Presenters
Eyad Abed
Dr. Eyad H. Abed is a Program Director in the Energy, Power, Control and Networks Program in the Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems Division at the U.S. National Science Foundation, and a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. He has been with the University of Maryland since 1983, and on assignment at NSF since 2014. His research interests include system and control theory, especially nonlinear dynamics and control, and applications in electric power systems, communication networks, power electronics, aerospace systems, and social networks. Professor Abed has held several administrative positions, including as Director of the Institute for Systems Research at the University of Maryland. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and a recipient of several awards. He has been on the editorial boards of the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control and the journal Nonlinear Dynamics. Dr. Abed served on the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee of the IEEE Control Systems Society, for which he was Vice President for Financial Activities during 2007-2009.
Cheryl Bowman
Dr. Cheryl Bowman has worked at NASA Glenn Research Center for 25 years conducting component-focused, structural properties research of metallics, intermetallics, and polymer matrix composites for aerospace power and propulsion applications. She currently is serving as a co-Technical Lead for Hybrid Gas Electric Propulsion under the Advanced Air Transportation Technology Project with the responsibility of coordinating vehicle system, electric drive system, and materials development research. Cheryl started her career working on turbine engine components and then spent ten years as a materials development lead for fission power conversion within the Space Mission Directorate. She received a Ph.D in Materials Science and Engineering from Case Western Reserve University and a dual B.S. degree in Metallurgical Engineering and Engineering Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University.
Steven Boyd
Steven Boyd has worked at the US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy since 2006. In his current position as Technology Manager for the Vehicle Technologies Office, Steven oversees research and development projects in hybrid and electric vehicle systems, focusing on electric drive system technologies. Steven received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech, and participated in DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Competitions.
Ian Brown
Dr. Ian Brown is an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also received a B.S. in engineering from Swarthmore College. Prior to joining the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2012, Dr. Brown was with A.O. Smith’s Corporate Technology Center as a principal engineer. Among his responsibilities were the design and testing of interior permanent magnet motors and the control system design of inverters to operate the interior permanent magnet motors sensorlessly. While working at A.O. Smith’s Corporate Technology Center, he was appointed the co-industrial P.I. on an NSF GOALI grant. The main product from the GOALI grant was the creation of a rapid electromagnetic design optimization tool for synchronous machines. Dr. Brown’s main research interests are in the areas of high performance electrical machines, electric drives, and power electronics. Currently his research focus is on the design of wound field synchronous machines for EV traction, advanced drive control techniques, and rapid electromagnetic and thermal design optimization techniques.
Kiruba Haran
Kiruba Haran is an Associate Professor and Associate Director of the Grainger Center for Electric Machinery and Electromechanics, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He obtained a BS in Electrical Engineering from OAU, Nigeria, in 1994, and a PhD in Electric Power Engineering from RPI, Troy, NY in 2000. He moved to Illinois in 2014 after 13 years at GE Research. At GE, Dr. Haran was the manager of the research group developing advanced electrical machine technology for all of GE’s industrial businesses, including wind, oil and gas, aviation, transportation and energy. He is a registered PE in NY and is a Fellow of the IEEE.
Timothy Haugan
Timothy Haugan is a Senior Physicist and Research Team Leader for the Power and Controls Division, Aerospace Systems Directorate, of the Air Force Research Laboratory. Author of over 125 scientific papers and four patents, his research includes superconductivity and cryogenic power, room temperature conductors, and MW-class power systems, with applications in all-electric and hybrid-electric propulsion, MW-class power systems and components for propulsion, conventional and superconducting rotating machine generator and motor technology, lightweight superconducting cables for aircraft applications, and superconducting magnetic energy storage devices for aerospace. Dr. Haugan earned his Ph.D. (1995, Electrical Engineering) at State University of New York at Buffalo, M.S. (1986, Physics) at Washington State University, Pullman, and B.S. (1983, Physics and Mathematics) at Whitworth University, Spokane.
James D. Heidmann
Dr. Heidmann has worked at NASA Glenn Research Center from 1988-present as an Aerospace Engineer, publishing over 20 research papers and journal articles in the area of turbomachinery aerodynamics and heat transfer. He was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2007. He currently serves as Acting Manager of NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology Project. Prior to this, Dr. Heidmann served as Manager of NASA’s Aeronautical Sciences and Transformational Tools & Technologies Projects and Chief of the Turbomachinery and Heat Transfer Branch at NASA Glenn. He earned his Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University, 1997, MSME from Purdue University, 1988, and BSME from University of Toledo, 1986.
Haran Karmaker
Haran Karmaker received the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto, Canada in 1974. He served as Research Engineer and Electromagntics Team Leader at General Electric Canada from 1975 to 2004. He joined TECO-Westinghouse R&D in 2004, where he is now a Principal Engineer. Dr. Karmaker has published over 60 technical papers in peer-reviewed international journals and conference proceedings. In 2008, he received the Best Paper Award by the IEEE Power & Energy Society for his paper, “Investigations on Skewed Stator Synchronous Machines,” published in the Transactions on Energy Conversion. Dr. Karmaker has contributed technically to the development of many international standards and is the present Chair of the Working Group on the revision of IEEE standard 115 on “Synchronous Machines Test Procedures.” He served as Chair of the IEEE working group developing a new standard on “Guide for Testing Permanent Magnet Machines,” published in 2014, for which the group was awarded an Outstanding Standard Working Group by the IEEE Power & Energy Society. Dr. Karmaker is a co-author of the Design Handbook on Electric Motors published by Marcel & Dekker in 2004. He received the Outstanding Engineer Award of IEEE Canada in 2004. He has six U.S. and international patents and is a Life Fellow of IEEE.
Nateri Madavan
Nateri Madavan currently serves as the Associate Project Manager for Technology for the Advanced Air Transport Technology Project in NASA’s Advanced Air Vehicles Program and helps manage the Project’s research portfolio to enable revolutionary improvements in the energy efficiency and environmental compatibility of future generations of aircraft. He is based at NASA Ames Research Center where he is a member of the Computational Aerosciences Branch in the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Division. Dr. Madavan is the recipient of various NASA awards, including the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal. He obtained his BS degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, MS from Iowa State, and PhD from Penn State, all in Mechanical Engineering, and is an Associate Fellow of the AIAA.
Leslie Perkins
Dr. Leslie Perkins is the Director of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Energy Office. She is responsible for developing the AFRL Energy strategy, coordinating science and technology endeavors across AFRL disciplines, and advocating the AFRL Energy S&T portfolio to AF, Department of Defense, Federal leadership at all levels. Dr. Perkins synchronizes AF energy-related S&T activities with the Department of Energy, Federal Aviation Authority, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, US Army, US Navy and Department of Defense.
Leslie began her career as a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow at the then US Air Force Phillips Laboratory investigating novel rocket propellants for space applications. She entered civil service in 1997 as a physical scientist in the Rocket Propulsion and has held senior scientific and program management positions within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering) and Air Force Research Laboratory. Leslie earned her Bachelor of Science (1988, Chemistry) at University of New Orleans and Ph.D. (1994, Physical Chemistry) at Iowa State University.
Peter W. Sauer
Peter W. Sauer obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri at Rolla in 1969, the Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in 1974 and 1977 respectively. From 1969 to 1973, he was the electrical engineer on a design assistance team for the Tactical Air Command at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. From August 1991 to August 1992 he served as the Program Director for Power Systems in the Electrical and Communication Systems Division of the National Science Foundation in Washington D.C. He is a cofounder of the Power Systems Engineering Research Center and the PowerWorld Corporation. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Virginia and Illinois, a Fellow of the IEEE, and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He is currently the Grainger Chair Professor of Electrical Engineering at Illinois.
Scott D. Sudhoff
Scott D. Sudhoff received the B.S. (highest distinction), M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from Purdue University in 1988, 1989, and 1991, respectively. From 1991–1993, he worked for P.C. Krause and Associates and from 1993–1997 was at the University of Missouri – Rolla. In 1997 he joined Purdue University where he is the Michael and Katherine Birck Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Professor Sudhoff’s interests include electric machinery, power electronics, marine and aerospace power systems, applied control, and evolutionary computing. Much of his current research focuses on the multi-objective optimization of power magnetic components and power electronics based power systems. He is a fellow of IEEE, served as Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion and currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Power and Energy Technology System Journal.
David A. Torrey
David A. Torrey received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and his S.M., E.E., and Ph.D. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has held faculty positions at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. David spent a number of years with a small consulting firm working on electric machines, power converters, and their control with application to automotive, renewable energy, and actuation systems. He is currently the manager of the Electrical Machines Laboratory at GE Global Research in Niskayuna, NY. David is also the director of electrical engineering at Union Graduate College (now Clarkson University, Capital Region Campus) in Schenectady, NY.