Sung Yul Chu wins IEEE Power Electronics Society PhD Thesis Talk Award

ECE PhD student Sung Yul Chu has been awarded a PhD Thesis Talk Award from the IEEE Power Electronics Society for his research on wireless power transfer for electric vehicle charging.

“Wireless charging is the new electric fuel pump that can eventually overcome the range anxiety in electric vehicles,” Chu says. “Wireless power transfer can provide user convenience, safety, and energy flexibility.”

Chu is working to develop smart measurement and detection systems for wireless charging of electric vehicles. He uses an electromagnetic physics model, the “Faraday Coil Transfer-Power Measurement (FC-TPM),” to measure the flow of power. This determines the cost of electrical losses to a transmitter and receiver based on the dissipation physical heat, which enables fair metering.

“FC-TPM incentivizes businesses and individuals to utilize WPT to advance technology and improve their efficiency by properly assigning the financial losses,” Chu says.

Chu is now working on using FC-TPM sense coils to detect foreign objects, which are fire hazards in wireless charging systems.

“My ultimate research vision is to create sentinels for safety and security in energy systems,” Chu says. “Potentially, comprehensive electromagnetic energy systems, including medicine, electrified transportation, and even space applications can be diagnosed and protected using the same fundamentals.”

Potentially, comprehensive electromagnetic energy systems, including medicine, electrified transportation, and even space applications can be diagnosed and protected using the same fundamentals.

Sung Yul Chu

The goal of the Power Electronics Society is to facilitate and guide the development and innovation in power electronics technology. The PhD Thesis Talk award committee consists of worldwide distinguished professors in the Power Electronics community.

Chu is advised by Prof. Al-Thaddeus Avestruz. The research is published in IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

More about the research:

Electromagnetic Model-Based Foreign Object Detection for Wireless Power Transfer

Transfer-Power Measurement Using a Non-Contact Method For Fair and Accurate Metering of Wireless Power Transfer in Electric Vehicles