​IEEE Power Electronics Society Student Branch Chapter at Amrita School of Engineering, Bengaluru, organized a seminar on “New-age Transportation Electrification and E-mobility: Opportunities and Challenges” on May 16, 2016. Dr. Sheldon S. Williamson, Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Electric Energy Storage Systems for Transportation Electrification, University of Ontario-Institute of Technology, Canada and a member of IEEE PELS was the resource person for the seminar.  

Dr. Sheldon S. Williamson gave an overview of University of Ontario-Institute of Technology, Canada and its new research program on transportation electrification and electric energy storage systems. He explained about main research areas focused on by the Smart Transportation Electrification and Energy Research (STEER) group. The main research areas include advanced electric energy storage systems like Lithium-ion battery management, improvement of battery cycle life, increase in driving range of electric vehicles and high power ultra-capacitor power management for electric mass transit vehicles like buses, trains and trams. 

Smart EV charging infrastructures such as fast charging of EVs, charging from renewable energy, integration with the smart grid, mass transit electrification, fast charging of buses, trains and trams using wireless power transfer, powering buses and trams using high power ultra-capacitors, e-mobility. The presentations were focused on advanced power electronics solutions for EV traction batteries and ultra-capacitors and plugged and wireless charging and inductive power transfer technologies. Novel motor drive technologies and their controller designs for high voltage DC power on board electric mass transit, trains and trams were also presented. 

M. Tech. Power Electronics, final year and pre-final year students, along with faculty members of the Electrical and Electronics department, attended the seminar. 

The session concluded with a vote of thanks and felicitation of the speaker. The seminar was organized very well by Dr. Mude Kishore Naik, Assistant Professor at the department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, and IEEE PELS Student Branch Chapter members of Amrita School of Engineering, Bengaluru, with the support and guidance of the chairperson and faculty members of the department.