Power Electronics Trends in Energy Systems

In this seminar, Dr. John Hayes will present on developments and trends in power electronics for energy systems, with emphasis on developments in electric propulsion for automotive. John will also provide some perspectives based on a decade working on the GM EV1 and other vehicles. John will briefly touch on teaching topics such as the new undergraduate Energy Engineering degree program and the 4-year-old MScEng in Sustainable Energy at University College Cork, Ireland

John G. Hayes received the B.E. degree from University College Cork (UCC), the M.S.E.E. degree from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis – St. Paul, the M.B.A. degree from California Lutheran University, and the Ph.D. from University College, Cork in 1986, 1989, 1993 and 1998, respectively. From 1986 to 1988, John held a research fellowship for power electronics under Prof. Ned Mohan at the University of Minnesota. From 1988 to 1990, he worked at Power One Inc., of Camarillo, CA, designing linear and switching ac-dc power converters for commercial applications. In 1990, He joined General Motors Advanced Technology Vehicle (formerly Hughes Aircraft Company and Delco Propulsion Systems), in Culver City, and later Torrance, CA, where he worked extensively as a design engineer and technical manager in the fields of propulsion drives and battery charging for electric vehicles, especially for heavy-duty vehicles and the General Motors EV1 electric car. From 1995 to 1997 John pursued a PhD part-time as a Howard Hughes Corporate Fellow while continuing to work as a design engineer at GM. Subsequently, John acted as a technical manager on various electric vehicle projects developing the battery charging infrastructure. John returned from Los Angeles to join the academic staff at UCC as a lecturer in 2000 and teaches power engineering and power electronics and drives. John’s primary research interests are in the fields of power electronics, machines, and magnetics for automotive and energy applications (with ocean-based wave power as a new interest). John is a member of the IEEE, is affiliated with the Power Electronics Research Laboratory (PERL) at UCC.

John is currently on sabbatical in the USA, largely based in MI and CA.