IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - December 2015 - 16

* Beijing Jiaotong University (Best

fig 2 The Topic A hardware test activity. (Photo courtesy of Michael Markowycz.)

fig 3 Contributions to IFEC 2015 from the student volunteers are recognized. (Photo
courtesy of Michael Markowycz.)

Initially, Topic A received 16 proposals from ten countries, and Topic B
received 12 proposals from six countries. From the proposals, a panel of
judges selected teams with technical
merits to present their work at a workshop conducted during the 2015 IEEE
Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition held in Charlotte,
North Carolina. Based on the workshop, nine teams from Topic A and
ten teams from Topic B were invited
to participate in the final test events.
The winning teams and their awards
are listed as follows.
■■Topic A
* National Taiwan University of
Science and Technology (Grand
Prize, US$10,000)
* Kunming University of Science
and Technology (Best Engineering Design, US$5,000)

IEEE PowEr ElEctronIcs MagazInE

* University of Michigan-Dearborn
(Best Innovative Design, US$1,500)
* Osaka Institute of Technology
(Best Innovative Design, US$1,500)
* Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (Best Educational
Impact, US$1,000)
* Zhejiang University (Best Control Implementation, US$500)
* Cologne University of Applied
Sciences (Participation Award)
* University of Texas at Dallas
(Participation Award)
* Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (Participation Award)
* North China University of Technology (Participation Award).
■■Topic B
* Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Grand
Prize, US$10,000)

z December 2015

Control Design, US$5,000)
* North Carolina State University
(Best Efficiency, US$3,000)
* Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Best
Educational Impact, US$1,000)
* University of Connecticut (Participation Award)
* Tsinghua University (Participation Award)
* Deli Technological University
(Participation Award).
Topic B required the design of a bidirectional inverter with a dc-side battery
that mimics the function of synchronous generators by taking part in the
regulation of system frequency and voltage. It should achieve seamless transfer
between grid-connected and standalone modes. The power rating was 500
W, the input voltage was 48 V dc, and the
output voltage was 230 V ac. The final
event for Topic B had seven teams, nine
judges and organizing committee members, and six volunteers. IEEE Power
Electronics Society (PELS) President
Prof. Braham Ferreira attended the
final event. Figure 4 shows the group,
including the participating students
and faculty advisors, judges, and volunteers from the host university, in front of
Chatsworth House, which is known as
one of Britain's grandest country houses, near Sheffield.
For Topic B, the organizing committee invited judges from neighboring countries and started the final event on 20 July. At the opening
ceremony, PELS President Ferreira
gave an exciting speech, with his indepth perspective on future energy
and electrical engineering. After a
brief opening ceremony, the testing
of the prototypes and the team presentations were carried out in parallel. The first and the second half-day
were scheduled for all the hardware
prototype testing and team presentations. Each team had 30 min to
present its design, including 10 min
for questions by the judges. The prototypes were tested against power
density, power quality, conversion
eff iciency, a nd adva nced fu nctions such as frequency and voltage

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Power Electronics Magazine - December 2015