Director: Dr. Issa Batarseh
Power Electronics Research Laboratory
The objective of the power electronics research lab is to develop high frequency power converter systems for computer and aerospace applications. The lab was established in 1995 by an NSF Research Equipment grant. The laboratory is equipped with electronic equipment and software to perform computer simulation, prototype construction, testing and evaluation of power electronic circuits. Major equipment includes highengineering laboratory is to provide students with "hand-on" experience on the design and analysis of ac and dc machines and power electronics circuits. The lab will consist of both hardawre and software facilities. We are planning to set-up six power laboratory workbench stations, each equipped with the necessary equipment to carry out course experiments (EEL 4240) and to be used for testing purposes. These stations will comprise the central portion of the laboratory. It will be equipped with six IBM compatible 486-PCs in order to carry out necessary course simulation assignments (EEL 4256 EEL 5240). Each computer system will be installed with the software package PSPICE System-2 by MicroSim Company.
Current Efforts:
As a result of the ever-increasing demand for smaller size, lighter weight and better performance power supplies for computer, telecommunication, military, aerospace and home-automation applications, interest in the power electronics area has been growing rapidly in the past decade. In view of these recent advances and the ever increasing demand for power requirements, it is clear that the demand for power engineers will be significant for many years to come. Although many universities currently offer programs of study in power, the art of designing new power engineering courses and laboratories is lagging far behind the growing industry needs for skilled engineers with hands-on experience. The thrust of this project deals with the university's latest effort to rapidly improve undergraduate laboratory education on the basis of industry demand for power electronics engineers. Given the situation at UCF, the time is ripe for the next stage of developing of the ECE Undergraduate power electronics laboratory.
For the past three years, the ECE Department undertook a pilot project to establish a strong infrastructure for teaching power electronics and power systems to undergraduate students to serve the engineering needs of the strong industry-based Central Florida area. This is very important, as it is necessary for U.S. universities to train undergraduates so that they can be productive contributors to industry from the first day on the job. The development of this lab will take advantage of UCF connections with local industry, and the expertise of its faculty to establish and undergraduate power electronics laboratory that would be a model for institutions nationwide.
For more information, please email Dr. Batarseh
at batarseh@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu