PhD Projects - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: Glenn0010
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2019, 08:59:31 am
content: Hi All,I'm looking at doing a PhD at some point next year. I'm a Power Electronics Engineer working in a Industrial Drives Company.I am at the very early stages of compiling a shortlist of possible projects I want to peruse.My goal would be to produce something that is tangible and I can compare to current system i.e. build the hardware for it.My passion is mainly gate drives and transistors (IGBTs FETs etc) but don't want to limit the scope just yet.Some areas that I possibly want to look at are:Active Gate DrivesDC link reductionPossibly Active Filtering for high speed switching (GaN)I was wondering if anyone had more suggestions of possible projects/areas related to fields similar to what I am looking at.Thanks!

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2019, 09:39:28 am
content: Use of fast MOSFET complementary pairs for gate drivers instead of dedicated gate driver IC's.Some say it can't be done because of shoot through but I'm not so sure.Has the potential to further miniaturize power electronics with the choice of the correct device parameters.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 27, 2019, 10:32:42 am
content: As an aside, I'll mention some informal conclusions reached a couple of decades ago by a group of us in a commercial R&D lab.We discussed what are the "valid" reasons for doing a PhD. The only unquestionably valid reason we identified was the best possible one: "because I want to".We didn't believe "enhanced career prospects" in general. Exception: where you couldn't advance up a career ladder without a PhD. The only case we identified was the UK scientific civil service.We didn't believe "higher salary" or "easier to get a job" in general. Exception: where the PhD topic wasdirectlyrelevant to an employer. But that implies a very limited set of employers, and begs the question of what happens in a few years time.So, enjoy your time doing a PhD!

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2019, 09:39:08 am
content: Go speak to some of the elevator companies. With buildings getting higher the limiting factor is now the rope length and weight so they are now talking of building cars with motors in them.This will be an interesting challenge

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2019, 09:50:49 am
content: Maybe some new inverter power electronic technology for electric car motor controllers?

author: geggi1
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 28, 2019, 09:14:35 pm
content: I have been working in the subsea construction / ROV related projeckts for many years. One thing I know there is a marked for is: Drives that are integrated in the subsea motor with DC-bus in the subsea umbelical. The DC bus must be in the HV range because of the length of the umbelical (1000-3000m)I know that there have been done some research in this area but as far as I know it have not ended in a product or viable prototype.

author: jonpaul
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2019, 05:05:29 am
content: HelloWhere are you located? Which school are you going to?An old friend is a world recognized power electronics expert, transactions editor, and fellow of IEEE in power electronics.Suggest to lookup the IEEE Power Electronics transactions, APEC, PESC, Nuremberg and other conference proceedings.Contact me off list if you want more information.Good luckJon( retired MSEE , no PhDs here!)

author: Glenn0010
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2019, 09:26:53 am
content: Hi,thanks for the feedback. I want to do it mostly "cause I want to" and because I'm passionate about power electronics.However there definitely is an element of better pay and better career prospects. I currently have a bachelors degree and not a masters and some people in the company have struggled to get a promotion due to them lacking a masters. I believe that it's up to you on how much you read up and how much you are willing to learn which leads to how much you can improve rather than you having a masters or PhD although that obviously helps.Thoughts?

author: Glenn0010
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2019, 09:30:43 am
content: Quote from: blueskull on September 27, 2019, 06:29:35 pmHi, Thanks for your feedback. I am sure it will definitely not be easy and just have to push through some shit!

author: Glenn0010
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2019, 09:33:00 am
content: Quote from: geggi1 on September 28, 2019, 09:14:35 pmHi This seems very interesting to me! What kind of voltage level are being looked at? I'll do some research and hopefully I'll come across some resources.Cheers

author: Glenn0010
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2019, 09:36:43 am
content: Quote from: jonpaul on September 29, 2019, 05:05:29 amHi!I am located at in the UK and looking at a couple unis (Bristol / Nottingham). I will do some research on your suggested resources and see what I can find. Thanks for your help!