Biography
Paul R. Ohodnicki is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and
Materials Science at the University of Pittsburgh. He received his Ph.D. in Materials
Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2008, after which he joined PPG
Industries R&D working on thin-film coating materials and earned the Advanced Manufacturing
and Materials Innovation Award from Carnegie Science Center in 2012. Ohodnicki later
continued his career at the DOE National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), where he
eventually served as a technical portfolio lead guiding teams of materials scientists
working on the development of optical and microwave sensors as well as magnetic materials
and power electronics development for high frequency transformer based solar PV / energy
storage inverters.
Ohodnicki has published more than 140 technical publications and holds more than 10 patents,
with more than 15 additional patents under review.
He is the recipient of the 2016 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and
Engineers, the highest honor the federal government can bestow on early-career scientists or
engineers.
He also is the recipient of several other awards and recognitions, including the Federal
Employee Rookie of the Year Award (2012),
the Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Innovation Category Award for the Carnegie Science
Center (2012, 2017, 2019) and in 2017 he was a nominee for the Samuel J. Heyman service to
America Medal.
Before joining the University of Pittsburgh as an Associate Professor,
he received the 2019 R&D 100 Award owing to his work on cobalt-rich metal amorphous
nanocrystalline alloys for permeability-engineering gapless inductors.
Research interests
- Soft Magnetic Materials and Manufacturing
- Component Design and Optimization Methods
- Integrated Sensing and Real-Time Process Control
- Power Electronics Converter / Component Interfaces
Biography
Dr. Brandon Grainger is currently an Eaton faculty fellow, associate professor and
Director of the Electric Power Technologies Laboratory in the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), Swanson School of
Engineering. He is also the associate director of the Energy GRID Institute and
Co-Director of Pitt AMPED. Dr. Grainger is one of the co-architects of the electric
power program at Pitt that started in the fall of 2008.
Grainger holds a PhD in electrical engineering (with a specialization in power
conversion), master’s degree in electrical engineering and bachelor’s degree in
mechanical engineering (with minor in electrical engineering) all from Pitt. He was one
of the first original R.K. Mellon graduate student fellows through the Center for
Energy. He also obtained an executive education certificate from Carnegie Mellon's
Tepper School of Business.
Dr. Grainger’s research interests are in electric power conversion, medium to high
voltage power electronics (HVDC and STATCOM), general power electronic converter design
(topology, controller design, magnetics), resonant converters and high power density
design, power semiconductor evaluation (SiC and GaN), aerospace power conversion
systems, EV motor drives, solid state transformer design, and optimized magnetic
components.
Dr. Grainger has either worked or interned for ABB Corporate Research in Raleigh, NC;
ANSYS Inc. in Southpointe, PA; Mitsubishi Electric in Warrendale, PA; Siemens Industry
in New Kensington, PA; and has regularly volunteered at Eaton’s Power Systems Experience
Center in Warrendale, PA designing electrical demonstrations. In his career thus far, he
has contributed to 80+ articles in the general area of electric power conversion and all
of which have been published through the IEEE, ASEE or ASNE. He also has one patent and
edited one research textbook.
Dr. Grainger is a senior member of the IEEE and IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS).
He has served as the IEEE Pittsburgh PELS Chapter Chair when the section has won
numerous awards under his leadership. He has also served on various IEEE technical
committees and was a technical program committee chair for IEEE ECCE in 2022.
Research interests
- Power Electronic Converter Design
- High Power Density Design Strategies
- Multiport Designs (Solid State Transformers, etc)
- Wide Bandgap Devices (GaN for Aerospace)
- High Voltage Power Electronics (STATCOM, etc.)
