Underpinning Power Electronics 2012: Hub

电力电子和电机是低碳未来的关键部件，为各种能源和交通应用提供节能转换和控制解决方案。英国政府战略文件《电力电子：成功的战略》(英国政府商业创新与技能部，2011年10月)强调了英国制造业基地的实力及其对英国的战略重要性。这需要工业界和学术界采取协调一致的行动，以确保这个不断增长的全球市场的全部潜力能够为英国经济实现。与英国学术界相关的具体建议包括：1)制定研究生培训的协调战略；2)支持专注于支撑核心技术领域的研究，同时确保国家电力电子能力保持国际领先；3)建立一个虚拟中心，将世界一流的英国大学相互联系起来，并将其与行业联系起来。包括布里斯托尔大学、剑桥大学、格林威治大学、帝国理工学院、曼彻斯特大学、纽卡斯尔大学、诺丁汉大学、谢菲尔德大学、斯特拉斯克莱德大学和华威大学在内的核心团队已经成立，以制定这一英国虚拟中心的提议。我们的愿景是，该中心将成为英国国际公认的、世界领先的、支撑电力电子研究的提供商，汇聚英国最优秀的学术人才。它将专注于通过提供变革性和可开发的新技术、高技能人才以及为英国电力电子行业提供长期战略价值来维持和发展英国的电力电子产品。中心的活动将分为三个主要方面：研究、社区和影响途径。我们的研究活动将汇集来自英国各地的领先学术研究小组，以应对关键研究挑战，建立临界质量，并发展公认的国际领先的研究能力。我们将制定一项英国电力电子研究战略，该战略将建立在前瞻性活动的基础上，为我们的研究方向提供信息。我们的社区支持活动将通过培训博士和博士后级别的研究人员来建设能力。我们将通过对泵启动、战略支持和可行性项目的主题呼吁，将我们的研究资金扩展到更广泛的社区。此外，我们将支持和协调对国家和国际筹资机构重大倡议的反应。产生影响的途径将包括：1)建立和发展中心品牌和沟通机制，2)制定和实施有利于英国工业的开发计划，3)支持政府政策制定，4)发展与世界各地主要电力电子研究团队的合作联系。该中心的方案侧重于低技术准备水平的基础电力电子研究，因此支持具有中长期时间范围的广泛应用领域。需要解决的关键挑战是：提高效率、提高功率密度、增强稳健性、降低电磁干扰(EMI)、提高集成度和降低使用寿命成本。工作方案分为四个高级别主题：设备、部件、转换器和驱动器，每个主题都将解决关键挑战，并由一个协调中心提供支持。这些主题将提供中心的大部分技术产出。

Power electronics and electrical machines are key components in a low-carbon future, enabling energy-efficient conversion and control solutions for a wide variety of energy and transportation applications. The strength of the UK manufacturing base and its strategic importance to the UK was highlighted in the UK government strategy document "Power Electronics: A Strategy for Success" (UK government Department for Business Innovation and Skills, October 2011). This calls for concerted action across the industrial and academic communities to ensure that the full potential of this growing global market can be realised for the UK economy. Specific recommendations relevant to the UK academic community include: 1) the development of a co-ordinated strategy for postgraduate training; 2) support for research focussing on underpinning the core technology areas whilst ensuring that the national capability in Power Electronics remains internationally leading; 3) establishment of a Virtual Centre linking world-class UK universities with each other and with industry. A core team including the universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Greenwich, Imperial College, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Strathclyde and Warwick, has been formed to develop this proposal for a UK Virtual Centre. Our vision is that the Centre will be the UK's internationally recognised provider of world-leading, underpinning power electronics research, combining the UK's best academic talent. It will focus on sustaining and growing power electronics in the UK by delivering transformative and exploitable new technologies, highly skilled people and by providing long-term strategic value to the UK power electronics industry.Centre activities will be divided into three main strands: research, community and pathways to impact. Our research activities will bring together the leading academic research groups from across the UK to address key research challenges, build critical mass and develop a widely recognised internationally leading research capability. We will develop a UK research strategy for power electronics which will build on foresight activities to inform our research direction. Our community support activities will build capacity through the training of researchers at doctoral and postdoctoral level. We will extend our research funding to the broader community through themed calls for pump priming, strategic support and feasibility projects. In addition we will support and coordinate responses to major initiatives from national and international funding bodies. Pathways to impact will include: 1) the establishment and development of the Centre brand and communication mechanisms, 2) the development and implementation of an exploitation plan which benefits UK industry, 3) support for government policy development and 4) the development of collaborative links with key power electronic research teams around the world. The Centre programme focuses on fundamental power electronics research at low technology readiness level (TRL) and hence supports a wide range of application areas with a medium to long-term time horizon. Key challenges to be addressed are: increased efficiency, increased power density, increased robustness, lower electromagnetic interference (EMI), higher levels of integration and lower through life cost. The work programme is split into four high-level themes of Devices, Components, Converters and Drives, each of which will address the key challenges, supported by a coordinating Hub. The themes will deliver the majority of the technical output of the Centre.