PowerAmerica Awards $24 Million to Projects to Advance Wide Bandgap Technology in U.S. 

RALEIGH – The PowerAmerica Institute at N.C. State University, a member of Manufacturing USA, recently awarded $24 million in funding to 24 new member projects that will enhance wide bandgap technologies in the United States.

“These projects are instrumental in fulfilling PowerAmerica’s mission of accelerating commercialization of wide bandgap power electronics. They also aim to expeditiously produce a highly skilled workforce, which is key in creating the large wide bandgap demand that spurs mass manufacturing with its cost-lowering benefits. To date, projects funded by the institute have contributed to the development of more efficient power electronics that benefit a range of applications – from electric vehicles to renewable energy and data centers,” said PowerAmerica Executive Director and CTO Victor Veliadis.

The latest round of projects encompass a number of applications – from heavy duty vehicles to medium voltage motor drives to high-efficiency power conversion for transportation refrigeration unit to energy storage. Recipients include companies such as John Deere, Toshiba, General Electric Aviation Systems and more, as well as leading universities, and the projects involve many examples of collaborative partnerships.

The projects were selected based on applications received through the 2018 Call for Projects and are funded by the Department of Energy and funding recipients through a cost share agreement.

A detailed list of all projects with descriptions is available online.

Since 2015, PowerAmerica has awarded more than $100 million in funding to over 100 projects since the institute was established in 2015 to further its mission of accelerating the adoption of wide bandgap semiconductor technology in the United States.

About PowerAmerica
PowerAmerica aims to save energy and create U.S. manufacturing jobs by accelerating the development and large-scale adoption of wide bandgap semiconductor technology made with silicon carbide and gallium nitride in power electronics systems. The institute, located at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC, is funded by the Department of Energy, industry partners and the state of North Carolina, and has a member portfolio representing more than 45 companies, universities and federal agencies leading the wide bandgap semiconductor field.

Dr. Victor Veliadis Named PowerAmerica Executive Director

Dr. Victor Veliadis, Deputy Executive Director and CTO of PowerAmerica.

PowerAmerica is pleased to announce that Dr. Victor Veliadis has been named its Executive Director effective July 1, 2019.

Under Dr. Veliadis’ tenure as Deputy Director and CTO, PowerAmerica has grown into a world-class Manufacturing USA institute accelerating wide bandgap power electronics commercialization and creating jobs in advanced technology. We look forward to PowerAmerica’s continued growth and success under Dr. Veliadis’ leadership.

Biography
Dr. Victor Veliadis is Executive Director and CTO of PowerAmerica, which is a U.S. Department of Energy wide bandgap power electronics Manufacturing Innovation Institute. Dr. Veliadis manages a budget in excess of $30 million per year that he strategically allocates to over 35 industrial, University, and National-Laboratory projects, to enable U.S. leadership in WBG power electronics manufacturing, work force development, job creation, and energy savings.

Dr. Veliadis has given over 60 invited presentations/tutorials and keynotes at major conferences in India, Korea, China, Europe and the U.S. He is an IEEE Fellow and an IEEE EDS Distinguished Lecturer. Dr. Veliadis has 25 issued U.S. patents, 6 book chapters, and 115 peer-reviewed technical publications to his credit. He is also Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at North Carolina State University. Dr. Veliadis received the Ph.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1995 in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Prior to taking an executive position at Power America in 2016, Dr. Veliadis spent 21 years in the semiconductor industry where his work included design, fabrication, and testing of 1-12 kV SiC SITs, JFETs, MOSFETs, Thyristors, and JBS and PiN diodes, as well as operations and financial planning of a commercial foundry.

PowerAmerica Issues Request for Proposals for Projects to Advance the Wide Bandgap Power Electronics Ecosystem

PowerAmerica is now soliciting proposals for a new round of Member-Initiated Projects (MIP). The MIP program is intended to provide a way for PowerAmerica members to collectively identify priority projects needed to advance wide bandgap commercialization and direct resources to address those challenges. A university or company does not need to be a current PowerAmerica member to apply for MIP funding, but membership is required upon receipt of funding.

MIP projects are funded by member dues and selected by a committee of members. This year, PowerAmerica anticipates selecting three to four proposals, with up to $200,000 available per funded project. Although not required, a cost match in addition to PowerAmerica funding is encouraged and will be taken into account when scoring proposals.

PowerAmerica is seeking proposals in the following topic areas, which were identified by members and included in the updated technology roadmap:

  • Improve device packaging to take better advantage of SiC and/or GaN device performance including packaging for 200A+ and better package footprints.
  • Improve SiC and/or GaN module packaging and reliability, including the study of failure mechanisms, robustness and qualification requirements for aerospace, vehicle electrification and other applications.
  • Improve SiC and/or GaN device design and techniques including monolithic integrated gate driver designs.
  • Additional project topics not specified, but meet the needs identified in the technology roadmap.

Proposals are due July 24, 2019. For additional information and to apply, visit this link.

Abstract Deadline May 31 for ICAE 2019

The 5th International Conference on Advanced Electromaterials (ICAE 2019) will take place Nov. 5-8, 2019, in Jeju, Korea. Symposium 8, “Materials and Devices for Power Electronics” will cover a wide range of Si, SiC, GaN, Ga2O3, and diamond material and device topics as well as advanced power electronics adopting these new power devices. PowerAmerica Deputy Executive Director and CTO Victor Veliadis will be giving a plenary presentation together with a number of other distinguished speakers. The abstract deadline has been extended to May 31. More detailed information can be found here.

U.S. Senators, Including Thom Tillis (R-NC), Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Promote Expansion of Manufacturing USA

PowerAmerica is a member of Manufacturing USA, a network of 14 public-private partnership institutes with 1,300-member companies and institutions working to keep the U.S. on the cutting edge of advanced manufacturing. A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a bill to increase U.S. advanced manufacturing’s global competitiveness by supporting the Manufacturing USA network. Read more about theGlobal Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing Act.

Atom Power Introduces First Ever Digital Circuit Breaker

PowerAmerica member Atom Power announced its technology is now listed by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the governing standard for consumer safety. This is the first time in the history of commercial power distribution that a digital solid-state circuit breaker has been listed by UL. With support from PowerAmerica, Atom Power – a Charlotte, NC-based startup – scaled up its manufacturing processes for its high-speed, safer circuit breaker, in the the process increasing the current and voltage capacity. Atom Power’s innovation has captured industry attention, receiving investments from three of the four largest circuit breaker manufacturers — Siemens, ABB and Eaton. Congratulations to Atom Power on this major accomplishment!

Revised Bylaws Provide More Value for PowerAmerica Membership

PowerAmerica’s members recently voted to revise the organization’s Bylaws to improve the value proposition for members and to make PowerAmerica more attractive to prospective members.  The three primary revisions are:

  • Enhancement of intellectual property rights to make members eligible to share the rights to intellectual property developed by SiC and GaN projects funded with member dues.  Presently, there are four such projects under way, with more projects expected to start this year.
  • Expansion of membership criteria to make all participants in the SiC and GaN ecosystem eligible for membership.
  • Revision of the PowerAmerica dues structure to make membership more affordable, especially for smaller companies and universities.

Details of membership membership benefits and dues can be found at the PowerAmerica website.

PowerAmerica Updates Wide Bandgap Technology Roadmap

PowerAmerica recently unveiled an updated technology roadmap. Roadmapping is a dynamic, ongoing process that guides PowerAmerica’s strategic decisions and provides a common vision of the future for the WBG community to work toward.

The document is really two roadmaps: one for SiC and one for GaN technology. The public version of the roadmap includes a new market forecast for WBG power electronics and analysis of SiC and GaN device cost based on market information. Additionally, a more detailed version of the roadmap, available to members only, outlines key markets and application areas for SiC and GaN power electronics, the performance targets GaN and SiC technologies are expected to meet over time, technical barriers to achieving those targets, and activities needed to overcome those barriers. For questions about joining PowerAmerica and gaining access to the full roadmap, contact Membership Director Jim LeMunyon.

Join Us for WiPDA 2019, Oct. 29-31 in Raleigh, NC

What: PowerAmerica’s Victor Veliadis is leading a team of experts in organizing the 7th Annual Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA). WiPDA is a forum for device scientists, circuit designers, and application engineers to share technology updates and research findings on silicon carbide (SiC), gallium nitride (GaN), and emerging semiconductor power devices and electronics.

When: October 29-31, 2019 (AM/PM tutorial sessions on Oct. 29; keynote speeches and panel sessions; as well as oral/poster presentations by subject matter experts on Oct. 30-31).

Where: Marriott Stateview hotel, North Carolina State University Campus, Raleigh, NC

 

Seeking Technical and Tutorial Abstract Submissions

We are currently soliciting two page technical abstracts on topics of interest. All presented papers will be included in the conference proceedings and submitted to the databases of IEEExplore.

To find topics of interest and upload your abstract, visit the WiPDA website or click here.

Technical abstract submission deadline is June 14, 2019.

We are also soliciting up to 200 word tutorial abstracts on topics of interest found here.

Tutorial abstract submission deadline is June 7, 2019.

Email your abstract for a one-hour tutorial to:

Dr. Suman Debnath | debnaths@ornl.gov

Dr. Rostan Rodrigues | rodriguesrostan@ieee.org

 

PowerAmerica Member UnitedSiC Announces Strategic Investment by Analog Devices; New Power Device Offerings

PowerAmerica member UnitedSiC has announced a strategic investment and long-term supply agreement with Analog Devices, Inc. “From our first meeting with the ADI Power team, they instantly understood the value of our SiC technology and the ease with which the devices could be scaled and utilized in their power platforms,” said Chris Dries, President and CEO at UnitedSiC.  UnitedSiC and ADI have been collaborating on SiC-based products and devices for more than two years.

As wide bandgap power devices, and SiC in particular, become more mainstream and cost effective, the inclusion of these devices should further strengthen ADI’s analog power portfolio.

Steve Pietkiewicz, Senior VP of Power Products at ADI said, “For the last few years, we have been actively following the development and progress of silicon carbide technology and devices. We found UnitedSiC’s FET technology to be ideally suited for ADI’s high performance power platforms and our pursuit of additional high voltage applications.”

Additionally, UnitedSiC announced it has released a range of SiC JFET die suitable for co-packaging with a controller IC with built in low voltage MOSFET to fabricate an extremely fast, cascode-based, 20-100W flyback charger products.  These JFETs are ideal for applications such as consumer electronics adapters, auxiliary power supplies and high-power, long LED lightning chains. “With the addition of these new SiC JFETs, UnitedSiC now has one of the largest SiC power portfolios in the industry,” says UnitedSiC CEO Chris Dries. “We now have high-performance JFET functionality in both die and discrete package form.”

UnitedSiC is a founding member of the PowerAmerica organization, and continues to work together at accelerating the global adoption of wide bandgap technology products.