School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering visits USA to increase international industry collaboration
Special studies tour to Wisconsin, USA, for electric power engineering.
Associate Professor Wen Soong from the School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering recently spent four months on special studies leave in the United States. Associate Professor Soong visited the Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-M) from August to November 2024.
Both the University of Adelaide and UW-M have outstanding research expertise in the field of electric power engineering. UW-M has strong connections to major US and global companies within this industry. This special studies tour brings increased international collaboration and experience to the University of Adelaide.
Associate Professor Wen Soong (centre) with University of Wisconsin-Madison power engineering staff and students
During his visit to UW-M, A/Prof Soong had an opportunity to work with Professor Thomas Jahns, Professor Bulent Sarlioglu and their PhD students on some of their research projects. One of these was a NASA-sponsored project on Fault-Tolerant Modular Motor Drives for future aerospace applications. The WEMPEC has developed a four-module electric motor drive and is exploring the use of current-source inverters for higher reliability. Due to his informed insights, Associate Professor Soong has been invited to continue his collaboration on this project while back in Adelaide.
While in the US, Wen Soong also attended the Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) conference in Phoenix, Arizona, where he presented two papers and a tutorial on underground mine vehicle electrification. This tutorial opened up the opportunity to later present the work to staff from Caterpillar - a leading global mining equipment manufacturer - which further enhances the University of Adelaide’s industry connections.