Prof Kirtley from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) drew great interest of CEE faculties and students with his presentation: A Consideration of Induction Motor vs. Permanent Magnet Motor Drive for Electric and Hybrid Electric Cars on Oct 19th this Friday.
In the presentation, Prof Kirtley considered the electric motor and in particular the advantages of using an induction motor over a permanent magnet motor in the drive of a hybrid electric vehicle. The approach used was to consider the application of an induction machine as the drive motor in a vehicle of the size and performance requirement of a Toyota Prius. He then presented to the participants the induction motor which was designed with a cast copper rotor with the requirement that it be able to deliver a peak power of 50 kW over a relatively narrow speed range. This motor turned out to be nearly the same size as the permanent magnet (PM) motor designed for the same purpose, and was more efficient, according to him. He ended the presentation with how PM drag loss reduces the efficiency.
Dr James L. Kirtley Jr. is of Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has also worked for General Electric, Large Steam Turbine Generator Department, as an Electrical Engineer, for Satcon Technology Corporation as Vice President and General Manager of the Tech Center and as Chief Scientist, and was Gastdozent at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He continues as a Director for Satcon. Dr. Kirtley attended MIT as an undergraduate and received the degree of Ph.D. from MIT in 1971. Dr. Kirtley is a specialist in electric machinery and electric power systems. He served as Editor in Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion from 1998 to 2006 and continues to serve as Editor for that journal and as a member of the Editorial Board of the journal Electric Power Components and Systems. Dr. Kirtley was made a Fellow of IEEE in 1990. He was awarded the IEEE Third Millenium medal in 2000 and the Nikola Tesla prize in 2002. Dr. Kirtley was elected to the United States National Academy of Engineering in 2007. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Massachusetts.
