Next Generation Energy Conversion Systems for Transportation Applications

Abstract:

Public and private sector organizations are urging more investment in electric transportation and renewable energy sources due to increasing concerns regarding energy security, environmental impact, and resource scarcity. The crucial elements for the broader adoption of these systems are high power density and energy-efficient electric machines, distributed energy storage, power electronics units, charging infrastructure, and tools for autonomous and connected vehicles.

This presentation aims to provide an overview of the research areas that have been explored with a focus on electric machine topologies that use reduced or no rare earth materials, power electronics architectures for drives, and the utility interface with wide band gap power devices. Furthermore, the presentation will also highlight the integration of distributed energy storage and electric vehicles into utility grid and microgrids, along with the use of machine learning tools for the health monitoring of power systems and vehicle models for optimizing autonomous and connected transportation. The presentation will also showcase recent advancements in state-of-the-art technology and their practical implementations.

Biography:

Yilmaz Sozer, distinguished professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Center for Advanced Vehicles and Energy Systems director at the University of Akron, received his BS degree in electrical engineering from the Middle East Technical University Ankara, Turkey and his MS and PhD degrees in electric power engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY. His master's and doctoral work focused on power electronics and the development of control algorithms for electric machines.

Before joining the University of Akron, Sozer worked at Advanced Energy Conversion in Schenectady, NY. His research interests are in the areas of control and modeling of electrical drives, alternative energy systems, design of electric machines, high-power isolated DC/DC converter systems, and static power conversion systems that interface energy storage and distributed generation sources with the electric utility.

Sozer is a Fellow of IEEE, has served as an editor for IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics, associate editor and paper review chair for the IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, and the IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification. Sozer served as the founding executive member and chair for the IEEE IAS Renewable and Sustainable Energy Conversion Systems Committee, and technical co-program chair for IEEE ECCE 2019, and IEEE IEMDC 2019.