Boost to UK’s power electronics capability
A big step was made in the development of the propulsion nation with the launch of the Power Electronics Spoke yesterday. The Spoke, situated at the University of Nottingham, held an event to celebrate its official launch, hosting a range of presentations from industry experts. The Spoke, which will be home to a community of Power Electronics experts, which will be open to all to access and support
Professor Mike Johnson, Power Electronics Spoke Lead, officially launched the Spoke. He explained that the Spoke will vastly increase the UK’s Power Electronics capability and help position the UK as a centre of excellence for Power Electronics.
The APC team were on hand at the event to give presentations and hold ‘surgery sessions’ for attendees to have ‘one to ones’ with a member of the team. Mike Woodcock, National Network Manager – APC, presented at the event to explain what the Spoke Network is and how it works.
John O’Brien, Cummins, presented at the event, speaking about his experience of working with the University of Nottingham in the APC grant funded FIRS3T project. John emphasised the expertise which can be accessed at the Power Electronics Spoke and gave examples of how it has helped as a partner of the FIRS3T project. John also highlighted the importance of APC funding for the project, explaining how the APC has been critical in Consortia relationship building and supporting the project.
The Spokes are designed to provide access to the best expertise and facilities the UK has to offer in key strategic technologies for the automotive industry. Each of the Spokes is hosted by an organisation with recognised expertise in those key technologies, but the fundamental role of the Spoke is to coordinate a community of common interest.
This community will act as a Centre of Excellence in the key technologies for UK automotive industry. They encompass academia, industry and others working collaboratively together on fundamental R&D research, industrial research and ultimately play a significant part in supporting and understanding upscaling and production development. The Spoke communities are open and inclusive. Anyone that can add value is encouraged to participate and inform the future development of roadmaps, capabilities and industry direction.