Udaya Madawala of The Auckland University, New Zealand

Electric vehicles (EVs) improve air-quality, offer grid services through the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) concept and are ideal for sustainable living. As a result, they are becoming increasingly popular as the means of future transport. For V2G applications, EVs essentially require a bi-directional power interface with the electricity network (grid) to allow for both storing (charging) and retrieval (discharging) of energy, which can be achieved by either wired or wireless means. The latter, based primarily on Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) technology, is more attractive being convenient, safe, and ideal for both stationary and dynamic (while on the move) charging of EVs. This seminar presents trends and the latest advances in wireless grid integration of EVs, focusing particularly on the bi-directional wireless power transfer (BD-WPT) technology developed for V2G applications.

Biography:

Udaya K. Madawala graduated with a B.Sc. (Electrical Engineering) (Hons) degree from The University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka in 1987, and received his PhD (Power Electronics) from The University of Auckland, New Zealand in 1993 as a Commonwealth Doctoral Scholar. At the completion of his PhD, he was employed by Fisher & Paykel Ltd, New Zealand, as a Research and Development Engineer to develop new technologies for motor drives. In 1997 he joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Auckland and, at present as a Full Professor, he focuses on a number of power electronics projects related to wireless grid integration of EVs for V2G applications and renewable energy.
Udaya is a Fellow of the IEEE and a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Power Electronic Society, and has over 30 years of both industry and research experience in the fields of power electronics and energy. He has served both the IEEE Power Electronics and Industrial Electronics Societies in numerous roles, relating to editorial, conference, technical committee and chapter activities. Currently, Udaya is an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, and a member of the Sustainable Energy Systems Technical Committee and the Oceania Liaison Chair of Membership Development Committee of the IEEE Power Electronics Society. He was the General Chair of the 2nd IEEE Southern Power Electronics Conference (SPEC)- 2016, held in New Zealand, and is also the Chair of SPEC Steering Committee. Udaya holds a number of patents related to wireless power transfer (WPT) and power converters, and is a consultant to industry.

Email:

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