Professor David J. Perreault from Massachussets Institute of Technology, USA gave a talk entitled Powering the future: Developments in High Frequency Power Electronics on Nov 4 this Tuesday. This talk described ongoing research that seeked to address the twin challenges of miniaturization and performance of power electronics. New system architectures and circuit designs were introduced that enabled dramcitic increases in switching frequencies (e.g. into the 3-300 MHz range). According to him, higher frequencies were desirable because they reduced energy storage requirements, but necessitated circuit designs that either compensated for or utilized device parasities. Furthermore, design approaches for integrated power devices and magnetics were introduced that scaled well to small sizes and high frequencies and enabled improved integration. Experimental results from power converters operating at frequencies up to 75 MHz were later presented to illustrate these emerging technologies.
David Perreault is presently Professor and Associate Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research interests include design, manufacturing, and control techniques for power electronic systems and components, and in their use in a wide range of applications. Dr. Perreault is a Fellow of IEEE. He received the Richard M. Bass Outstanding Young Power Electrnocis Engineer award from the IEEE Power Electronics Society, the ONR Young Investigator Award, and SAE Ralph R. Tector Educational Award.
