Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES)

E-Wheels Program Introduces Undergraduates to Power Electronics

Bringing talented students into the field of power electronics is one of the challenges of the Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES). In Spring 2004, Dr. Giri Venkataramanan of the University of Wisconsin-Madison began pilot development of "E-Wheels," a new program at the UW designed to expose freshman and sophomore level university students to power electronics. The project is structured as a summer opportunity for college students, providing hands-on experience on a bicycle. The bicycle, a readily accessible everyday object for people from a wide variety of age groups and backgrounds, is used as a learning vehicle to hone their mathematical, scientific, and engineering skills.

During the program, students design and build an electric drive system for their own bicycles. The project was offered for six students during summer 2004 and will be expanded further in the coming years. The female student who participated in the pilot project has entered graduate program in power electronics. The male student who participated in the pilot project has joined a CPES industry sponsor to work in the field of power electronics.

A related follow-up project proposes to expand the program for outreach to K-12 educators. Venkataramanan is part of a team, led by the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, which has submitted a proposal to NSF with this aim. The component related to this project involves the development of a science, mathematics, engineering and technology (SMET) Capstone clinic. In the SMET clinic, high school educators will team with engineering faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students participating in a hands-on manner to develop instructional practices for SMET capstone research projects. The clinic will be held at the university campus during the summer and will last for 6 to 8 weeks. The clinic itself will focus on a specific Capstone engineering experience for the participants and will also use the bicycle as the vehicle for inquiry.

To learn more about this topic:
Visit the Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES) web page at http://www.cpes.vt.edu/public/newsletters/archive/august_2004.html#7

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Updated 02/05.

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Last modified: February 22, 2005