The promising future of integrated motor drives in e-mobility applications, April 11

Join the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department on Tuesday, April 11, at 2 p.m. in Olin Engineering 202 for a discussion on transportation and integrating motor drives to reduce fossil fuel consumption. 

The colloquium will feature Dr. Thomas M. Jahns, Grainger Emeritus Professor of Power Electronics and Electrical Machines at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

The electrification of all modes of transportation holds great potential for significantly reducing global fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.  

A promising strategy for spurring much broader adoption of adjustable-speed motor drives is to physically integrate the power electronics inside electric machines, achieving major mass, volume and cost reductions by eliminating separate enclosures and connecting cables. 

If interested in attending, register online.

Jahns received his Ph.D. and combined MS/BS degrees in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1978 and 1974, respectively. In 1998, he joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he served as co-director/director of the Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC) for 14 years from 2007 to 2021.  

Prior to joining UW, he worked at GE Corporate Research and Development (now GE Global Research Center), in Niskayuna, New York, for 15 years. Since his retirement from the active faculty in 2021, Jahns is continuing to pursue research in the areas of high-performance permanent magnet machines, and integrated motor drives using wide-bandgap switches. 

Jahns received the 2005 IEEE Nikola Tesla Technical Field Award and the IAS Outstanding Achievement Award in 2011. He has served both the IEEE Industry Applications Society and Power Electronics Society (PELS) as a Distinguished Lecturer.