Tuesday, March 11
SEC LL2.221 or Zoom (Passcode: 988031)
10:00am - 11:00am

Miniaturized and Advanced Power Electronics for Next-Generation Electrification
Mike Ranjram, Assistant Professor, Arizona State University

Abstract: Power electronics are a foundational technology of the modern world.  To meet the widespread electrification demanded by global sustainability goals, our electrical systems and devices must be made smaller, more efficient, capable of accommodating more extreme electrical specifications, and able to support new functionality -- this can only happen if the power electronics that enable these systems and devices are advanced in kind. My research group, MAPEL, works to achieve this. We take “big swings” at problems that matter, which I believe is the most effective role of academic research in the larger research and development ecosystem.
 

In this talk, I will first give an overview of our research program, which covers three areas of power electronics: (1) Components: improved techniques and approaches to remove the bottleneck that power magnetics present to high-performance power converter design, (2) Converters: innovative circuit designs and architectures for miniaturization and high efficiency, and (3) Systems: exploring new and emerging applications that can be enabled by our advanced power electronics. 
 

Then, I will discuss three technologies my group is developing which define a unique “edge” that we bring to emerging power electronics: (1) the “Coupled Electronic and Magnetic System" (CEMS),  which is an electronics-integrated transformer architecture that achieves new and useful functionality over traditional transformers, (2) the medium voltage planar printed-circuit-board (PCB) transformer, which leverages low-cost PCB-manufacturing to implement high-frequency converter-integrated transformers having up to 13.8kV isolation capability, and which has disruptive potential for widespread electrification, and (3) the “Harmonically Partitioned Power Converter” a new single-phase ac/dc power conversion architecture having ultra-high power density and efficiency capability which is built around the unique capability of emerging monolithic bidirectional wide bandgap power semiconductors.
 

Bio: Dr. Ranjram received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT in 2021. Before this, he received his undergraduate and Masters degrees at the University of Toronto, Canada, both in Electrical Engineering. In 2022, he joined Arizona State University as an Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering.  
 

At ASU, he directs the “Miniaturized and Advanced Power Electronics Laboratory” (MAPEL) which works to improve power electronics to enable the next generation of sustainable systems and devices. A current focus is on high-frequency power conversion, and on system- and component-level techniques for reducing the cost, volume, weight, and loss of power magnetic components, which today present a dominant bottleneck toward improved power conversion.
 

He has developed high performance power electronics in a wide range of applications, including 50W mobile phone chargers, 1kW data center supplies, 30kW battery energy storage systems, and MW-level high-voltage dc systems.
 

Dr. Ranjram is a recipient of the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Prize Paper Award and the ASU Top 5% Teaching Award. He authored the solutions manual for the 2nd edition of Principles of Power Electronics.