2025 Power Electronics & Energy Conversion Workshop

• 9:00-9:10am Welcome, Valerio DeAngelis (Sandia National Laboratories)
• 9:10-9:20am Welcome, Erik Webb (Sandia National Laboratories)
• 9:20-9:30am Virtual Welcome, Department of Energy
• 9:30-9:45am Overview of MERIT: Madhu Chinthavali (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

Co-Chairs: Steve Glover (Sandia National Laboratories) & Mike Ropp (Sandia National Laboratories)

• 10:15-10:20am Introduction: Session Chairs
• 10:20-10:35am Building a Smarter Energy Future: Duke Energy’s Path to a Secure & Resilient Grid: Jason Handley (Duke Energy)
• 10:35-10:50am Grid Resiliency and the DoD: Matt Haupt (Former Navy)
• 10:50-11:05am Ground Induced Current Drivers and Mitigation: Joseph Blankenburg (Department of Energy)
• 11:05-11:20am Resilient Energy Systems Development at Sandia National Laboratories: Lee Rashkin (Sandia National Laboratories)
• 11:20am-12:00pm Panel Discussion

Co-Chairs: Stan Atcitty (Sandia National Laboratories) & Jake Mueller (Sandia National Laboratories)

• 1:00-1:05pm Introduction, Session Chairs
• 1:05-1:20pm Electrical Insulation Investigation for Medium-Voltage SiC Power Modules: Christina DiMarino (Virginia Tech)
• 1:20-1:35pm Power Electronics and the Energy Transition: Joseph Benzaquen (Georgia Institute of Technology)
• 1:35-1:50pm Evaluation of Power Electronics for Optimal Performance and Offsite Implementation: Christopher Recio (Mainstream Engineering)
• 1:50-2:05pm Powering Data Centers with DC: Opportunities and Design Insights: Amin Zamani (Quanta Technology)
• 2:05-2:30pm Panel Discussion

Co-Chairs: Brian Pierre (Sandia National Laboratories) & Matthew Reno (Sandia National Laboratories)

• 3:00-3:05pm Introduction, Session Chairs
• 3:05-3:25pm Inverter-dominated Transmission Systems – Protection and Stability: Matthew Reno (Sandia National Laboratories)
• 3:25-3:45pm Advanced Models and Simulation Tools for Studying Power Electronics in Power Systems: Wei Du (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
• 3:45-4:05pm Frequency‐Constrained Real‐Time Co‐Optimization of Energy and Regulation Reserve with Inverter-based Battery Energy Storage Systems: Masood Parvania (University of Utah)
• 4:05-4:30pm Panel Discussion

• COMSOL / TCAD (Mihai Negoita, Sandia National Laboratories)
• LTSPICE (Felipe Palacios II, Sandia National Laboratories)
• PLECS (Jake Mueller, Sandia National Laboratories)
• PSCAD (Miguel Jimenez Aparicio & Michael Ropp, Sandia National Laboratories)

• 8:30-9:10am Welcome Charles Hanley (Sandia National Laboratories)
• 8:35-9:05am Keynote Presentation | Unit of Compute: Peter Panfil (Vertiv)

Co-Chairs:  Andrew Binder (Sandia National Laboratories) & Lee Gill (Sandia National Laboratories

• 9:05-9:10am Introduction: Session Chairs
• 9:10-9:25am The Challenges and Opportunities for Integration of GaN Transistors in Modern Power Systems: Eric Persson (Infineon Technologies)
• 9:25-9:40am Silicon carbide devices for demanding power conversion applications: Akin Akturk (CoolCAD Electronics)
• 9:40-9:55 Progress in β-Ga2O3 Materials for High Voltage Vertical Devices: James S. Speck (University of California, Santa Barbara)
• 9:55-10:00am Panel Discussion

Co-Chairs: Luciano Garcia Rodriquez (Sandia National Laboratories) &Rick Floyd (Sandia National Laboratories)

• 11:00-11:05am Introduction: Session Chairs
• 11:05-11:20am Capacitors and Aircraft Power System Considerations for Higher Temperature Operation and Wide Bandgap Enablement: Roger Brewer (Lockheed Martin)
• 11:20-11:35am High-Power Medium Frequency Transformers in Medium Voltage Power Electronics: Zhicheng Guo (Arizona State University)
• 11:35-11:50am Advancing High Voltage Power Module Packaging: Strategies for Partial Discharge Mitigation: Xiaoqing Song (University of Arkansas)
• 11:50am-12:05pm Advanced Packaging and Optimization for High Power/High Density WBG Modules: Fang Luo (Stony Brook University)
• 12:05-12:30pm Panel Discussion

Co-Chairs: Jack Flicker (Sandia National Laboratories) & Yuliya Preger (Sandia National Laboratories)

• 1:30-1:35pm Introduction: Session Chairs
• 1:35-1:50pm Demonstrations & Value Propositions for Utility Integrated Power Electronics: Mack W. Knobbe (Southern California Edison)
• 1:50-2:05 Tesla Megapack Grid-Forming: Mohammed Nassar (Tesla)
• 2:05-2:20pm Operationalizing Industrial Sensor Data for Scalable Asset Management of PV Inverters: Murat Yildirim (Wayne State University)
• 2:20-2:35pm The Importance of BESS AC Containers for Grid Forming: Andreas Fornwald (StarCharge)
• 2:35-3:00pm Panel Discussion

• Student Project Demonstrations with Explora
• Free Entrance to Albuquerque Museum (Tour Guides Available)