University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, located in the two close cities of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world, founded in 1175, with a population of 20,000 students.
Some famous students who attended the University include Ludovico Antonio Muratori, a noted Italian historian and scholar who graduated in 1694, the playwright Carlo Goldoni in the 17th century and, in the last century, Sandro Pertini, who became President of the Italian Republic.
The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia is highly involved in international relations with other Universities and research centers, it hosts around 1200 international students and approximately 400 Erasmus students per academic years. It has hosted also 18 visiting professors in the period 2012-2013 (last figures available) and is currently involved in 2 Marie-Sklodowska Curie Actions, while in the 7th Framework Programme it has been involved in 5 Marie-Curie Actions, either host driven actions or individual fellowships.
The Department of Engineering “Enzo Ferrari” was founded in the Academic Year 1990-91. Its main building, which covers more than 160,000 sqm, meets the highest teaching and research requirements. The Department regularly cooperates with renowned firms in the car manufacturing, chemical, mechanical, ceramics and biomedical fields, as well as enterprises in the sectors of information technology, telecommunications and industrial electronics. The Department has benefited from this productive network, and over the years it has improved and has further developed the high quality level of its research and technological application.
In the last years, the research particularly focused on e-mobility and transportation electrification fields, with expert personnel from other universities joining the department to increase the competences in power electronics and electrical machines area.
UniMore is also partner of the MUNER consortium. Muner collaborates with the Emilia Romagna Region in the definition of the plans and strategies for Smart Specialization in the automotive field.
In the transportation sector, the research focused on the design of electrical drives for high-speed motors and their control, via SiC-based inverters that can achieve switching frequency up to 100kHz.
High quality and high efficiency DC-DC/DC-AC power converters are researched for hybrid and full electric vehicles drivetrain and to intelligently manage the increased number of electric loads in the airplanes power distribution systems, guaranteeing reliability and resilience.
Converters’ power density is sought through comparison of the performance of wide bandgap devices, (SiC, GaN) respect to those of conventional silicon devices, and to the design of Gate Driver circuits that enable the active control of the temperature of the power devices, in order to improve their reliability.
Regarding the aerospace sector, the research is focused on the diagnostic of electric motors, and on the study of the failure models of the insulation system of motor windings. In particular, the impact of sudden voltage variations, introduced by the extremely reduced switching times of wide-bandgap devices, and the effects of the joint action of electrical stress and environmental factors (changes in temperature, pressure) on the aging of isolation systems
University of Bologna
Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna is probably the oldest University in Europe, dating back to 1088. Currently, UniBo is a multi-campus, generalist, public institution serving roughly 80,000 students.
The Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering includes some 120 researchers with activities in diverse fields as e.g. automation, rotating machines, nanoelectronics, bioengineering, telecommunications, and insulation systems.
The group of insulation systems is currently working on projects regarding HVDC transmission, diagnosis of electrical equipment through partial discharge detection and diagnosis, reliability of inverter-fed insulation systems, development of innovative dielectric materials, techniques and materials to achieve high-capacity storage devices.
In the field of partial discharges, the group started a company in 1999, TechImp HQ Srl. The company is still alive today, merged in a group called Altanova.
In the field of PWM-fed inverter systems, the group has been very active, with participation to the IEC 60034-18-41 and -42 working groups, the convenorship of CIGRE WG D1.43 (Rotating machine insulation voltage endurance under fast repetitive voltage transients). In 2017, Prof. Andrea Cavallini was awarded the Inuishi lecture by the Scientific Committee of the Japanese IEEE International Symposium on Electrical Insulating Materials. Besides, the group is consulting for companies as e.g. Loccioni, CAME, Marelli Motori.
Topic Manager – Liebherr-Aerospace
Liebherr-Aerospace develops, manufactures and services aircraft flight control and actuation systems, landing gear, air management systems, on-board electronics as well as gears and gearboxes for the aerospace industry. Liebherr provides a complete OEM customer service based on a global network with maintenance, repair and overhaul services, engineering support, documentation and spare parts as well as AOG service.