ECE Seminar by Ian Brown: High Performance Traction Electric Motor Technologies and Their Design
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering invites you to join an ECE Research Seminar. We are pleased to welcome Dr. Ian Brown, as he gives his talk on, “High Performance Traction Electric Motor Technologies and Their Design."
Abstract: Land transportation industries are undergoing an electrification revolution. Hybrid and fully electric vehicle (EV) propulsion powertrains are rapidly increasing in popularity. Significant investments are being made by automobile and truck manufacturers and suppliers to reduce the cost and improve the performance of EV components. One of the most critical components of electric powertrains is the traction electric motor. Compared to traditional industrial three phase induction motors, the peak power density of traction electric motors is significantly higher. Beyond induction machines a number of other electric motor topologies are also widely used for EVs, including interior permanent magnet synchronous machines and wound field synchronous machines. One of the main concerns for EV electric traction motors is the supply of rare earth Neodymium Iron Boron (NdFeB) permanent magnets (PMs). A number of industrial and Dept. of Energy programs have focused on the reduction or elimination of NdFeB PMs. This seminar will give an overview of EV traction motor research in my research group. Topics covered will include traction wound field synchronous machines, high performance winding technologies, and new design techniques including magneto-structural topology optimization
Biography: Ian P. Brown received the B.S. degree in engineering from Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA, in 1999, and then M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 2003 and 2009, respectively. Since 2012, he has been with the Illinois Institute of Technology where he is currently an Associate Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Previously he was with the Corporate Technology Center, A. O. Smith Corporation, Milwaukee, WI. His main research interests are high-performance electrical drives and the design of electric machines.