Lei Zhou uses her interdisciplinary precision mechatronics research as a powerful tool for solving problems in various application areas, including semiconductor manufacturing equipment and robotics. With a systems focus, she develops novel and high-performance mechatronic solutions by exploiting the synergy between precision machine design, electric machines, and control algorithms.
In the News
Focus on new faculty: Jinia Roy is designing the next generation of power converters
Thomas A. Lipo Assistant Professor Jinia Roy, who has academic, government and industry research experience, is bringing a broad expertise in power conversion to WEMPEC. At WEMPEC, Jinia says she wants to continue with her wide portfolio of previous research interests and hopes to also work on the power conversion needed within electric vehicles. She also plans to explore applications where pulsed power technologies are gaining traction like laser, radar, and other industrial processes including water treatment and ozone generation.
Augmenting Microgrid Systems in Colombia
As part of her Clinic Electrification Project, which aims to create a free, open-source toolkit any NGO or rural healthcare clinic can use to optimally size a renewable energy network, or microgrid, for their area, Rebecca Alcock (Ph.D. student in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering) and WEMPEC Ph.D. student Rafael Castillo Sierra traveled to Tezhumke, Colombia, to do a case study on how this toolkit performs.
Prof. Severson’s Research Group Hosts Summer Academy Students
Middle and high school students from across the state visited the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-ECE) as part of Summer Academy 2023 and dove into magnetic circuits and electric machines with Prof. Severson’s research group.
Dr. Lei Zhou Joins WEMPEC
Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Dr. Lei Zhou! She will join the Department of Mechanical Engineering and WEMPEC as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2023.
Department of Administration Secretary visits solar library project
In celebration of Earth Day 2023, Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld toured the Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps (GLCCC) in Racine to learn about the e-Little Free Library, a community project developed by GLCCC and WEMPEC Prof. Giri Venkataramanan at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
WEMPEC Student winner at Wisconsin Energy Institute’s Energy Research Showcase
WEMPEC student Maitreyee Marathe was one of five UW-Madison College of Engineering students to win an award for the Flash Talk session at the Energy Research Showcase hosted by the Wisconsin Energy Institute on February 17th, 2023. Marathe’s project, Optimal Energy Rationing for Prepaid Electricity Customers, “considers forecasts of future use and knowledge of appliance power ratings to help customers prioritize and limit use of low-priority appliances, with the goal of extending access to their critical appliances.”
Watch Prof. Ludois’s Keynote Speech on Capacitive Power Transfer at International Conference on Wireless Power Transfer
View Prof. Ludois’s keynote plenary speech from the International Conference on Wireless Power Transfer, entitled “A Broader View of Capacitive Power Transfer,” and held on December 4th, 2022 in Chongqing, China, in the Publications section of the WEMPEC member website.
New Webinar: Earn a Master of Science in Power Engineering Online
ECE Professor Bulent Sarlioglu and Graduate Advisor Justin Kyle Bush team up to discuss the online Master of Science program in Power Engineering and the Capstone Certificate in Power Conversion and Control. In this webinar, you can hear about each program and its direct application in industry.
With NASA funding, multi-university team aims to get electric planes off the ground
In fall 2022, UW-Madison PhD student James Swanke spent several weeks at the NASA Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT) facility near Sandusky, Ohio, performing the final tests on a one- megawatt electric aircraft propulsion motor. His extended visit was the culmination of a five-year multi-university research project, a capstone of Swanke’s PhD research and a promising step forward in the field of electrified aviation.