WEMPEC - Key Persons
Bulent Sarlioglu's career has been a testament to his versatility and expertise. He is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the director of technology and collaboration at the Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium. His work has significantly advanced the field of electrical machines, drives, and power electronics, particularly in electrifying transportation and industrial applications. His expertise is underscored by his impressive accolades, including 20 U.S. and numerous international patents and over 300 published technical papers. His active involvement in multiple IEEE activities, including serving as the Chair of the PES Motor Subcommittee and the IAS Transportation Committee, has earned him recognition. He was nominated and selected as a Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Vehicle Technology Society (2021-Present) and IEEE Industrial Application Society (2019-2021). He received the prestigious IEEE PES Cyril Veniott Award in 2021 and the IEEE PELS Outstanding Achievement Award in Aerospace Power in 2024. He became a fellow of the National Academy of Inverters in 2021 and an IEEE Fellow in 2022, a testament to his prestige and honor in the field.
Job Titles:
- Professor and H.I. Romnes Fellow
- Professor of Electrical
Daniel Ludois currently serves as a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in UW-Madison's College of Engineering and is the Director for Research and Innovation at the internationally renowned Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC). As the Research & Innovation Director for WEMPEC, he looks for opportunities to push WEMPEC in new technological directions and improve the lab capabilities. Dr. Ludois's research focus has been on broadening the use of capacitive coupling in electric machines and power electronics.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Engineering Research Building Rm. 1305
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Assistant Professor With the ME and ECE Department at the University of Wisconsin - Madison
Dr. Lei Zhou is an Assistant Professor with the ME and ECE department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is an Associate Director of WEMPEC. Dr. Zhou received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2019. Dr. Zhou also holds an MS (2014) in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and a BE in Control and Instrumentation Engineering from Tsinghua University. She is directing the Precision Mechatronics and Control Lab (PMCL) at UW-Madison, which is a part of WEMPEC.
Dr. Zhou's research focuses on developing novel and high-performance electromechanical solutions through exploiting the synergy between machine design, electric machines and drives, and control engineering.
Giri Venkataramanan, Keith and Jane Morgan Nosbusch Professor in Engineering Education (Fellow, IEEE) studied electrical engineering degree at the Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, India. He received the B.S. degree from the University of Madras, Chennai, India, in 1986, the M.S. degree from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA, in 1987, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), Madison, WI, USA, in 1992. He began his academic career at Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA, before joining the faculty at UW-Madison in 1999. He has been actively conducting research in the areas of power converter topologies, control, microgrids, wind power systems, and utility-scale power electronic systems. He currently serves as the Director of the Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC), Madison. His current research interests include power electronics with educational activism both inside and outside the classroom, developing hands-on student projects aimed at increasing learning effectiveness and addressing energy development issues. Dr. Venkataramanan is the recipient of several major awards recognizing his preeminence as an engineering educator including the Gerald Holdridge Teaching Award, the Benjamin Smith Reynolds Award for Excellence in Teaching, Harvey Spangler Award for Innovative Teaching and Learning Practices, Ragnar Onstad Award for Service to Society, and the UW-Madison Chancellor's Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Mahima Gupta received her Ph.D. and M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison), Madison, WI, in 2019 and 2015 respectively, where she was affiliated with the Wisconsin Electric Machine and Power Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC) as a graduate student. Prior to joining UW-Madison, she was an Assistant Professor at Portland State University (PSU), Portland, OR. From 2019-2020, she was a part of the Research and Advanced Engineering group with Ford Motor Company, a WEMPEC sponsor, where she worked on next-generation electrified powertrains. Her research work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the IEEE Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Adjunct Professor
- Assistant
Job Titles:
- Associate Teaching Professor
Job Titles:
- Associate Teaching Professor
Prof. Jahns joined the UW-Madison faculty in 1998 as the Grainger Professor of Power Electronics and Electric Machines after spending 20 years working in industry. During his 26-year career at UW-Madison, Prof. Jahns has made many pioneering contributions to power engineering research as a WEMPEC faculty member. He served as WEMPEC Director/Co-Director for 14 years from 2007 to 2021. Prof. Jahns is continuing to actively pursue research in the areas of high-performance permanent magnet synchronous machine drives using wide-bandgap power switches, and integrated motor drives using modular topologies for safety-critical applications. He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and an IEEE Fellow.
Job Titles:
- Adjunct Professor
- Emeritus and Adjunct Faculty