power Conversion. Dr. Jones has authored or co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed papers, five tutorial seminars, two patents, and the book Characterization of Wide Bandgap Power Semiconductor Devices published by the IET. He has also contributed to several other books, application notes, and invited talks.
Nicholas Dellas is a Lead Principal Engineer at Infineon Technologies focusing on GaN technology development. He received his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from The Pennsylvania State University in 2011. Prior to joining Infineon, he worked at Texas Instruments where he focused on materials and process development for GaN power devices and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonators.
S08: Magnetic Scaling and Constraints
The design of power magnetics encompasses a dizzying range of frequencies, power levels, impedances, materials, and physical constraints. It would be useful to have a sense of how magnetic performance scales across this vast landscape and which constraints matter most. Nevertheless, while engineers may understand magnetics design, they generally learn how to handle wildly different application areas only by experience.
In this seminar, we will review fundamental physical laws for magnetic components and learn how those laws inform design across both size and frequency. Attendees will learn how much permeability is necessary, whether saturation or core loss limits a design, and when air-core magnetics should be used. They will also learn why it’s so hard to make magnetics small, situations where magnetics scale more favorably, and whether one big component is better than many small components.
We will not focus on detailed design decisions; rather, we will emphasize an analysis approach that is generalizable beyond a specific example and derive conclusions that will help attendees ask the right questions before starting a design and give them some intuition for what the right answers will be.
This seminar is suitable for all attendees with introductory classroom exposure to magnetic component design.
S08 Presenters: Alex Hanson, Alyssa Brown, Elaine Ng; University of Texas at Austin, United States
Alex J. Hanson (Member, IEEE) received the B.E. degree from Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA, in 2014, and the S.M. and Ph.D. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, in 2016 and 2019, respectively, all in electrical and computer engineering. In 2019, he joined the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA, where he is currently an Assistant Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research interests include power electronics, power magnetics, and their applications. Dr. Hanson has received the William M. Portnoy Prize Paper Award, Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award, and the National Science Foundation CAREER award. He serves as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Industrial Electronics.
Elaine Ng is pursuing her Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). She completed her undergraduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), earning two B.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Physics in 2021. She also received her M.Eng. degree in electrical engineering from MIT in 2022. At UT Austin, she is co-advised by Dr. Alex Hanson and Dr. Jean Anne Incorvia. Her research focuses on the intersection of thin film deposition, device fabrication, and power electronics. Specifically, Elaine is developing magnetic materials and fabricating integrated magnetic components devices for on-chip power converters. In recognition of her promising research, she was awarded the NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO) fellowship in 2023.
Alyssa Brown is a third year M.S.E./P.h.D. student at the University of Texas at Austin who is also advised by Dr. Alex Hanson. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 2022 and as an undergraduate she focused on analog design as well as wireless power transfer. Her graduate research has involved high frequency magnetics for power converters, specifically double-sided conduction transformers and HF magnetic materials/devices characterization. Her future research will focus on both thermal and mechanical mitigation techniques to enable high power and high frequency transformers. For her research and outreach efforts, she was awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP) in 2024.
S09: Near Field PROBES: Useful Tools in Power Electronics
Power electronics professionals are often highly interested in the fundamentals of EMI, as they frequently encounter (or suffer from) its effects in their labs (“EMI” and “RF black magic”) or in production environments (EMC). Many of them face the need to solve these problems quickly, under pressure, and often through trial and error. In this process, near-field probes are invaluable tools..
The key concepts and practical examples presented in this seminar will be highly beneficial for engineers and technicians who may not be EMI/EMC specialists but are involved in the design, manufacturing, and troubleshooting of power electronic products.
Topics such as identifying EMI sources, evaluating fixes, testing components, PCB layout, shielding of cables and enclosures, and non-invasive signal measurement will be covered from an experimental perspective.
Taking this seminar provides an opportunity to review EMI/EMC and high frequency concepts relevant to power electronics and to learn, through a practical approach, how to use near-field probes to solve design issues and noncompliance in power electronic systems.
S09 Presenters: Arturo Mediano; University of Zaragoza, Spain
Arturo Mediano received his M.Sc. (1990) and his Ph. D. (1997) in Electrical Engineering from University of Zaragoza (Spain), where he has held a teaching professorship in EMI/EMC/RF/SI from 1992.
From 1990, he has been involved in R&D projects in EMI/EMC/SI/RF fields for communications, industry and scientific/medical applications with a solid experience in training, consultancy and troubleshooting for industry in Spain, USA, Switzerland, France, UK, Ireland, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Canada, The Netherlands, Portugal, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Morocco, India, and Singapore.
He is the founder of The HF-Magic Lab®, a specialized laboratory for design, diagnostic, troubleshooting, and training in the EMI/EMC/SI and RF fields, and from 2011, he has collaborated with Besser Associates (CA, USA) offering public and on site courses in EMI/EMC/SI/RF subjects through the USA, especially in Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area.
He is Senior Member of the IEEE, member of the Electromagnetic Compatibility Society (now Chair of the EMC Spanish Chapter), and active member (Past Chair) from 1999 of the MTT-17 (HF/VHF/UHF) Technical Committee of the Microwave Theory and Techniques Society. He is member of the IEEE Education Society.
He is from 2023 the Chair of the Clayton R. Paul Global University event during IEEE EMC+SIPI Symposium.
He is the recipient of the 2024 Excellence in Continuing EMC Engineering Education Award de la IEEE EMC Society
S10: Master Class on Designing, Simulating, and Measuring a 2000 Amp Power Rail
The tutorial will start with the basics of engineering trade-offs. When selecting the PCB stack-up the cost and fabrication trade-offs must be considered for more power and ground layers vs. thicker copper layers. Challenges with the BGA power and ground ball-out impact both DC and AC behavior. At DC the IR drop creates challenges for sense lines and the over 1000 Watts of power require active cooling systems. At AC even the smallest of parasitic PCB and component inductances must be considered to drive the impedances into micro-ohms and help mitigate EMI coupling to adjacent victim nets. Trade-offs with selecting the regulator topology can be quite complex. Commercial vendors are not always in agreement resulting in a range of size, cost, and less tangible availability issues. Single-stage vs. two-stage voltage drop systems can impact cost and efficiency, while the number of required phases impacts routing and regulation challenges.
The tutorial will cover the need for a dynamic step-loader for validation of both small signal and large signal phenomena. The design and fabrication of a 2000 Amp dynamic step-loader provides the perfect test case for this design, simulation, and measurement tutorial. A step-by-step process will show how to build a digital twin simulation. It starts with the publicly available Sandler state-space behavioral model for the voltage regulators. Mimicking all 55 phases of voltage regulation to explore both small signal and large signal phenomena. Adding behavioral models for the 700+ capacitors and EM models for the PCB allows the simulators to optimize path inductances and achieve the required micro-ohms of impedance for the PCB power delivery network. A final dynamic 2000 Amp load model is added to complete the step-loader digital twin simulation. The digital twin models can run with a harmonic balance simulator to significantly reduce simulation time by jumping directly to steady-state transient behavior that captures both large-signal and small-signal behavior.
The tutorial will conclude with demonstrations of the challenges when turning on and validating a 2000 Amp step-loader. Even before powering up the system simple validation of a DC to 100’s of MHz 40 micro-Ohm PDN requires advanced 2-port shunt impedance measurement methods. At 40 micro-Ohms small ground currents on cable shields between instrument ports can corrupt the data making CMRR an important part of the measurement test fixture. Real-time oscilloscope measurements validate the dynamic ripple on the power rail and capture large signal phenomena. Validating the 1000 A/nS current requires specialized sense structures and integrated near-field data. Finally exploring programmable step-load capability allows for excitation of worst-case loads and the impact on power rail ripple and EMI.
Participants will leave with an understanding of the advanced modeling and measurement techniques required to support the growing need for 2000 Amp and higher PDN designs.
S10 Presenters: Heidi Barnes(1), Steve Sandler(2), Benjamin Dannan(3); (1)Keysight Technologies, United States; (2)Picotest, United States; (3)Signal Edge Solutions, United States
Heidi Barnes is a Senior Application Engineer for High-Speed Digital applications in the EDA Group of Keysight Technologies. Her recent activities include the application of electromagnetic, transient, and frequency domain simulators to solve power integrity challenges. Author of over 30 papers on SI and PI and recipient of the DesignCon 2017 Engineer of the Year. Experience includes 12 years with Keysight SI and PI EDA software, 6 years designing ATE test fixtures for Verigy, 6 years in RF/Microwave microcircuit packaging for Agilent Technologies, and 10 years with NASA designing electronics for Hydrogen fire and gas detection. Heidi graduated in 1986 with a BSEE from the California Institute of Technology.
Benjamin Dannan is the Founder and Chief Technologist at Signal Edge Solutions. Benjamin Dannan is an experienced signal and power integrity (SI/PI) design consultant developing advanced packaging solutions for high-performance ASICs and complex FPGA designs. He is a Keysight ADS Certified Expert with expert-level proficiency in high-speed simulation solutions and multiple 3D EM solutions. He has expert-level proficiency with multiple test and measurement solutions, including oscilloscopes, vector network analyzers (VNA), Time Domain Reflectometers (TDRs), function generators, and EMC lab testing equipment.
He is a senior member of IEEE with a multi-faceted background that includes a wide range of professional engineering and military experiences. His engineering experience includes designing, developing, and launching production products, including ASICs, radars, fully autonomous robotic platforms, pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera video systems, and ground combat vehicles.
He is a specialist in signal and power integrity concepts, high-speed circuits, and multi-layered PCB design, as well as has multiple years of experience with EMC product development and certifications to support global product launches. Additionally, he has extensive experience with Chip-Package-PCB-VRM power delivery network (PDN) principles.
His depth of expertise includes modeling large SoC designs, multi-chip modules (MCMs), and chiplets with frequencies in excess of multiple GHz using innovative technologies. He has multiple years of experience leading multiple products through EMC/EMI compliance testing activities for global market sales, including CE, FCC, IEC, CISPR, and other regulations. In addition to his experience and knowledge solving EMC non-compliance issues.
Benjamin holds a certification in cybersecurity, has a BSEE from Purdue University, a Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University, and graduated from the USAF Undergraduate Combat Systems Officer training school with an aeronautical rating. Benjamin is a trained Electronic Warfare Officer in the USAF with deployments on the EC-130J Commando Solo in Afghanistan and Iraq, totaling 47 combat missions, and a trained USAF Cyber Operations Officer. In addition, he has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed journal publications and has twice received the prestigious DesignCon best paper award, given to authors who are leading practitioners in semiconductor and electronic design.
S11: Power Supplies Design for Data Center Power System Stability and Reliability
Data center power system design has traditionally emphasized efficiency and reliability.
With rapid growth in both scale and number of data centers, stability is becoming an important
concern for power systems inside data centers as well as the grid they connect to. With virtually
every watt of electricity processed by power converters at least 2-3 times, data centers have a
very high concentration of power electronics, creating the potential for new types of instability
that have challenged the development of renewable energy and power grids in recent years.
Depending on the nature and extent, an instability event may shut down an entire data center or
parts of it due to protective actions or damages to power supplies and other components, making
reliability assessment based on normal hardware failure meaningless.
This seminar introduces the concept of data center power system stability, reviews
possible behavior and consequences of instability, and presents practical methods to analyze and
mitigate the problem. Impedance-based frequency-domain models are developed for power
supplies and overall data center power systems and used to study system stability. Practical
methods to solve typical instability problems and to guarantee stability through the design of
power supplies and other components are also presented. The topics are treated in-depth for an
intermediate/advanced audience.
S11 Presenters: Jian Sun; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, United States
Jian Sun joined the faculty at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 2002, where
he is currently a Professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer and Systems Engineering.
He is also Director of the Center for Future Energy Systems (CFES) funded by New York State
government. His research interests are in the general area of power electronics and energy
conversion.
Dr. Sun received his doctorate from University of Paderborn, Germany. Prior to joining
RPI, he spent five years at Rockwell Collins working on power electronics for aerospace power
systems and was a Post-Doc Fellow at Georgia Tech from 1996 to 1997. As Director of CFES,
he is responsible for the strategic directions and development of the Center’s research, industry
collaboration, education, and outreach programs. His professional activities in the power
electronics community included serving as Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Power Electronics Letters
from 2008 to 2014, Treasurer of IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) from 2013 to 2020,
and as PELS Vice President of Conferences since 2021.
Dr. Sun received the IEEE PELS Modeling and Control Technical Achievements Award
in 2013 and the R. David Middlebrook Outstanding Achievement Award in 2017. He is a Fellow
of IEEE.
S12: Voltage Source Converter HVDC Transmission Systems—Evolutions, Fundamentals, Control, Modelling and Behaviour
This tutorial will use power electronics systems approach to introduce various types of voltage source converters applied to HVDC transmission systems, focusing on converter topologies, operating principle and modulation, control principle and system behaviour under normal and abnormal conditions, including critical discussions of the merits and demerits and the evolution of the HVDC converter technologies. The tutorial will point to the underpinning theoretical bases and relevant equations and use extensive illustrative simulations to aid discussions and explanations of the key concepts and relationships, for examples, prerequisites for controlled operation of voltage source converter; manipulation of phase and magnitude of modulating signals to control active and reactive power and extend converter ac voltage control range; manipulation of positive and negative phase sequence to achieve tangible control objectives at system level, converter P-Q and Q-V capability curves and limiting factors, etc. Also, ac and dc fault ride-through (low-voltage and high-voltage) and their impact on converter design and control considerations and countermeasures will be discussed. To support research students, various modelling methods of the voltage source converters will be discussed in detailed and supported by simulations and their merits and demerits, for examples, various versions of EMT (detailed switched, Thevenin and Norton equivalent based on Dommel implicit integration with two-state switched resistors, switching function, averaged) [1-6] and RMS.
S12 Presenters: Grain Adam; NEOM Energy and Water (ENOWA), United Kingdom
Grain Philip Adam received a PhD in Power Electronics from University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, UK, in 2007, and he is presently working with NEOM Energy and Water (ENOWA) in Saudi Arabia as Principal Planning Expert with Strategic Grid Planning and Studies team. Dr Adam is a technical lead for 3000 MW and ±525 kV and 635 km bipole voltage source converter overhead HVDC link between Yanbu and NEOM Industrial City (NIC) and of the U-shape multiterminal HVDC system to integrate 4000 MW of solar power into NIC. From 2008 to 2020, he was with Technology and Innovation Center of the Institute of Energy and Environment (IEE), Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, University of Strathclyde. His research interests cover modulation and control strategies and circuit topologies of current and voltage source converters including fault-tolerant modular and hybrid multilevel converters, HVDC systems and FACTS devices, and their applications in renewable energy systems. Dr Adam has authored/co-authored over 100 technical reports as part of his engagements in R&D projects with OEMs and consultancies work for utilities and over 150 journal and conference articles in fundamental and applications of power electronics in power systems, and 3 books. Dr. Adam is a senior member of IEEE, Power Electronics Society and Power and Energy Society, and member of Editorial Board of Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics (JESTPE) and Associate Editor.
S13: Fundamentals of Magnetics
Magnetic components are ubiquitous in any power supply, from power transformation to
filtering. The improvement in semiconductor technology of the last decades have provoked
an increase in the switching frequency of the power devices, which have made the design of
magnetic component the bottleneck of many products, as the classic methods of designing do
not take into account the electromagnetic effects that have always been there, but could be
ignored at lower frequencies.
This seminar presents the fundamentals of the physics used in magnetics, focusing on an
energy point of view: By understanding how and where the energy flows in magnetic devices,
we can better model and predict the higher frequencies effects and take advantage of them to
design our converters.
The first block presents those fundamentals, explaining the physical concepts and the
characteristics of the ferromagnetic materials that make them happen, and where the energy
flows and is stored in an inductive component. The second block describes the parts of a real
world magnetic and what are they used for. The third block describes the high level effects
happening in these components and how we can predict their value.
S13 Presenter: Alfonso Martínez; Würth Elektronik, Spain
Alfonso Martínez is a software and electronics engineer, and creator of OpenMagnetics and
AutoPlanar. He has more than 15 years of technical experience spread between the electronic
engineering and computer science fields.
Being among these two worlds he decided to start bringing the best of the software world to
the power electronics world: the open-source philosophy. He created OpenMagnetics as a
path to tearing down the paywalls and giving every engineer in the world access to the best
tools, knowledge, and latest simulation models.
He currently works as a Senior Specialist in Würth Elektronik, in the Modeling and
Simulation Team, automating the creation of inductive component models. From 2018 to
2022 he worked as CTO at Frenetic, where he was responsible for developing its online tool
for designing magnetic components. Prior to this, Alfonso cofounded the start-up Swarm64 in
Berlin, where he created an FPGA-based architecture to optimize the performance of
databases. That company was acquired by ServiceNow. And previously he developed
hardware and firmware in the field of the Internet of Things at a startup in Madrid. He holds
an MSc in industrial engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain.
S14: Controllable and Variable Magnetic Components in Power Electronics
Controllable magnetic components, such as variable inductors and transformers, offer new opportunities for power electronics. These devices allow for dynamic control of inductances (magnetising and leakage) and transformation ratios, enabling more efficient operation and greater adaptability in power conversion systems. Recent advances focus on integrating these components into topologies like dual active bridge converters and resonant converters, enhancing power density and efficiency by reducing current stress and improving voltage regulation. However, challenges remain in achieving consistent performance across operating conditions and simplifying control mechanisms. This field continues to evolve, promising higher performance for future power systems. In this tutorial, attendees will follow the journey from the creation of the first magnetic amplifiers to the modern variable magnetics, their applications and their future.
S14 Presenters: Wilmar Martinez(1), Jens Friebe(2), Marco Liserre(3); (1)KU Leuven – EnergyVille, Belgium; (2)University of Kassel, Germany; (3)Kiel University, Germany
Wilmar Martinez received his PhD in Power Electronics from Shimane University, Japan.
He gained industrial experience as a commissioning scientist at the Toyota Technological
Institute, Japan, where he worked on magnetic materials and applications for electric
mobility in 2016. He later held research positions at Aalto University, Finland, and ETH
Zurich, Switzerland. Since 2018, he has been part of KU Leuven, where he became an
Associate Professor in 2023. He coordinates the Power Electronics Research Line at
EnergyVille, focusing on power conversion, battery infrastructure, and advanced
semiconductor devices like SiC and GaN.
Marco Liserre received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Bari Technical
University, Italy, in 1998 and 2002, respectively. He was a Professor at Aalborg University,
Denmark, in 2012, focusing on reliable power electronics. Since 2013, he has been a Full
Professor and Chair of Power Electronics at Kiel University, Germany. In 2022, he joined
Fraunhofer ISIT as Deputy Director. He has authored over 600 technical articles and holds
two patents. His work has earned multiple IEEE awards and has been listed in “The
World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds” since 2014.
Jens Friebe earned his B.Sc., M.Sc., and Dr.-Ing. degrees in electrical engineering from
the University of Kassel in 2008, 2009, and 2014, respectively. He has been a junior
research group leader at the Leibniz University Hannover from 2018 to 2023. Since March
2023, he has been a professor at the University of Kassel, focusing on passive
components in power electronics and the application of WBG power semiconductors.
Prior to academia, he spent over 13 years at SMA Solar Technology, working on PVinverter
topologies, wide-bandgap semiconductors, and high-frequency power
electronics. He holds over 30 patents in power electronics.
S15: An Introduction to Batteries and Vehicle Dynamics for Electric Vehicles
In this seminar, the first and principal part is on educating power and automotive engineers and academics on the modern electric vehicle (EV) battery. The seminar will cover many aspects of the EV battery including (a) history, (b) basic definitions and basic electrochemistry, (c) cell operation, equations, chemistries and elements (& the periodic table), (d) cell and pack units of capacity and energy, (e) stoichiometry and cell and pack mass calculations, (f) the automotive battery and battery pack, (g) lifetime, aging and safety, (h) the Law of Chemical Equilibrium, the Nernst equation and open-circuit voltage, (i) cell & pack resistance, (j) charging, (k) EIS and HPPC for parameter characterization, and (l) lithium sourcing & pack disposal.
The second part focuses on EV vehicle dynamics with a short presentation on vehicle dynamics applicable to light- and heavy-duty vehicles from crossover SUVs to race cars and beyond, and covering topics such as front, rear, and all-wheel drives and downforce. This part concludes with a related discussion on traction machines and inverters.
All conference participants, from teaching academics to power electronics engineers to marketing professionals, will have an interest in this seminar given the breadth and importance of the topics from electrochemistry to vehicles to machines.
S15 Presenters: John Hayes; University College Cork, Ireland
John G. Hayes, PhD, MSEE, MBA, has lectured at University College Cork, Ireland, and specializes in research collaborations with industry to develop transportation and renewable energy systems and related power electronics, machines and electromagnetism. He previously worked in Southern California for ten years at General Motors developing propulsion and charging systems for the GM EV1, the first modern production electric vehicle (EV).
He is the lead author, with Dr. Abas Goodarzi, of the widely adopted textbook Electric Powertrain: Energy Systems, Power Electronics and Drives for Hybrid, Electric and Fuel Cell Vehicles. John’s recent focus has been on the development of integrated and holistic EV teaching materials for the engineering student and the power & automotive professional.
S16: Determining Switching and Conduction Loss in Si, SiC, and GaN
One of the key challenges facing power electronic engineers is how to determine what the losses will be in their converter circuit, in order to compare and assess various topology and control options, without having to actually build and test all of them. This topic is increasingly relevant as conversion efficiency continues to rise into the mid and even upper 90% range. Rough calculations are no longer good enough, as every watt needs to be accounted for and understood. This seminar focuses on the switching power transistors, particularly the high-voltage devices in the 400 – 1200 V range used in many applications today. Designers expect that they can enter a schematic into a simulation environment, and get an accurate result easily. But the reality is typically not so simple, and the results are often inaccurate. We will cover the fundamentals of switching loss, the detailed switching and conduction loss mechanisms specific to newer wide-bandgap devices, how the manufacturers measure loss and what is included on datasheets, what loss mechanisms are included in various device models, how they are accounted for, and finally how well do modeled losses compare to real-world circuit measurements. We will conclude with a summary and recommendations on best-practices for getting the most useful results.
S16 Presenters: Eric Persson(1), Mladen Ivankovic(2); (1)Infineon Technologies, United States; (2)Infineon Technologies, Canada
Eric Persson is a 42-year veteran of the power electronic industry. His career spans 19 years of hands-on power converter and inverter design, followed by 24 years in applications engineering in the semiconductor industry at Infineon Technologies. He is a Senior Principal Engineer specializing in wide-bandgap semiconductor circuits and applications.
Eric has presented more than 100 tutorials and papers on topics related to applications and practical design aspects of power electronic circuits. He is a regular lecturer for power electronic short-courses at UW Madison for 24 years. Mr. Persson holds 19 patents, and is a recipient of the IEEE Third Millennium Medal. He has a BSEE degree from the University of Minnesota.
Mladen Ivankovic joined Infineon in 2008. He is currently a Senior Principal Engineer for Power Systems and Sensors. He received his Dipl. Ing and M.S in Electrical engineering from University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina. He has 10 patents a in the field of power electronics. They are in the area of motor control, HV cascade switches and LLC design methods. His current interests are optimum design of the LLC converter for different applications like server power supplies, battery charges, solar energy converters and MOSFET cascode switching for high voltage application.
S17: Towards Reliable Power Electronics: a Practical Outlook on Design-for-Reliability, Testing, and Condition Monitoring
The aim of this seminar is to provide a practical overview on the different reliability assessment strategies and tools that can be used throughout the different lifecycle stages of power electronic components. Topics such as, reliability modeling, failure mechanisms of power devices, reliability testing and standards, and condition monitoring will be covered during the seminar. After briefly introducing the fundamental principles of reliability engineering, the typical reliability evaluation methods (e.g., DFMEA) employed by the power electronics industry will be discussed. Following, a thorough mission-profile-based reliability assessment procedure for power electronic systems will be introduced, and its underlying practical consideration, assumptions, and uncertainties are discussed in detail. To address the evolving failure mechanisms and the growing complexity of lifetime models, different testing methods and standards (e.g., IEC, ECPE, AEC, etc.) are compared, and their limitations are highlighted. Finally, the seminar will cover advanced methods which are transforming the reliability management of power electronics (e.g., condition monitoring and artificial intelligence). The topics addressed in this seminar cover state-of-the-art research outcomes, from a practical point-of-view, and are directed towards both entry-level and senior-level researchers or engineers, interested in the reliability analysis, modeling, and testing, of
power electronic components and systems.
S17 Presenters: Ionut Vernica(1), Yi Zhang(2), Huai Wang(2); (1)Plexim GmbH, Switzerland; (2)Aalborg University, Denmark
Ionuț Vernica (S’16, M’19) received the B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania, in 2014. He received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in energy engineering from Aalborg University, Denmark, in 2016 and 2019, respectively. He was a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Denmark, from 2019 to 2022, and a visiting researcher with Grundfos A/S, Denmark, and Danfoss Drives A/S, Denmark, from January to April 2019. Since January 2023, he has been with Plexim GmbH, Zürich, Switzerland, where he is currently employed as a Power Electronics Engineer. His current research interests include the reliability of IGBT power modules and capacitors, thermal management of power devices, and the design automation of power electronic systems. Dr. Vernica is the recipient of the “Best Originality Award” at the TECO Green Tech International Contest, Taipei, Taiwan, in
2019, and the “InnoExplorer” grant from Innovation Fund of Denmark, in 2021
Yi Zhang received the B.S. and M.S. degrees from Harbin Institute of Technology, China, in 2014 and 2016, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from Aalborg University, Denmark, in 2020. All degrees are in electrical engineering. He is currently an Assistant Professor with Aalborg University, Denmark. During 2020-2023, with the support of Danish Research Council for Independent Research (DFF), he was affiliated with multiple institutions as a Postdoctoral Researcher, including Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, USA, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Switzerland, and RWTH Aachen University. He was also a visiting scholar with Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, in 2018. His research focuses on the reliability of power electronics components and systems. Dr. Zhang is the Guest Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics. He is recipient of the First Place Prize Paper Award of the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics in 2021, and the IEEE Power Electronics Society Ph.D. Thesis Talk Award in 2020.
Huai Wang (M’07, SM’17) is currently a Professor and a Research Thrust Leader with the Center of Reliable Power Electronics (CORPE), Aalborg University, Denmark. His research addresses the fundamental challenges in modelling and validation of power electronic component failure mechanisms, and application issues in system-level predictability, condition monitoring, circuit architecture, and robustness design. In the above topics, he has given 23 half-day or one-day tutorials at leading power electronic conferences and 3 keynote speeches. He has co-edited a book on Reliability of Power Electronic Converter Systems in 2015, hold 3 patents and 7 patent applications, and contributed a few concept papers on the reliability of power electronic systems. Prof. Wang received the PhD degree from the City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, in 2012, and Bachelor degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, in 2007. He was a visiting scientist with the ETH Zurich, Switzerland, from August to September 2014 and with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA, from September to November 2013. He was with the ABB Corporate Research Center, Baden, Switzerland, in 2009. Prof. Wang received the IEEE PELS Richard M. Bass Outstanding Young Power Electronics Engineer Award, in 2016, for the contribution to the reliability of power electronic conversion systems. He serves as an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics
S18: Mastering the Art of High-Frequency Multiphase LLC Converters
The seminar explores high-frequency resonant power conversion, focusing on LLC converters, which meet the demands for miniaturized, efficient converters in modern power electronics. This three-hour tutorial offers a comprehensive understanding of LLC converters, emphasizing the most important details (magnetic optimization, device selection, PCB layout and thermal management) for their efficient design and practical implementation.
The first section covers the fundamental principles of single-phase LLC converters, their advantages and disadvantages in comparison with traditional PWM topologies, and advanced design procedures to maximize their potential. Attendees will learn techniques for implementing these converters effectively. A case study of a 1 MHz, 1 kW, 20 kW/l, 270-28 V DC/DC converter used in aircraft applications will illustrate this type of converters, showcasing its performance and practical implementation, and magnetic and PCB optimization will be addressed in detail.
In the second section, novel three-phase converter topologies derived from LLC converters are introduced. These configurations allow the use of star-polygon transformers and stacked cells to achieve higher voltage step-down DC/DC conversion, easing the specifications of the transformer and the inductor. Challenges in integrated magnetic design, thermal management and current sharing are addressed, highlighting the multiphase approach as a viable alternative to single-phase parallelization.
S18 Presenters: Miroslav Vasic, Daniel Rios; Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Spain
Miroslav Vasić received the B.S. degree from the School of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Serbia, in 2005, and his Ph.D. degree in 2010 at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, where he has been working as an Associate Professor at UPM since 2019. His research interest includes application of GaN power transistors in high frequency power conversion, optimization of power topologies and magnetic components.
Miroslav Vasic has published more than 100 peer-reviewed technical papers at IEEE conferences and in IEEE journals and he advised six Ph.D. theses and holds six patents. In 2012 Miroslav received the Semikron Innovation Award for the results obtained in his PhD Thesis, and in 2015 and 2016 a medal for his researcher trajectory by Real Academia de Ingenieria, Spain, and the Best Young Researcher Award, by Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Spain, respectively. In 2019 Miroslav and his PhD student won the Second-Best Paper in IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics for 2019. He has given several technical tutorials at conferences such as PCIM and EPE Europe.
Miroslav is collaborating as a paper reviewer in several IEEE journals and he has acted as an Associate Editor in IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology and IEEE Journal on Emerging Applications in Power Electronics. In 2020 he was one of the co-founders of the IEEE PELS TC 10 Design Methodologies acting as Vice-chair until 2022.
Daniel Ríos Linares (Student Member, IEEE) was born in Spain, in 1994. He received the B.E. degree from the University of Granada, Spain, in 2019, and the M.S. from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), where he has been working as PhD Student since 2021 and recently as a Teaching Assistant at Centro de Electrónica Industrial (CEI). His areas of interests are the design and miniaturization of DC/DC power converters and optimization for high-frequency applications (>1 MHz).
He has also collaborated in several national and European research projects, and is the author of two Q1 journal papers, a seminar in PCIM 2024 and he has presented five conference papers in internationally prestigious peer-reviewed conferences.