“Wide Bandgap Power Electronics for Multipurpose Power Grid”

A lecture by Longya Xu, The Ohio State University

In this seminar, we will consider: 

Wide Bandgap (WBG) power electronics brings unique opportunity and profound benefit to integrate electrical power/energy generation, transmission, storage, distribution and utilization in the intelligent manner. Characteristics of WBG power devices and converters will be discussed and comparison of WBG- versus Silicon-based power electronics given to highlight its major advantages for a multipurpose power grid. An example of WBG-based high-voltage mega-watt modular-multilevel converter (MMC) is presented to illustrate the design principle, structure configuration, and applications of MMC backed by the experimental results.

About Dr. Xu

Longya Xu received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in 1986 and 1990 both in Electrical Engineering. He is presently a professor (retired) and founding director of Center for High Performance Power Electronics at The Ohio State University. His research interests include design and control of novel electric machines, power electronics, and digital technology for electrified transportation and renewable energy systems. Dr. Xu is an IEEE Life Fellow and he has received several IEEE prestigious awards, including the First Prize Paper Award 1992 from Industry Drive Committee IEEE/IAS, Best Transaction Paper Award 2013 IEEE/IAS and Outstanding Achievement Award 2014, the highest society award, from IEEE Industry Application Society. Dr. Xu is the recipient of the prestigious Nikola Tesla Award for his outstanding contributions to the generation and utilization of electric power. In 2023, Dr. Xu is elected to National Academy of Engineering and is recognized for his, “contributions to high-performance electric machines and variable-speed drives for aerospace and wind turbines.”

Dr. Xu has served as the chairperson of Electric Machine Committee of IEEE/IAS 1996-2000 and an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics over the past two decades. Dr. Xu was a member-at-large on IEEE/IAS Executive Board and the Conference Co-Chair for IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo, Asia-Pacific 2014, 2016 and 2019. In addition he has served as the IEEE Transportation Technology Award Committee as the member, chairman, and past chairman from 2018 to present.