news-events

Abstract: Wide Bandgap (WBG) devices are getting increasingly popular and finding traction in not only exotic, high-end power converters but also in mainstream applications. While the benefits of WBG devices such as excellent Qg*R(on) figure of merit and lack of reverse recovery are well known, utilizing these benefits and demonstrating high performance power converters has often been difficult. The goal of this presentation is to touch base on the advantages of WBG devices, showcase some example topologies where WBG devices have demonstrated marked improvement in the performance of a power converter. Further, another goal is to dispel some myths around WBG devices (e.g.  they are applicable exclusively in exotic high frequency topologies) and showcase some examples where key attributes of WBG devices can be exploited at traditional frequencies to improve efficiency and thereby power density. 

 

Presenter: Ajay Hari, ON Semiconductor

 

Ajay Hari is an Applications Director at ON Semiconductor, where he leads a team of product definers, systems, and applications engineers working on of Ac-Dc and isolated Dc-Dc applications. Prior to ON Semiconductor, Ajay worked for National Semiconductor/TI, specializing in isolated power converters and has defined many PWM ICs for telecom, automotive, and industrial markets. Ajay started his career at General Electric as a design engineer. Ajay has a Master’s in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Florida and has authored many technical papers, articles, and holds over 12 patents.

Abstract: In numerous cost and volume sensitive applications reactive components  (inductors and capacitors) of switch-mode power supplies (SMPS) have become main contributors to the overall size, cost, and weight of electronic devices.  Furthermore, conflicting requirements for size reduction of the SMPS and increase in their power delivery requirements have pushed conventional dc-dc SMPS solution close to (or beyond) their limitations. 

This seminar will address those limitations and present several emerging practical control and topological solutions that, potentially, provide drastic reduction of the size of SMPS and power processing efficiency improvements at the same time.

Practical on-chip implementation of fast transient control methods, based on minimum voltage deviation, will be presented.

On the topological side, classes of reduced voltage swing converters, which are based on hybrid capacitive and inductive energy processing, will be reviewed and several new topological solutions presented. Also, several class-specific control and implementation challenges will be addressed and solutions for the same presented.

Presenter: Prof. Prodic obtained his Dipl. Ing. degree from the University of NoviSad (Serbia) in 1994 and received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 2000 and 2003, respectively. In 2003 he joined the University of Toronto, where he formed Laboratory for Power Management and Integrated Switch-Mode Power Supplies (SMPS).

His research interests are in power electronics converter topologies, mixed-signal control, and IC design for power electronics. The applications of interest range from on-chip power supplies for portable devices to power management systems in EV and Hybrid vehicles. His research also covers use of power electronics in biomedical applications. He has published more than 100 research papers. His research also resulted in more than 30 patents; many of them have become commercial products.

He is a recipient of an IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER  ELECTRONICS  Paper  Award, multiple conference  paper  awards and multiple Canadian Government Awards.  He also received the  2012  and  2013 Inventor of the Year Awards from the University of Toronto, but he is the most proud of four Excellence in Teaching Awards, elected and given by the University of Toronto undergraduate  students.

Abstract: SiC is gaining rapid adoption in various electric vehicle (EV) applications, including on-board charging, off-board charging, and drive-train inverters. Now over seven years since the introduction of SiC MOSFETs, product portfolio expansion and product support continues to grow. According to the article Power Semiconductors Market Update, by Richard Eden and Kevin Anderson, Jan 04, 2018, “… although silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET revenue is only about 3% of the total MOSFET market, it is expected to grow by more than 40% in 2018, fueled by its use in hybrid and electric vehicles, PV inverters, and other industrial segments.”

To update the PSMA community, Wolfspeed will present results on a two different automotive applications. First, a 20kW Bi-Directional 3 phase AC-DC converter will be presented, which utilizes a 3-phase grid-tied AC-DC system for fast charging stations for electric vehicles. This 20kW converter allows for 3-phase fast off-board charging for battery electric vehicles (BEVs). With bidirectional functionality of the converter, it is also possible to deliver power from vehicle to grid.

Secondly, a 250kW 3 phase inverter will be presented which utilizes 900V, 400-800A ½ bridge power modules in a three phase inverter designed for an EV bus voltage up to 700V. Motor speed and efficiency data will be presented, including details on the expected vehicle savings for EV in city and highway driving.

Presenters: Dan Martin, Adil Salman, Wolfspeed, a Cree, Inc. Company

Daniel Martin is a senior power electronics engineer at Wolfspeed and has been utilizing high-speed SiC and GaN devices in power electronic systems for over 6 years. His role at Wolfspeed covers everything from low inductance module optimization to full system design. His experience utilizing SiC in a variety of applications has enabled insight into devices behavior, optimized power module packaging, optimal gate driver control/design, and system level optimization to fully enable the utilization of SiC devices.

Adil Salman is a Product Marketing Engineer at Wolfspeed where he is supporting SiC MOSFETs and Diodes product line. Before joining Wolfspeed, Adil has been involved in the design and development of power conversion systems specifically designed for medical, automotive and aerospace applications.

Abstract:  In this webinar, Yole developpement and System Plus Consulting will share our view on the power electronics devices technology and market status.

The analyst from Yole developpement will talk about the power device market, covering IGBT, MOSFET etc, and then give a focus on the SiC and GaN devices, where the driving markets and challenges will be addressed.

In support to market data, System Plus Consulting will present some technical examples of available devices and their cost analysis. The comparison between Si based devices and SiC and GaN devices will highlight the main technical and cost challenges facing WBG devices today.

Presenters: Dr. Hong Lin, Yole Développement, Dr. Ana Villamor, Yole Développement, and Dr. Elena Barbarini, System Plus Consulting

Dr. Hong Lin has worked at Yole Développement as a Senior Technology and Market Analyst since 2013. She is  in charge of Compound Semiconductors activities and providing technical, marketing and strategical analysis. She is the main author of the Power SiC  and Power GaN market report.  Before joining Yole Développement, she worked as an R&D Engineer at Newstep Technologies, overseeing the development of cold cathodes made by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition for nanotechnology-based visible and UV lamp applications. She holds a PhD in physics and chemistry of materials.

Dr. Ana Villamor serves as a Technology & Market Analyst | Power Electronics at Yole Développement. She is involved in many custom studies and reports focused on emerging power electronics technologies at Yole Développement, including device technology and reliability analysis (MOSFET, IGBT, HEMT, etc.). In addition, Ana is leading the quarterly power management market updates released in 2017. Previously Ana was involved in a high-added value collaboration on SJ Power MOSFETs, within the CNM research center for the leading power electronic company ON Semiconductor. During this partnership, and after two years as Silicon Development Engineer, she acquired extensive relevant technical expertise and a deep knowledge of the power electronics industry. Dr. Villamor is author and co-author of several papers as well as a patent. She holds an Electronics Engineering degree completed by a Master’s in micro and nano electronics, both from Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (SP).

Dr. Elena Barbarini is Activity Leader in Power Electronics and Semiconductor Compounds at System Plus Consulting. She is responsible of technical, process manufacturing and cost analyses of devices and modules. She is the main author of Power and Compound’s reports and leads the activity of cost models and tool development.  Previously Elena worked as R&D engineer at Vishay Semiconductors on development of metal interfaces and as R&D manager at OSAI A.S. on automatic equipment for semiconductors manufacturing. Elena holds master's degree in Nanotechnologies for the ICT from Politecnico di Torino, EPF Lausanne and INP Grenoble and a PhD in Electronic Devices.

Abstract:  Cloud servers, advanced gaming systems, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency mining, and automotive electronics are all converging rapidly on 48 Volts as the new standard bus voltage.  48 V has the advantage of not requiring isolation and is therefore simpler, smaller, more efficient, and lower cost than other power conversion architectures.  In every case, the relatively new GaN transistors and integrated circuits have demonstrated the ability to convert to-and-from 48 Volts with higher efficiency, and smaller size.  GaN is also able to significantly reduce costs.  In this seminar we will show the various applications and topologies used in these markets and show the steps taken to convince conservative design engineers that the best solution involves GaN.

Presenter: Alex Lidow is CEO and co-founder of Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC). Prior to founding EPC, Dr. Lidow was CEO of International Rectifier Corporation. A co-inventor of the HEXFET power MOSFET, Dr. Lidow holds many patents in power semiconductor technology and has authored numerous publications on related subjects, including co-authoring the first textbook on GaN transistors, GaN Transistors for Efficient Power Conversion. Lidow earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Caltech and his Ph.D. from Stanford.

He received the 2015 SEMI Award for North America for the commercialization of more efficient power devices and was elected to the Engineering Hall of Fame and selected as the 2015 SEMI Award for North America for innovation of power device technology.

 

Abstract:

This presentation explains the gate drive relevant parameters of Silicon Carbide MOSFET datasheets, such as the influence of gate-source threshold and others. It maps the SiC MOSFET datasheet parameters to gate driver IC parameters as a selection guide line for a robust gate driver IC design.

Presenter: Wolfgang Frank, Infineon Technologies

Wolfgang Frank, received the degree of Diplom-Ingenieur from the University of Technology Munich in 1995 and PhD from the Federal Armed Forces University in 2000. He has worked in power electronics since 1994.

Dr. Frank started at Infineon in 2000 as concept engineer for PFC and switch mode power supply control IC.

He changed to discrete transistors and diodes in 2003 at Infineon Technologies Austria.

In 2005, he began concentrating on system engineering for packages, IGBT and freewheeling Diodes at Infineon Technologies in Munich / Germany. After working on concepts for highly-integrated intelligent power modules, he is now responsible for gate drive ICs for power transistors.

Abstract:

Forty years ago, the industry experienced a first revolution in power electronics. The silicon (Si) bipolar-junction transistor was surpassed in on-state and switching performance by the development of commercial power MOSFETs such as International Rectifier’s ‘HEXFET’. With the new, ‘fast’ powertrain components came advances in magnetic materials.  New, kHz-switching regulator topologies or ‘switched-mode power supplies’ (SMPS) challenged the dominance of traditional 50 Hz linear regulators, offering the promise of higher efficiencies, higher densities and even lower cost. Device integration, in the form of analog application-specific ICs (ASICs) developed by Silicon General, Unitrode & others, was the catalyst to enable simple, cost-effective and industry-proven designs.

In the following decade, the power supply industry experienced a 5x increase in power density, a 5x reduction in losses in energy savings and a 3x reduction in costs. The next 30 years saw incremental improvements but no performance shifts as dramatic as the first revolution.

Today, we are at the start of the second revolution. Gallium Nitride (GaN) powertrains replace Si switches, MHz-switching magnetic materials are broadly available and new, soft-switching topologies such as Active Clamp Flyback (ACF) and critical conduction mode (CrCM) totem-pole PFC are available. Forty years later, device integration is again the catalyst to sparking the performance, size and cost revolution.

Early discrete GaN implementations need complex, expensive control and protection circuits, which restrict device performance and so limit application advances and market adoption. Now, the monolithic, lateral integration of FET, drive and logic - all in GaN – creates easy-to-use, high-speed, “digital-in, power-out” GaNFast™ Power ICs to drive speed and efficiency increases in power conversion. Designers can now achieve 3x power density increases at similar or lower BOM costs vs. typical old and slow Si systems.

The seminar will introduce the 650 V eMode GaN power IC structure, with a step-by-step review including device- and circuit-related reliability structures / techniques. System benefits will be described using a wide range of converters from 27W to 3.2kW and 300 kHz to 1MHz+.

Presenters: Dan Kinzer and Stephen Oliver, Navitas Semiconductor

Dan Kinzer received his B.S.E. degree in engineering physics from Princeton University. He is the chief technology officer and chief operating officer for Navitas Semiconductor. For 25 years, he has led research and development (R&D) at semiconductor and power electronics companies at the vice president level or higher. His experience includes developing advanced power device and IC platforms, wide band-gap GaN and SiC device design, IC and power device fabrication processes, advanced IC design, semiconductor package development and assembly processes, and design of electronic systems.  Before cofounding Navitas, he served as the vice president of research and development, vice president of advanced product development, and chief technologist at International Rectifier; and senior vice president of product and technology development and chief technology officer at Fairchild Semiconductor. He holds over 100 U.S. patents.

Stephen Oliver is VP Sales & Marketing for Navitas Semiconductor. He has over 25 years’ experience in the power semiconductor and power supply industries in computing, industrial, automotive and telecom markets with Motorola and Philips (NXP) in the UK, and International Rectifier and Vicor in the USA. He holds a B.Eng (Hons) in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Manchester University, UK and an MBA in Global Marketing & Strategy from UCLA, USA. Stephen hold several patents in power semiconductors, is a Chartered Engineer and is currently Chairman of the Power Sources Manufacturers’ Association (PSMA).

Abstract:

Wide Bandgap (WBG) Technologies such as SiC and GaN deliver novel modern day power devices that slash conduction and switching losses by at least an order of magnitude at typical operating conditions compared to their silicon counterparts. In order to realize all the WBG device benefits, efficient power electronic design hinges on the availability of accurate and predictive SPICE models. This webinar discusses novel physical and scalable SPICE modeling approaches for SiC power MOSFETs and GaN HEMTs. The models are based on process and layout parameters, enabling design optimization through a direct link between SPICE, physical design, and process technology. The SPICE agnostic models port across multiple industry standard simulation platforms.

Presenter: James Victory, ON Semiconductor

James Victory is currently a Fellow at ON Semiconductor, working on research and development in modeling and simulation for power discrete technologies. In June 2008, he co-founded Sentinel IC Technologies specializing in design enablement for RF-analog and power technologies. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director of Design Enablement at Jazz Semiconductor. He started his career with Motorola in 1992 where he specialized in semiconductor device modeling for RF-analog and power technologies. He received his BSEE, MSEE, and Ph. D in electrical engineering from Arizona State University in 1990, 1992, and 1994 respectively. He has over 45 publications, including invited papers & workshop tutorials, and 2 patents on semiconductor device modeling.
 

Abstract:

This presentation will review: a) passive component performance, design and geometry targets for power delivery in emerging high-performance and mobile computing; b) review the state-of-the-art and leading-edge research in component materials, fabrication and integration to realize 3D power packaging.

Power conversion close to the load (ex. processor), with high power conversion ratio from the high-voltage bus to the point-of-load, and low losses are the key requirements for efficient power conversion. Component designs depend on the power requirements and converter topology utilized for different applications such as high-performance computing (AI, servers, data center) and mobile computing. In the fully-integrated voltage regulator topology, several small inductors are used in a multi-phase switching architecture. On the other hand, traditional point-of-load converters deliver extremely high current and are very sensitive to coil DC resistance. For high-performance computing, component integration and designs are also driven by the package architectures such as silicon interposers (chip on wafer on substrate or CoWoS), fan-out packaging, laminate embedding or recent approaches from Intel such as EMIB (embedded multi die interconnect bridge). The first part of the project will analyze different scenarios for voltage regulator applications and will project the needs, current-handling, DC resistance targets for various on-chip and package-embedded components.

The next part of the presentation will review on-chip, IPD and package-integrated inductor implementations with thin nanomagnetic films and package-integrated polymer composite inductor films. These are explored for switching regulator topologies with high current bias and low ripple voltages. Thin nanomagnetic films are deposited through sputtering techniques to achieve precise nanostructures for high permeability and low coercivity. Recent advances have shown that these films can be used in inductors for high current handling while managing the L/R ratio. The low currents in the inductors make them more forgiving to DC resistance, allowing their integration with thin BEOL (back end of the line) design rules. However, polymer composite inductors are still preferred for laminate-integrated inductors because they can be designed with lower DC losses, and handle higher currents with thicker films that utilize package design rules, and at much lower cost. They also can have isotropic properties for more flexibility in inductor design. For isolated power conversion, switching losses dominate the loss budget. Low-loss ferrites and nanocrystalline or amorphous ribbons are utilized for these applications, benefiting from their low-frequency (<5 MHz) power conversion. Recent advances and their potential to address the component needs will be the key focus of the final part of the presentation.

Magnetics do not scale with the rest of the package. They also add EMI and other limitations. This led to more interest in capacitor-based power conversion. The need for temperature-stability, high-voltage stability, ultra-low ESR (< 5 milliohms x microfarad) have led to the development of high-permittivity but paraelectric capacitors or antiferroelectric capacitors. For higher densities, ultra-thin MLCCs are being developed with densities of 2 microfarad/mm2 in ~200 micron components. These components are also embedded into the package and interconnected with plated copper on copper terminals.  Component thickness, need for pick-and-place and thermal instabilities still impose limitations with these technologies, leading way to planar embedded film capacitors based on high surface area tantalum or Aluminum film capacitors. The third part of the presentation focuses on  advanced capacitor technologies for passive embedding.

The talk will conclude with the roadmaps for high-power and low-power magnetics and capacitors.

Presenter: PM Raj, Georgia Tech
Dr. P. M. Raj‘s expertise is in packaging of electronic and bioelectronic systems, power-supply and wireless component integration in flex and rigid packages, biocompatible and hermetic packaging with high-density feedthroughs.  He is an Associate Professor with BME and ECE at FIU. He is an Adjunct Professor with the Georgia Institute of Technology, ECE Department and Packaging Research Center. He co-lead several technical thrusts in electronic packaging with ~10 Million dollar funding, in association with the whole electronic ecosystem, which includes semiconductor, packaging and material, tool, component, and end-user companies. He is widely recognized for his contributions in integrated passive components and technology roadmapping, component integration for bioelectronic, power and RF modules, and also for promoting the role of nanomaterials and nanostructures for electronics packaging applications, as evident through his several industry partnerships, invited presentations, publications and awards.

His research led to 310 publications, which include ~85 journal papers, 15 book chapters and 12 articles in widely circulated trade magazines, and more than 185 conference publications. He received 8 patents with several other provisional patents and invention disclosures. His papers received more than 20 best-paper awards.

He is the Associate Editor for IEEE CPMT transactions and IEEE Nanotechnology magazine, and the Co-Chair for the IEEE nanopackaging technical committee. He has been instrumental in forming the “Nanopackaging” and “Heterogeneous Integration” technical sessions at various IEEE and PSMA conferences. He has been actively involved with the PSMA (power sources manufacturers Association) and takes pro-active role in shaping up power electronics sessions at APEC and PEIM conferences. He is also in the steering committee of IEEE EPS IoT Committee. He was reviewer for about 100 journal papers. Dr. Raj is also a STEM ambassador and frequently offers nanoscience and nanotechnology demonstrations at local schools and hosts K-12 field trips.

He received BS (1993, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur), ME (1995, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) and PhD (1999, Rutgers University, New Jersey).

Abstract:

As power demands continue to increase and allowable space shrinks, power density and ambient temperatures get higher and higher. This combined with the need to reduce energy losses complicates power connector selection. In some applications, system designers are hitting the limits of their architecture and are looking for ways to get just a little more power through. As a result, the power systems, including connectors, require more consideration earlier in the design process.

This presentation will cover some power connector design fundamentals including new surface finish technologies entering the market that reduce resistance to enable higher currents. Limiters to higher voltage applications are reviewed, as well as how to select and test connectors for higher temperature applications. Finally, current rating testing is scrutinized to determine how relevant it is to a customer’s application; alternate ways are presented to compare connectors from multiple vendors.

Presenter: Charles “Chip” Copper, Amphenol

Charles “Chip” Copper Ph.D. entered the connector world in 1993 and spent the subsequent decades doing research and development across multiple industries including automotive, industrial, power utility, data and telecommunication. He has spent his career on the front lines of connector development and holds dozens of patents. Chip has extensive experience with separable interface design, applied contact physics, press-fit tails and design for manufacturing. While at Amphenol, his efforts have been focused on power connectors, high speed backplane and mezzanine with additional focus on micro press-fit tails.

Abstract:

Power supplies with digital control present challenges that are not the same as those seen in analog control of power electronics. Digital control is becoming more the norm allowing price point reduction, power loss reduction and sophisticated control approaches. To understand and manage the risks of development for these digitally controlled power converters this webinar presents some of the best approaches that aid in meeting deadlines for digital power development and delivering high quality products. 

Webinar Outline:

The webinar covers the areas in the development of digital control for power electronics where the best return in quality and reliability improvement are achieved.
Subject areas covered in the webinar are

1. Verification and Testing

This fifteen-minute section covers the level of testing that is required to ensure high quality digitally controlled power electronics. It also introduces and describes best approaches to making testing effective.

• Verification testing for digital filters
• Verification testing for compensators
• Verification testing for software

2. Team resources, skill mix and project management

This twenty-minute section covers the best way to project manage and structure teams for high quality timely development outcomes. This includes
Structuring the development team for success

• Avoiding software coders designing control
• Manging software release successfully
• Why software version reporting is so important

3. Power Supply Integration and System Issues

Power supplies operate in systems that are often undefined or poorly defined during the development process. Dealing with typical system integration issues and the testing to ensure that these are correctly implemented is presented and discussed in this twenty-minute time slot.

• Specific areas covered are
• Start-up transient
• Mode change transients, abnormal operation, fault response, and recovery
• Mode change converter gain changes
• Synchronous Rectifier Enable/Disable Transient
• Parallel converter connections and current sharing.

Presenter: Hamish Laird, ELMG Digital Power

Over the past 30 years Hamish has worked in developing power electronics. And for the past 25 years the control systems that he has worked with, developed and designed have been digital systems.  The scale of power converters have power ranges from 10W flyback converters to 500MW HVDC transmission class converters. The control systems for these converters were almost exclusively digital.

Hamish has managed development projects for digital power control for the last 25 years in junior engineer, senior engineer and director levels. His experience includes power converter development projects in the USA, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and China.
Hamish is a well know power electronic digital control teacher and holds a visiting academic position at the University of Canterbury.

When not working on digital control Hamish enjoys Ice Hockey and sailing.

Abstract: As SoCs and processors migrate to smaller and smaller deep-submicron nodes, several new power management challenges are emerging. The number of independent voltage rails on chip has increased from a few to a range of 20 to 50, significantly driving up the cost and area of power management solutions, not to mention the complexity of both PCB and package routing from the external voltage regulators to the voltage islands on the SoC. This complex routing combined with the tremendous increase in current transient speed and step size, has forced SoC designers to expand the voltage margin buffer on chip significantly, leading to a large increase in wasted power and heat. Existing power management solutions, like advanced PMIC products, are unable to effectively regulate the on-SoC voltages during transients due to the large impedance between the regulator bulk caps and the SoC die. Increasing switching frequency and bandwidth of the PMIC offers quickly diminishing returns while reducing regulator efficiency considerably.

This presentation will evaluate the emerging power management issues of SoCs and processors and how they are solved with the full integration of high-bandwidth voltage regulators (IVR) directly into the digital IC. Empower Semiconductor R2DTM resonant IVRs improve voltage accuracy by up to 10x, dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) capability by 1,000x and eliminate 80% or more of power management components on the PCB.

Presenter: Tim Phillips, Co-founder, COO, SVP Sales & Marketing, Empower Semiconductor Tim Phillips is Co-founder, COO & SVP, Sales & Marketing at Empower Semiconductor, where he co-invented Empower’s breakthrough high-frequency deep-submicron resonant voltage regulator, R2DTM. Prior to founding Empower, Mr. Phillips held several positions at International Rectifier spanning engineering, investor relations, and sales & marketing including the founding of the Enterprise Power BU where he served as Vice President and General Manager, growing the business to more than $150M in annual revenue. Prior to joining International Rectifier, Mr. Phillips held power analog IC design and product marketing management positions at Cherry Semiconductor, which was acquired by ON Semiconductor. Mr. Phillips earned both his MBA (’01) and BSEE (’94) from the University of Rhode Island. He holds 11 US patents with several others pending.

Abstract:

As power demands continue to increase and allowable space shrinks, power density and ambient temperatures get higher and higher. This combined with the need to reduce energy losses complicates power connector selection. In some applications, system designers are hitting the limits of their architecture and are looking for ways to get just a little more power through. As a result, the power systems, including connectors, require more consideration earlier in the design process.

This presentation will cover some power connector design fundamentals including new surface finish technologies entering the market that reduce resistance to enable higher currents. Limiters to higher voltage applications are reviewed, as well as how to select and test connectors for higher temperature applications. Finally, current rating testing is scrutinized to determine how relevant it is to a customer’s application; alternate ways are presented to compare connectors from multiple vendors.The world expects to have 1 trillion IoT sensors in place by 2025, most of them wireless edge devices. Extending battery life of these parts to reasonable service interval and ideally beyond application lifetime use is probably the biggest impediment to this becoming a reality.

The first half the webinar gives an overview of PSMA’s initiatives (driven by the Energy Harvesting Committee) to accelerate the development of a ‘power IoT’ ecosystem to address this issue. This is done through efficient power management solutions at sub mW levels as well as using energy harvesting technologies (generation and storage) where possible. This requires not just technology development but also for stakeholders to work more closely together and take a cross-disciplinary system integration approach to ensure optimised and inter-operable material and devices are developed and integrated.  Many industry efforts have been taken to drive awareness and tangible momentum with key supply chain and application partners.  The most recent example and culmination of these efforts are the recent APEC Industry Sessions and the EnerHarv 2018 Workshop (www.EnerHarv.com) that has given birth to the energy harvesting ecosystem.

The second half of the webinar outlines 2 high impact cases identified in an EU Industry 4.0 project COMPOSITION (www.compostion-project.eu) showing where IoT edge devices can be retrofitted in or near equipment and infrastructure in a Boston Scientific medical device factory to improve energy and resource efficiency

1. sensors for tracking high value assets (high value component reels, test fixtures, measurement and inspection equipment)
2. condition monitoring of reflow oven fans for predictive maintenance by detecting fan wear out (using acoustic and power sensors)

To date the work has focused determining the appropriate types of sensors and wireless infrastructure on selecting commercially available and emerging platforms. The next stage involves determining to what extent IoT device power consumption can be reduced (based on hardware platform selection, sensor data granularity & duty cycle and data gathering infrastructure) to extend battery life and also if ambient energies are available potentially for device self-powering.

Presenters: Peter Haigh, Tyndall; Mike Hayes, Tyndall; Brian Zahnstecher, PowerRox

Peter Haigh (B.E. Hons), Southampton Solent University: Joined Tyndall in 2017 following a 25 year career as a Chartered Engineer in the RF Communications field. Peter is equally comfortable with an engineering or management role & experienced in a wide range of radio systems including Satellite, Cellular, RFID, WSN, Public Safety, DVB-S, DVB-T, UWB, ISM Proprietary. He has a proven ability in engineering management of multi-skilled geographically spread teams. Peter successfully led many project teams from large systems to components to IC level specialising in taking top level system specifications from standards bodies, analysis of link budgets and turning them into top level radio requirements for IC definition. Peter has two filed patents. EP1065 854 A2 Hierarchical Modulation, and EP127623 Power Control for non-constant envelope systems. He is author of a number of technical published papers and is currently a principal engineer on Tyndall’s ICT4EE team and Tyndall’s technical lead on EU H2020 projects COMPOSITION, PVAdapt, RECO2ST & MOEEBIUS. In these projects he leads cross-functional teams developing power management solutions and simulation tools incorporating micro-power energy harvesting for IoT edge devices for energy efficient buildings, solar panel installations and industry 4.0 applications

Mike Hayes M.Eng.Sc. University College Cork: Senior Program Manager, ICT for Energy Efficiency (ICT4EE). Worked for 20 years at Artesyn Technologies, progressing to Custom Engineering Manager. In 2008 he joined Tyndall progressing to Senior Program Manager developing ICT4EE solutions. Activities include the design & deployment of WSN embedded solutions (hardware, firmware & simulation models) incorporating energy harvesting, power management, sensing, actuation and control circuits & conditional monitoring for retrofit in existing smart building and for micro-grid systems. Active in several EU-FP7 & H2020 Energy/ICT projects including work package leader on ME3Gas (energy demand management middleware & smart metering), MOSYCOUSIS (conditional monitoring), GreenCom (demand management and renewal energy integration) and COMPOSITION (energy and resource efficient factories) & ReCO2ST (deep retrofit of buildings to improve efficiency and comfort). Mike has established a reputation as a leader in ‘powering IoT’ activities internationally. He is co-ordinator of EnABLES (www.EnABLES-project.eu) , an EU funded research infrastructure project developing next generation energy harvesting solutions for IoT and enabling industry access to world leading research infrastructures in EU. He was co-ordinator on the Irish government funded IERC ROWBUST project. Mike is Tyndall’s representative on the steering committee of the Cork Smart Gateway, president on the international PSMA board of directors (power sources manufacturing association), co-chair of the PSMA energy harvesting committee & co-founder and general chair of EnerHarv (www.EnerHarv.com ), a PSMA international energy harvesting workshop (2018).

Brian Zahnstecher (ME Worcester Polytech Institute): With over 14 years of industry experience is a senior member of the IEEE, chair of the IEEE SFBAC Power Electronics Society (PELS) awarded 2017 Best Chapter awards at the local/national/worldwide levels concurrently (an unprecedented achievement), sits on the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) Board of Directors, and is the Principal of PowerRox, where he focuses on power design, integration, system applications, OEM market penetration, market research/analysis, and private seminars for power electronics. Additionally, he co-chairs PSMA’s Energy Harvesting Committee and the Reliability Committee (which he also co-founded) and is a regular segment owner and contributor to the PSMA Power Technology Roadmap (’15, ’17, & ’19). He was a co-founder and technical chair for EnerHarv 2018. Brian is a recognized leader in the areas of ultra-low power management and energy harvesting technologies giving many presentations each year at the industry’s most prestigious events. Brian leads Power for the IEEE 5G Roadmap Applications & Services Working Group, authored the Group’s position paper, is co-chair of the 5G Webinar Series, is co-chair of the 1st 5G Energy Efficiency Tutorial, and has lectured on this topic at major industry conferences. He has successfully handled assignments in system design/architecting, ac-dc front-end power, EMC/EMI design/debug, embedded solutions, processor power, and digital power solutions for a variety of clients. He previously held positions in power electronics with industry leaders Emerson Network Power (now Artesyn), Cisco, and Hewlett-Packard, where he advised on best practices, oversaw product development, managed international teams, created/enhanced optimal workflows and test procedures, and designed and optimized voltage regulators. He has been a regular contributor to the industry as an invited keynote speaker, author, workshop participant, session host, roundtable moderator, and volunteer.

Abstract: In recent years, capacitors have become more of a focus in the electronics world. The industry is moving from a world of stable supply and relatively stable technologies, to a new order where supply of some components has become scarce, but new technologies are emerging.

Under the massive influence of consumer product development, with a focus on miniaturization, many of the MLCC manufacturers are terminating larger MLCC footprints starting from the 0603 size and larger. The electronic world, however, isn't only a consumer business. Industrial customers have significantly different requirements. High voltages, larger and more stable capacitances values, less DC bias behavior, higher mechanical stability, and much more, are in demand. With the changing availability of MLCC portfolios, how will the Industrial Market adjust to this change in the capacitor landscape? What alternatives and new technologies are available?

The PSMA Capacitor Committee’s Roadmap Webinar will share new technologies and future developments that the audience should keep an eye on. Major players, including CDE, KEMET and Wurth Electronics, will present. And they will be joined by a newcomer, Polycharge, who will discuss a brand new technology.

The participants will discuss existing alternatives and a roadmap for the mid- and long-term to help overcome the MLCC crisis. And the webinar will conclude with an outlook on an exciting new technology. 

Presenters: Wilmer Companioni (KEMET), Scott Franco (Cornell Dubilier), Pierre Lohrber (Wurth Electronics), Steve Yializis (Polycharge)

Wilmer Companioni has 13 years in design, marketing, and sales of electronic systems and components. He graduated from the University of Florida with a BSEE. Wilmer currently works for KEMET Electronics as Senior Technical Marketing Manager.

Scott Franco: After earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from the University of Massachusetts in 1989, Scott Franco was hired by Cornell Dubilier Electronics to design AC and DC Film capacitors. Scott later earned his MBA from Bryant College and has served the company various product development and product management roles. Scott currently serves as the company’s Director of Market Development, responsible for identifying opportunities for new capacitor products and delivering those products to the market.

Pierre Lohrber is the Head of the Capacitor & Resistors Business Unit at Wurth Electronics. He has more than 26 years of experience in the electronics industry. His background is in Management & Business Administration, Electronics Engineering, Global Supply Chain Management and Supply Chain Risk Management.

Steven Yializis currently serves as Director and Chief Operating Officer of Polycharge America, a pioneer in the development and production of high energy density, high temperature, capacitor products. Mr. Yializis is also Chief Operating Officer and Director of Sigma Technologies Int’l, Inc., where he oversees both development and commercialization of new technologies in the areas of energy storage, thermal management materials, functional pigments, and metallized products. Prior to this, Mr. Yializis was CEO of Quillis, Inc. with locations in Tucson, Arizona and Hyderabad, India. Steven has served as a board member of RIMA International, an association that works to establish technical standards for low emissivity metallized products used in a variety of commercial and industrial applications.