| Courses: |
ECS643U/ECS720P – Power Electronics (brief syllabus): Power Electronics is becoming increasingly important as an interface for electrical conversion and improving power efficiency and reliability in applications like electric vehicles, renewable energy sources, industrial automation, and power transmission in the main electrical grid or smart grid. This module provides fundamental knowledge of a power electronic system, including power switching semiconductors (Power diodes, Thyristors, MOSFETs, IGBTs), and modern wide-bandgap power devices with silicon carbide and Gallium Nitride; power conversion circuits (rectifiers, inverters, DC-DC & AC-AC converters); power factor correction, and pulse-width modulation (PWM) techniques. The module is focused on the analysis, design and control of power electronic circuits, including the simulation and modelling techniques of such circuits in software like Matlab/Simulink, and PLECS.
ECS649U/ECS790P – Electrical Machines and Systems (brief syllabus): Electrical machines and their efficiency are crucial to several green technology applications, including electric transport, wind turbine generators, and a range of innovative electrical appliances like Dyson products. This module introduces the principles of electromechanical energy conversion, and AC/DC electrical machinery including motors, generators and transformers. The module describes the structure and operation of DC machines, asynchronous (induction) machines and synchronous machines. The module covers the design of power electronic drive/control systems for electrical machines to achieve high efficiency and reliability in electromechanical conversion. The module also provides an introduction to the principles of the electrical supply system (generation, transmission and distribution), especially the modern technologies like smart grids, microgrids and high-voltage DC (HVDC) lines.
| Resources: |
Power Electronics: Power Electronics, Devices, Circuits, and Applications, by M. H. Rashid, 2013, with several worked examples and descriptions for the module ECS643U/ECS720P. Also, a free online version is available; A more analytical and mathematical source is Principles of Power Electronics by J. G. Kassakian, M. F. Schlecht, and G. C. Verghese, Addison-Wesley, 1991, published by MIT; Chapter: Introduction to Power Electronics of source no. 1 is an easy read for starting the subject; Check also Online video lectures in the Power Electronics course by Dr Firuz Zare.
Electric Machines: Electric Machinery Fundamentals by S. J. Chapman, McGraw-Hill, 4e or 5th Edition (2011). I use other textbooks: Electrical Machines, Drives and Power Systems by Theodore Wildi (Pearson Education, 6th edition 2013); Electrical Machinery by P S Bimbhra; and Principles of Electrical Machines and Power Electronics, by P. C. Sen. These are all popular textbooks for teaching electrical machines in top universities, and the PDF versions of all textbooks are available on my QM+ page.
Battery Modelling, Control & Management System: There is a great course on batteries, “Modelling, Simulation, and Identification of Battery Dynamics” by Dr Gregory Plett, which you can find here. Battery Modelling course for Battery Management System is here, as part of the same course. I couldn’t offer a better course on batteries, and I recommend this course to all of my students and whoever wants to start a serious study of battery engineering.
Control Systems: Video lectures for Electronic Feedback Systems by Prof. Roberge in 1985, published by MIT OpenCourseWare, are the best series for building fundamental knowledge in linear control systems.
Matlab/Simulink Software is an essential modelling tool for all the above subjects. I’ve found the following books really helpful for learning MATLAB from zero to one! The second reference is full of good examples: 1) Getting Started With MATLAB: A Quick Introduction For Scientists And Engineers, 2) MATLAB Programming for Engineers, 3) MATLAB Cody. For online sources, check Online MATLAB Help as a great tutorial source, Udemy with plenty of Matlab/Simulink courses, and a great collection of examples in MATLAB Central.
| Sample UG Project reports: |
– One of the best final-year undergraduate projects in the EE program is the project done by Hariras Tongayi on the “Design of Hyperloop Prototype with Motor-drive & Control System”. The PDF of the project is here.
– Another best final-year project by my UG students in the EE program is the project done by Raymond Zhen on “Battery Embedded Energy Storage System for Stabilisation of Renewable Energy in PSMG Wind Turbine”. The PDF of his final report is here. For those students who like to find out the best format for the interim report, I also leave his interim report as well as his project definition.
| Sample MSc Project reports: |
– One of the best Final MSc project dissertation papers is by Mr Chia-Yu Lee on “Security and Trust in IoT Data Streams using Tangle Distributed Ledger and Node-RED Technology”. I leave the dissertation paper here. We do encourage MSc students to publish in technical journals or conferences based on their dissertation.