News

AMPED announces 2023 Annual Meeting for August 15, 2023

May 9, 2022

The Advanced Magnetics for Power and Energy Development (AMPED) Consortium has announced the date for the next annual meeting. The gathering will be held on August 15, 2023 at the Energy Innovation Center in downtown Pittsburgh. You can register by following this link:

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Garrett Motion becomes the newest AMPED Consortium Participant

February 9, 2022

The Advanced Magnetics for Power and Energy Development (AMPED) Consortium would like to announce the newest member joining in an intensive collaboration: Garrett Motion. For more than 65 years, Garrett Technologies and innovations have been involved in almost every auto maker in applications in products of gas, diesel, natural gas, electric and fuel cell powertrains. AMPED is looking forward to understanding more in their attempts of designing electric turbochargers, addressing many challenges in thermal management, energy recovery, and compact packaging with high-volume design.

AMPED Consortium Receives NSF IUCRC Planning Grant

February 8, 2022

The Advanced Magnetics for Power and Energy Development (AMPED) Consortium has received a $60,000 planning grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its prestigious Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers Program (IUCR).

The AMPED Consortium aims to address the growing need for improved soft magnetic materials and enhanced device applications that can operate in emerging electric power conversion and energy technologies. The award will be evenly split between the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and North Carolina State University.

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Pitt Energy GRID Institute Partners with Duquesne Light Co. to Modernize Electric Grid and the Workforce that Maintains It

January 4, 2022

To keep pace with the rapidly evolving technology of electric power systems, the University of Pittsburgh Energy GRID Institute and Duquesne Light Co. (DLC) are partnering to create a collaborative platform that will advance and implement innovative solutions in support of a more secure, resilient, and clean energy grid

The current electricity delivery network has been primarily designed to flow in one direction, from bulk generation to distribution through several substations at varying voltage levels. As electric power systems evolve to include distributed energy resources, the mass-market adoption of electric vehicles, and broader customer engagement in generation utilization, new challenges continue to emerge – both technically and with workforce development.

This partnership will spur increased innovation, research, and create economic and workforce development opportunities for students, faculty, and engineers to build a smart, connected city.

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AMPED Holds Successful First Meeting

October 26, 2022

On October 7th, the Advanced Magnetics for Power and Energy Development (AMPED) held its inaugural consortium meeting both remotely and in person at the Pittsburgh Energy Innovation Center.

The event had 75 attendees, comprised of 25 members from universities and 50 from industry representing 35 unique companies. Lynn Peterson from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Andre Pereira from the Department of Energy (DOE) were the keynote speakers. The schedule also included a student poster session and time for networking with other attendees.

Led by Director Prof. Paul Ohodnicki (MEMS) and Co-Director Prof. Brandon Grainger (ECE) at the University of Pittsburgh, the AMPED Consortium was formed in 2020 with the mission to develop an innovation ecosystem and educational programs for advancing soft magnetic materials and component technologies spanning fundamental science to end-use application in collaboration with various agencies, offices, and programs.

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AMPED Consortium Receives Suite of Equipment from Keysight Technologies to Enhance Power Magnetic Research Capabilities at the Energy Innovation Center

August 24, 2021

Keysight Technologies, a leading technology company that delivers advanced design and validation solutions to help accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, has donated a suite of essential testing equipment to the Advanced Magnetics for Power & Energy Development (AMPED) Consortium, coordinated by the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. The equipment will significantly enhance the consortium members’ capabilities in testing and developing new magnetic materials for power and energy applications.

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Designing a More Sustainable Electric Vehicle

August 12, 2021

Most electric motors for electric vehicles rely on permanent magnets made with rare-earth metals. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering are working with Powdermet Inc., a nanomaterials and advanced materials research and development company in Euclid, Ohio, to develop a rare-earth mineral free electric engine. The project recently received $200,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

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Building a Foundation For High-power Tech

May 14, 2021

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering are working to solve that problem with new materials and manufacturing processes that will establish a foundation for UWBG semiconductors in novel power electronics switching devices. Their investigation received $820,000 in funding from the U.S. Office of Naval Research to support graduate students to explore new ideas in magnetic materials, advanced manufacturing, and advanced component design methods and techniques.

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Research on New Magnetic Materials Gets AMPED Up

March 30, 2021

A New AMPED Consortium, Including Members at Pitt, CMU, and NCSU, Received Pitt Momentum Funds. This consortium received $60,000 to address the gap between material science, applied physics, and electrical engineering, as well as collaboration with end-users in industry.

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Brandon Grainger Elected Scientific Advisor on Emerge Alliance Board

February 19, 2021

Brandon Grainger, assistant professor and Eaton Faculty Fellow of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, was elected to the board of the EMerge Alliance and will serve as scientific advisor.

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