Winter Design Competition Tonight!

It's only a matter of time before the zombie apocalypse. Are you ready? Tonight, the student chapter of IEEE will be hosting a design competition with the sole purpose of preparing for the impending apocalypse. Come cheer for your friends as they compete for 4 great prizes! While you're at it, grab a slice of pizza and a soda!

Details:
Day: Feb 04, 2015
Room: Engr 120
Time: 7:00pm

Workshop 4 Makeup Presentation LIVE Stream TONIGHT at 8:00!

Come watch the makeup workshop for Workshop 4 TONIGHT at 8:00pm MST! Watch and chat LIVE on our Twitch channel: www.twitch.tv/csuieee

The video will be uploaded to our YouTube channel afterwards. Check it out!

Winter Design Competition!

Hello everyone! We all hope you are having a great finals week and wrapping up a successful semester! To celebrate the spirit of creativity, we are kicking off the annual IEEE Winter Design Competition RIGHT NOW!

Zombies are coming, and you're the only one that can stop them! Build something that will be useful in a zombie apocalypse and compete to win some really great prizes! The competition will be held right when we get back in February, so you can keep yourself occupied for all of Winter Break!

Full contest rules and more information can be found Here.

We look forward to seeing the amazing ideas you guys and gals come up with... but the zombies are coming faster than you think, so get building!

Arduino Workshop #2 THIS WEDNESDAY!

Workshop 2 is coming up THIS WEDNESDAY, October 22nd!

The workshop will be held at 7:00pm in Scott 231. As usual, FREE pizza is provided!

For this workshop, you will need your Arduino kit OR the following list of items:

• Computer
• Arduino
• 3 LEDs (preferably red, yellow, and green)
• 5 resistors, 3x 330 ohm and 2x 10k ohm
• 2 Pushbuttons
• Jumpers/wires (we will have some extra as well)
• Breadboard (or mini breadboard)

This workshop will cover digital I/O as well as some basic electronics principles. Join us in Scott 231 or watch LIVE on our twitch channel: www.twitch.tv/csuieee

If you missed the first workshop, YOU CAN STILL COME! These are meant to be well-rounded workshops for people of all skill levels.

If you don't have a kit or some of the hardware, come and buddy up with a partner!

Arduino Workshop 1

Thank you to everyone who attended the first Arduino workshop today! It was great fun for us and it seemed like everyone was excited. We certainly are.

Anyway, the resources from that workshop (PowerPoint presentation, code files, and a complete recording of the session) are now posted on the Open Design Competition Workshop Page.

IEEE 2014-2015 Kickoff

Welcome to the official Blogspot for the CSU IEEE Student Chapter! Want to become a member? Register here: www.surveymonkey.com/s/QF7C5YL

It's that time of year again: time to kick off the CSU IEEE Open Design Competition!

Come one, come all to either of the information nights:

• Monday, September 22nd at 7:00pm in E103 ENGR
• Tuesday, September 23rd at 7:00pm in B103 ENGR

Advanced Power Electronics and Motor Drives for Future Transportation Electrification

A reminder that the next meeting of the Denver Chapter of the IEEE Power Electronics Society is pleased:

Thursday, 1 May 2014, 6:00 p.m.

University of Denver – Knudsen Hall

Room CMK 309

Denver, Colorado

We are very pleased to host the following Distinguished Speaker:

Advanced Power Electronics and Motor Drives for Future Transportation Electrification

Speaker: Prof. Sheldon S. Williamson

-          P.D. Ziogas Power Electronics Laboratory Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

-          Distinguished Lecturer for IEEE Vehicular Technology Society

Abstract:

Currently, the most promising and practical solution to sustainable transportation electrification lies in electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (EVs/PHEVs). An EV/PHEV can reduce fuel consumption by charging its battery from the utility grid, or in the near future, from renewable energy sources (smart grid/micro-grid scenario). Typical battery charging time for EVs/PHEVs is 6-8 hours. Thecharging/discharging EV battery will have a huge impact on the utility. Alternatively, photovoltaic (PV) panels could be used for charging EVs during work hours or at home.

The presentation will initially review current as well as future charging methodologies for EV/PHEV batteries and energy storage systems. The presentation will discuss the modeling, sizing, design, and implementation of a high-efficiency, single-stage, PV-grid-based charging infrastructure for EVs/PHEVs. The novel, single-stage PV/grid charging infrastructure is universal in nature and smartly adaptable, whereby EV/PHEV batteries of different chemistries as well as charging rates can be accommodated in a single power conversion stage. The designed charging infrastructure can support both Level 1 as well as Level 2 EV/PHEV charging. According to SAE J1772 standards, DC charging of EVs can be performed at 200-450 V DC, 36 kW, and 80 A (DC Level 1), and up to 200 A, 90 kW (DC Level 2). This presentation will also focus on system-level aspects of EV charging. Futuristic PV/grid-based inductive and/or surface charging infrastructures will also be presented for EVs and PHEVs. Power electronic converter topologies and energy management systems for such an inductive/surface EV/PHEV charging infrastructure will be presented.

On-board EV/PHEV energy storage issues for batteries and ultra-capacitors will also be highlighted. Li-ion batteries, although popularly proposed, have been highly uneconomic for EV/PHEV energy storage, overshooting cost requirements by a large margin. Li-ion batteries provide a respectable solution for EV energy storage. However, main practical issues include: cycle life, calendar life, energy density, power density, and lately, safety. These issues can be addressed successfully by using a simple approach: a power electronic cell voltage equalizer. The purpose of the second part of this seminar is to demonstrate the role of power electronics intensive battery and ultra-capacitor energy management solutions, to reach the cost break-even point of an EV. The design and implementation of both inductor-based as well as switched capacitor DC/DC converters for Li-ion battery cell-equalization will be discussed. Finally, the design of a novel, cost-effective DC/DC converter for voltage equalization of EV/PHEV Li-ion battery cells will also be presented.

Advanced motor drives for EV propulsion will be introduced. An overview of applications of permanent magnet synchronous machines (PMSM), synchronous reluctance machines (SynRM), and switched reluctance machines (SRM) will be addressed. Advanced motor drive solutions for both PMSM, SynRM, and SRM will be presented. In addition, power electronic converter topologies for drive purposes as well as control algorithms for efficient performance will be discussed in detail for EV propulsion applications. This research seminar will be useful for engineers and managers with entry-level and/or medium-level knowledge of power electronics and motor drives. The talk would also be suitable for engineers with entry level knowledge of power electronics and motor drives applications towards energy storage systems, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems.

Speaker Biography:

Sheldon S. Williamson (S’01–M’06–SM’13) received his Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) degree in Electrical Engineering with high distinction from University of Mumbai, Mumbai, India, in 1999. He received the Master of Science (M.S.) degree in 2002, and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree (with Honors) in 2006, both in Electrical Engineering, from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, specializing in automotive power electronics and motor drives, at the Grainger Power Electronics and Motor Drives Laboratory. Dr. Williamson is an Associate Professor within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, where he has been working since June 2006. His main research interests include the study and analysis of electric drive trains for electric, hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and fuel cell vehicles.  His research interests also include modeling, analysis, design, and control of power electronic converters and motor drives for land, sea, air, and space vehicles, as well as the power electronic interface and control of renewable energy systems.

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Meeting Details

The meeting will start at 6:00 p.m. with pizza, soft drinks, and the chance to network with your fellow power electronics professionals from the Front Range area.  A few business items for Denver PELS will be discussed starting at 6:30 pm and the main technical presentation will start at 7:00 p.m.

Please forward this meeting announcement to anyone you think might be interested.  You do not have to be an IEEE member to attend.  We welcome any interested person.

If possible, to help us plan the right amount of food and drinks, please RSVP by replying to this message or sending a message torsvp@denverpels.org and letting us know if you are coming.

If you aren't able to RSVP, no problem, please come anyway!

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Directions And Parking

The meeting will be held in Room CMK 309 of Knudsen Hall on the University of Denver Campus.  Knudsen Hall is located at the corner of S. York St. and E. Wesley St. in Denver, CO.  Click below for a map of the area:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=knudsen+hall+University+Denver+google+maps

The best parking is probably in the parking garage next to Knudsen Hall (Parking Area 320).  Visitors are allowed to park in this lot but a hourly rate will most likely apply.  Click below for a parking map of DU:

https://www.parking.du.edu/documents/pdf/parking_map.pdf

If other parking options are found they will be communicated in future announcements.  The parking fee will be a small price to pay to attend the meeting and hear a distinguished lecturer!