Prof. Victor Veliadis of Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University

Abstarct: In an increasingly electrified technology driven world, power electronics is central to the entire manufacturing economy. Silicon (Si) power devices have dominated power electronics due to their low cost volume production, excellent starting material quality, ease of processing, and proven reliability. Although Si power devices continue to make progress, they are approaching their operational limits primarily due to their relatively low bandgap and critical electric field that result in high conduction and switching losses, and poor high temperature performance. In this presentation, the favorable material properties of Silicon Carbide (SiC) devices, which allow for highly efficient power electronic systems with reduced form factor and reduced cooling requirements, will be highlighted. Emphasis will be placed on high impact application opportunities where SiC devices are expected to displace their incumbent Si counterparts. These include “more electric aerospace” with weight, volume, and cooling system reductions contributing to energy savings and low emissions; automotive power electronics with reduced losses and relaxed cooling requirements; more efficient, flexible, and reliable grid applications with reduced system footprint; variable frequency drives for efficient high power electric motors at reduced overall system cost; and novel data center topologies with reduced cooling loads and higher efficiencies. Foundry considerations and design of SiC MOSFETs, currently being inserted in the majority of SiC based power electronic systems, will be discussed. Cost reduction strategies will be outlined elucidating the path to the projected $1.5B SiC device market by 2023. The efforts of the PowerAmerica manufacturing Institute to bridge gaps in wide bandgap power technology to enable manufacturing job creation and energy savings will briefly be discussed.

Biography:

Dr. Victor Veliadis is Deputy Executive Director and CTO of PowerAmerica, which is a U.S Department of Energy wide bandgap power electronics public-private Manufacturing 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 US leadership in WBG power electronics manufacturing, work force development, job creation, and energy savings. Dr. Veliadis has given over 60 invited presentations/keynotes/tutorials, and is an IEEE Fellow and an IEEE EDS Distinguished Lecturer. He has 25 issued US patents, 5 book chapters, and 115 peer-reviewed technical publications to his credit. Dr. Veliadis is also Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at North Carolina State University. He received the Ph.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1995 in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Prior to being named Deputy Executive Director and CTO of Power America in 2016, Dr. Veliadis spent 21 years in the semiconductor industry where his technical work included design, fabrication, and testing of 1-12 kV SiC SITs, JFETs, MOSFETs, Thyristors, and JBS and PiN diodes.

Email:

Address:Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University, 890 Oval Drive, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, 27606