WBI crafts winning plan for high-performance power electronics
June 17, 2010 Filed in: Business-government
Thursday, June 17, 2010
DAYTON, Ohio – The Wright Brothers Institute (WBI) played a key role in a winning proposal for a $3 million Ohio Third Frontier Wright Project award to establish a Center for High Performance Power Electronics at the Ohio State University in Columbus, OH.
The Wright Project aims to help Ohio grab the lead in supplying a range of markets with a new family of electronic devices that can handle large power loads. The Center will leverage an Air Force need for high-performance power electronics in military aircraft.
The lead
applicant for the Third Frontier project was the Ohio
State University, which is expanding a power
electronics center on its Columbus campus. OSU is
being supported by the Air Force Research Laboratory
at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and GE Aviation’s
Electrical Power Systems business in Vandalia.
AFRL and GE will match the Third Frontier grant with equipment, services and funding worth approximately $503,000 from OSU, $2.6 million from GE, and $3 million from AFRL’s Propulsion Directorate at Wright-Patterson AFB.
WBI pulled together the team and drafted the proposal to establish the Center at AFRL’s request, said William Borger, a WBI consultant. WBI is a nonprofit organization that helps AFRL accelerate technology development by facilitating intense collaborations among researchers from government, industry, and academia.
Borger said AFRL wanted an academic center of excellence in high-performance power electronics in Ohio to support its technology development efforts. WBI sought out OSU because it had a focused program on power electronics, and went to GE because of breakthrough work being accomplished there in Silicon Carbide technology. WBI researched Third Frontier’s criteria for funding Wright Projects and developed the project proposal.
“WBI contributed tremendously to the winning of the proposal, from identifying the funding opportunity, pulling together partners, and drafting the proposal,” said Dr. Longya Xu, an OSU engineering professor and Wright Project director. “Without WBI’s help, we would not have won the award.”
Equipment provided by GE and AFRL will allow the Center to focus on a new family of semiconductors based on silicon carbide (SiC) instead of silicon, the material used in switches for computers and a myriad of other electronic products. SiC switches are faster, more efficient and tolerate higher temperatures than silicon, but they are largely laboratory technology.
The demand for electronic devices that can handle large power loads is increasing dramatically for military and civilian applications. For example, military aircraft such as the F-35 use electrically driven actuators in place of hydraulic ones. New jetliners such as Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner utilize power electronics extensively in electric brakes and other systems.
Power electronics are generally lighter, offer better performance and are simpler than mechanical systems. This means greater fuel efficiency and lower maintenance costs over the lifetime of an aircraft. But they require electronic controls and converters that can withstand higher temperatures while working faster and with lower power losses than conventional silicon semiconductors.
Enter silicon carbide, a natural substance so hard it’s best known for its use as abrasive grit. It’s also a semiconductor that can be made into electronic chips. Since 1994, the Defense Department and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have invested $300 million in SiC technology.
The Center’s unique facilities will allow GE to develop and demonstrate the technology necessary for two projects – one to improve a power converter/controller for existing military aircraft, and one to create a new converter/controller for future aircraft.
Both commercialization projects would benefit GE and numerous Ohio-based suppliers. GE is also positioning itself for an emerging market in power electronics expected to be annually worth billions of dollars.
Meanwhile, the Center will be designed to serve Ohio industries for many decades by supporting power electronics work in the automotive and terrestrial energy industries and even for medical applications.
The Wright Brothers Institute helps the Air Force Research Laboratory accelerate technology development by facilitating intense collaborations among researchers from government, industry, and academia.
WBI operates two unique facilities close to the AFRL workforce at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The Tec^Edge Innovation and Collaboration Center provides creative spaces for discussions, problem solving and exploratory research. Tec^Edge Works provides space and tools for rapid prototyping and experimentation.
WBI also supports the Dayton region by leveraging this work to foster technology transfer and commercialization, aid business growth, and enhance science and math educational opportunities. For more information, visit www.wbi-icc.com.
AFRL and GE will match the Third Frontier grant with equipment, services and funding worth approximately $503,000 from OSU, $2.6 million from GE, and $3 million from AFRL’s Propulsion Directorate at Wright-Patterson AFB.
WBI pulled together the team and drafted the proposal to establish the Center at AFRL’s request, said William Borger, a WBI consultant. WBI is a nonprofit organization that helps AFRL accelerate technology development by facilitating intense collaborations among researchers from government, industry, and academia.
Borger said AFRL wanted an academic center of excellence in high-performance power electronics in Ohio to support its technology development efforts. WBI sought out OSU because it had a focused program on power electronics, and went to GE because of breakthrough work being accomplished there in Silicon Carbide technology. WBI researched Third Frontier’s criteria for funding Wright Projects and developed the project proposal.
“WBI contributed tremendously to the winning of the proposal, from identifying the funding opportunity, pulling together partners, and drafting the proposal,” said Dr. Longya Xu, an OSU engineering professor and Wright Project director. “Without WBI’s help, we would not have won the award.”
Equipment provided by GE and AFRL will allow the Center to focus on a new family of semiconductors based on silicon carbide (SiC) instead of silicon, the material used in switches for computers and a myriad of other electronic products. SiC switches are faster, more efficient and tolerate higher temperatures than silicon, but they are largely laboratory technology.
The demand for electronic devices that can handle large power loads is increasing dramatically for military and civilian applications. For example, military aircraft such as the F-35 use electrically driven actuators in place of hydraulic ones. New jetliners such as Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner utilize power electronics extensively in electric brakes and other systems.
Power electronics are generally lighter, offer better performance and are simpler than mechanical systems. This means greater fuel efficiency and lower maintenance costs over the lifetime of an aircraft. But they require electronic controls and converters that can withstand higher temperatures while working faster and with lower power losses than conventional silicon semiconductors.
Enter silicon carbide, a natural substance so hard it’s best known for its use as abrasive grit. It’s also a semiconductor that can be made into electronic chips. Since 1994, the Defense Department and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have invested $300 million in SiC technology.
The Center’s unique facilities will allow GE to develop and demonstrate the technology necessary for two projects – one to improve a power converter/controller for existing military aircraft, and one to create a new converter/controller for future aircraft.
Both commercialization projects would benefit GE and numerous Ohio-based suppliers. GE is also positioning itself for an emerging market in power electronics expected to be annually worth billions of dollars.
Meanwhile, the Center will be designed to serve Ohio industries for many decades by supporting power electronics work in the automotive and terrestrial energy industries and even for medical applications.
The Wright Brothers Institute helps the Air Force Research Laboratory accelerate technology development by facilitating intense collaborations among researchers from government, industry, and academia.
WBI operates two unique facilities close to the AFRL workforce at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The Tec^Edge Innovation and Collaboration Center provides creative spaces for discussions, problem solving and exploratory research. Tec^Edge Works provides space and tools for rapid prototyping and experimentation.
WBI also supports the Dayton region by leveraging this work to foster technology transfer and commercialization, aid business growth, and enhance science and math educational opportunities. For more information, visit www.wbi-icc.com.
