Alex Hanson
University of Texas at Austin, TX·Engineering·Early-career
Power converters change electricity from one form to another. They are found in everything from phone chargers to electric vehicles.
- Fields
Engineering
Materials Science
Physics
- Topics
power electronics
power conversion
power converters
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2027
What they work on
- Develop rapid yet accurate models of energy loss in inductors and transformers at MHz frequencies, so magnetic component designs can be optimized quickly.
- Create new magnetic component structures that suppress high-frequency eddy currents, the stray currents that waste energy, while staying practical to manufacture.
- Investigate new magnetic materials, and repurpose existing ones, for low-loss power conversion at MHz frequencies.
- Build engineered platforms to characterize magnetic cores and full components accurately at MHz and tens-of-MHz frequencies.
More about the research
If converters switched ten times faster, they would need to store ten times less energy, so they could be smaller and more efficient. The main obstacle is the magnetic components, the inductors and transformers. At megahertz (MHz) frequencies, millions of cycles per second, these components lose much of their energy.
Why it matters
Smaller, more efficient power converters could support wider use of renewable energy and lighter, more affordable electric vehicles. They could also help electrify ships and aircraft and make semiconductors more affordable. Engineers designing power electronics would gain better models, designs, and measurement tools for high-frequency magnetics.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Zeljko Pantic
North Carolina State University, NC·Engineering
Develop test hardware and procedures to measure how inductors, capacitors and wide bandgap semiconductor switches behave at hydrostatic pressures up to 10,000 psi.
Yue Cao
Oregon State University, OR·Engineering·Early-career
Develop a universal electrical model of real and virtual energy storage, based on a multi-timescale equivalent impedance network, to select storage that matches the power needs at each timescale.
Yang Weng
Arizona State University Campus Immersion, AZ·Engineering·Early-career
Develop reduced-order models of data-center power electronics showing how converters, control loops and energy storage shape the load and impedance seen by the electric grid.
The school
University of Texas at Austin: 49 labs on PI Pages, $1.1B a year on research, 871 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
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