Industry Group Cites European Universities for Leadership in Power

Nov 1, 2006 3:25 PM

After conducting a survey of European power electronics research groups, the European Power Supply Manufacturers Association(EPSMA, www.epsma.org) has identified five institutions as the leading universities in Europe for power electronics research. The five schools identified by EPSMA are 1) ETH (Zurich), Switzerland; 2)Aalborg, Denmark; 3) Aachen, Germany; 4) Delft, the Netherlands; and 5) Madrid (Spain) and Nottingham (UK), which tied for the last spot.

In their survey the EPSMA asked power electronics research groups questions on a variety of topics including the size of their research group, their facilities/equipment, sources of funding, published papers, and the scope of their work. One question asked each respondent who they considered to be the top five university research groups in Europe. From that the top five rankings shown above were determined.

Outside Europe, a number of universities were also mentioned who were leading research in the power electronics field. These included Virginia Tech. (USA) and University of Wisconsin (USA). A second part of the survey asked respondents for their five year vision of future trends and developments in the power electronics field. A wide range of different issues and objectives were mentioned. A few of these items include increasing power density/integration in power converters, the shift to higher switching frequencies enabled by new power switching devices, and the displacement of analog control by digital control.

In total, around 30 research groups were identified with a significant focus on power electronics. Matthew Towers of the EPSMA Secretariat commented: "The European power electronics industry wants to attract more high quality electronic engineering students into the power area. Historically this has been perceived by students as a less attractive option than, for example, digital design. However, it is now apparent that many of the key developments in the electronics industry over the next decade will be in the power sector. The EPSMA is committed to working more closely with the key university research groups in Europe to help promote power electronics as the most attractive area for new EE engineering students".

For further information, please contact Ash Sharma EPSMA Secretariat at Ash.Sharma@imsresearch.com.