U of A Power Optimization Center Hosts Undergraduates and Teachers for Research Experience

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Joe Moquin's poster presentation offered information about a Smart Green Power Node.

The University of Arkansas was awarded/hosted/supported two Research Experiences for Undergraduates for students and two Research Experiences for Teachers this summer. Grants were awarded from the National Science Foundation in association with the university's Power Optimization for Electro-Thermal Systems Center.

Penny Xu, an undergraduate from the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, worked with Juan Balda in the university's Power Electronics Lab. Joe Moquin, a senior at the University of Arkansas, worked with Alan Mantooth at the National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission on the testbed for the Power Optimization for Electro-Thermal Systems.

These students joined other REU students presenting their research at a poster session open to all faculty, staff and students in Bell Engineering on July 27.

Xu worked with 3D Printing for Prototyping Power Electronics. The goal of the research was answer the question; can 3D printing using fused deposition modeling technique replace traditional approach of printed circuit boards for prototyping power converters?  The main results to date are:

• Penny Xu's project developed a A3D Printed Buck Converter.

  3D printed magnetic inductor printed with permeability of 5 can achieve inductance of commercial inductors by increasing number of turns
• 3D printed inductor is 2x lighter than commercial inductor in weight, which can reduce weight of overall power modules
• PCB created by traditional approach of Milling Machine can be replicated using 3D printing techniques with the same trace layout
• Buck Converter prototype demonstrates possible 3D printing approach for all power converters
• Materials with better electrical and thermal properties are required to increase performance for power electronics for 3D printing. 

Xu has submitted this research to be presented at the Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition.

Moquin's worked with the Smart Green Power Node. This is a 2kW residential power router that has been under development at the University of Arkansas in conjunction with the University of South Carolina. The system manages and optimizes on-site energy generation with grid and on-site load demands. Continued work on the power node required a new, split-phase inverter and optimization of energy use. The inverter required thermal analysis, custom designed inductors, and layout of printed circuit board. Moquin's research resulted in a four-layer printed circuit board for the split phase inverter being laid out, an automated design tool for the inductor was created, and a simple artificial intelligence for eht energy optimization was developed.

The University of Arkansas plans to submit additional requests for Research Experiences for Undergraduates in future years as the research and education programs of the Power Optimization for Electro-Thermal Systems Center continue to grow. 

Shawn Bell, a 7th grade science teacher from Randall G. Lynch Middle School, and Mike Jackson, an AP physics and chemistry teacher from Farmington High School, both in Farmington, participated in the Research Experience for Teachers program. 

The teachers experienced five short courses with various Power Optimization for Electro-Thermal Systems faculty working in difference research areas aimed at the center's research goals. They also developed lesson plans as well as hands-on classroom activities they can share in the classroom this school year.

They will present the material they created to their classrooms this fall. They will also make a presentation to U of A faculty, talk about their experience and discuss new plans for coming years. The lesson plans and activities that result from the research will be made available to any teacher who wishes to use them. Since the lesson plans and activities meet current Next Generation Science Standards, they will be useful to anyone in the country.

"These two teachers are bright, open to new ideas, and have the talent to transfer this new material to their students.  They were a dream for me and our faculty to work with this summer," said Shannon Davis, education coordinator for the Power Optimization for Electro-Thermal Systems Center.  "I would have no trouble saying they are as good as any of the best teachers in the country. It was our pleasure to work with them and we look forward to more collaboration in the future."

Currently, plans are under way for planning another successful program for next summer with new goals in mind. 

The Power Optimization for Electro-Thermal Systems Center is working to design and develop vehicle electrical systems that are more powerful, efficient and heat-resistant. The long term goal is to increase the power density of current mobile electrified systems by 10-100 times over current state of the art systems. Results from this study could save highway vehicles between 100-300 million liters of fuel per year.

The Power Optimization for Electro-Thermal Systems Center is a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center. At this center, engineering faculty from the University of Arkansas, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Howard University and Stanford University collaborate with members of industry to identify and carry out research projects to improve the power density of next generation electro-thermal systems that are the most relevant to industry needs.

For more information on the center, contact Alan Mantooth, deputy director, at mantooth@uark.edu.