In the News

For many people who are homeless or members of underserved populations, cell phones are a lifeline; a phone may be their only way to keep in touch with distant friends and relatives, schedule medical appointments and job interviews, and deal with emergencies. Prof. Giri Venkataraman and PhD student Maitreyee Sanjiv Marathe took on the challenge, even organizing a hackathon at the UW-Madison makerspace they dubbed the Solympics, to generate ideas for a solar-powered public charging station. The winning concept was the e-Little Free Library.

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation announced that four projects have been selected to receive development funding through the WARF Accelerator Electrification Challenge Grant.

Thomas M. Jahns received the IEEE Medal in Power Engineering in 2022 for contributions to the development of high-efficiency permanent magnet machines and drives.

The Little Free Library in Madison’s Lisa Link Peace Park on State Street has gone solar. A group of UW-Madison students have outfitted the community book depository with a solar-powered battery with ports and cables to charge cellphones and other small electronic devices. The project is part of an effort to improve energy resilience and bring clean energy to underserved communities, especially those experiencing homelessness.

In the 1970s, a small community of pioneering researchers around the world in industry and academia were laying the groundwork for the discipline of solid-state power electronics as we know it today. Near the end of that formative period, the Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC) was founded in 1981 by Profs. Donald W. Novotny and Thomas A. Lipo at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Prof. Robert D. Lorenz joined the embryonic WEMPEC program faculty in 1984, bringing his unique expertise and passion for motor drive controls.

In this digital age, most have dealt with this problem: Your phone dies and you don’t have a phone charger. You ask around and no one else nearby has a phone charger. You can’t make that important phone call.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) recently recognized three faculty members of the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering with some of its highest honors. The professional organization elevated Daniel van der Weide, a …

The National Academy of Inventors has selected Bulent Sarlioglu, the Jean van Bladel associate professor in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, as part of its 2021 class of fellows. Bulent Sarlioglu The Academy also …

Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Giri Venkataramanan decided to have his students shadow teams participating in the Solympics hackathon, an event held July 22-24, 2021, at the college’s makerspace. The event focused on simple solar-powered solutions for charging devices such as phones or tablets.