Event
Electric Vehicles in U.S. Industry: Technology and Career Development
Monday, May 6, 2024
11:00 a.m.
2460 A.V. Williams
Darcy Long
301 405 3114
dlong123@umd.edu
Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming a part of our daily lives. We are the customers and
designers. Students in the ECE department have learned about fundamental technologies
through lectures and experiential learning in labs. Now, it is time to see the real world.
Four panelists are invited from the Top Three EV companies in the U.S. and one promising
start-up, covering the topics of control, circuits, electromagnetics, and management. Let’s
listen to their opinions about Technology and Career Development in the U.S. EV industry!
Invited Panelists:
Dr. Zitao Liao, Staff Power Electronices Controls Engineer at Tesla: Zitao received the B.S. and M.S. degrees from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA, in 2015 and 2017, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA, in May 2021, all in electrical engineering. He is currently with Tesla, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, USA, working on control and modeling of power converters for grid energy storage and electric vehicle applications. His research interests include high performance multilevel converters, design optimization, and digital control of single-phase and three-phase converters.
Dr. Chanaka Singhabahu, Senior Power Electronics Engineer at Rivian: Chanaka received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka in 2017. He received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2023. He is currently with Rivian, Irvine, CA, USA. He was a summer intern at Rivian Automotive Inc. in 2020 and 2021 where he worked with the Electric Power Conversion team. Additionally, he was a mentor for the Formula SAE EV team of University of Maryland. His research interests include design, modeling, optimization and control of high-efficiency, high power density, wide bandgap based multiport power converters, high frequency multiport magnetics and electromagnetic compliance of power converters.
Dr. Yuanying Wang, Senior Electrical Analysis Engineer at Lucid Motors:
Yuanying received the B.S. degree (Hons.) in electrical engineering and automation from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, in 2014 and the M.S. degrees in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, in 2016 and 2018, respectively. She received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2021. She is currently with Lucid Motors, Newark, CA, USA. Her research interests include thermal and electromagnetic modeling of electromechanical systems.
Dr. Zeyu Zhang, Vice President of Engineering at AmpX Technology: Zeyu is the Vice President of Engineering at AmpX Technologies, Inc. He has worked at the Vehicle Components Division of the LG Electronics in Troy, MI, where he developed resonant DC-DC converters applied in level-2 onboard chargers for battery electric vehicles. He received a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, where his Ph.D. thesis topic was on Gallium-Nitride based ultra-compact onboard chargers for electric vehicles. His main research and development interests are focused on the design, development and application of power electronics systems for electric vehicles, data centers, and energy harvesting.
Host: Dr. Xin Zan, Assistant Professor at UMD: Xin joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Maryland as an Assistant Professor in late July 2023. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan in 2022 and his B.E. degree in Electrical Engineering and Automation from Tsinghua University in Beijing in 2016. He was a Postdoctoral Associate at Power Electronics Research Group at MIT. His research interests include 3-300 MHz Power Conversion and Wireless Transmission, and Pulse Power Electronics. He is currently teaching ENEE 498K Advanced Design Lab on Electric Cars. He is also a Faculty co-Advisor for Terps Racing Team together with Dr. Alireza Khaligh.
