Future Energy Challenge in Power Electronics Enabled Systems of Systems

Abstract:  Smart phones, AI computing, electric vehicles, airplanes… are revolutionary systems combining generations’ multi disciplinary intelligence. In the foreseeable future, individual systems as such are integrated to form larger and more complex systems: autonomous vehicles, energy–efficient buildings, electric aircraft, microgrids and smart grids, etc. The resulting energy exchange increase in electrical and multi–physics domains requires an efficient and intelligent energy processing mechanism. Power electronics, the engineering of energy conversion using solid–state electronics, serves as a vital linkage.  Existing power electronics research has pushed subsystem efficiency and power density to extremity. In this talk, we will explore the frontier and opportunities of the system of power electronic subsystems. Multiple topics will be discussed: 1) multi–physics multi–timescale modeling, 2) design automation and optimization, 3) fault–tolerance, reliability, and health monitoring, and 4) medium–voltage applications using wide–bandgap devices. These fundamental research gains could entertain a suite of system–level applications, ranging from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) propulsion systems, to emerging hydrokinetic energy generation powertrains, to hybrid real and virtual energy storage systems. Ample simulation, hardware–in–the–loop, and hardware demonstrations showcase the success of such system integration and enlighten us to dive into future energy challenges.

Bio: Dr. Yue Cao is a 5th–year assistant professor in energy systems at Oregon State University (OSU). He received the B.S. degree (Hons.) in electrical engineering and mathematics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2011, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC), in 2013 and 2017. Before joining OSU, he was a research scientist in the propulsions team at Amazon Prime Air in Seattle. He has been a power electronics or power systems intern with special projects group at Apple, Halliburton Company, Flanders Electric, Oak Ridge National Lab, and Memphis Utility. His research interests include power electronics, motor drives, and energy storage with applications in renewable energy integration and transportation electrification. He has been a PI or co–PI of multiple projects sponsored by NSF, DOE ARPA–E, DOE EERE, NAVFAC, Portland General Electric, Amazon Prime Air, and Grainger Foundation. He is an IEEE Senior Member.

Dr. Cao is a recipient of the 2022 NSF CAREER award. He is selected into National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Frontier of Engineering (FOE) Class of 2022. He won the Oregon State Learning Innovation Grant for transformative education in 2020. He was a Sundaram Seshu Fellow at UIUC in 2016, where he was a James M. Henderson Fellow in 2012. He received the Myron Zucker student award from IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) in 2010. He was a national finalist of the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) in 2006 and 2007. Dr. Cao is the Special Sessions Chair of IEEE ECCE 2022 and the Tutorials Chair of ECCE 2021. He is Vice Chair of IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) TC11 – Aerospace Power. He is currently an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification and an associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications.

***This seminar is also available on Zoom:  https://umich.zoom.us/j/94612185321

Meeting ID: 946 1218 5321

Passcode: XXXXXX (Will be sent via e-mail to attendees)

Zoom Passcode information is also available upon request to Michele Feldkamp ([email protected]) or Sher Nickrand ([email protected])