Power and Control Systems Research Projects

Electrical power systems historically have been an area of emphasis in the electrical engineering curriculum, and the graduate program in power systems at WVU is quite mature. More than five faculty members have interest in electric power. Five graduate courses are offered in this area on a regular basis. In addition, there are four senior elective/graduate courses on the subjects of distribution, industrial power systems, power electronics, and advanced power systems analysis.

Control systems is an area which has become an increasingly important part of the research program in electrical engineering. The topic has a broad range of applications ranging from guidance systems to process control and robotics. As a research area, control systems theory may be characterized as an intensely mathematical topic which requires an excellent background in both deterministic and stochastic linear systems analysis.

Recent and current research activities include reliability, grounding, transmission, electric transportation, modeling, stability analysis, optimal design, design of modulation controllers for multiterminal ac/dc power systems, electric drives, electric machines, advanced motion control systems, and power electronics. Externally funded projects include robust design of modulation controllers for flexible ac/dc transmission lines, optimal design of permanent magnet brushless machines, spacecraft power storage controllers, investigation of voltage/current characteristics of MOS-controlled thyristors with static and dynamic loads, and identification and decentralized control of critical modes. These projects provide excellent support for both graduate student and faculty research. Extensive interaction with industry provides ample opportunity for direct contact with practitioners in the field. The department has enjoyed continuous support from local utilities.

Some of the current research areas are as follows; if you are interested in these areas please feel free to contact the listed faculty members.

• DC transmission (research conducted by Dr. Muhammad Choudhry)
• Electric Vehicles (research conducted by Dr. Roy Nutter)
• Electrical Machines (research conducted by Dr. Muhammad Choudhry)
• Electromechanics (research conducted by Dr. Parviz Famouri)
• Energy Systems (research conducted by Dr. Roy Nutter)
• Low Power Electronics (research conducted by Dr. David Graham)
• Power Engineering (research conducted by Dr. Muhammad Choudhry and Dr. Ali Feliachi)
• Power Systems (research conducted by Dr. Muhammad Choudhry and Dr. Ali Feliachi)
• Applied Non Linear Control (research conducted by Dr. Parviz Famouri)
• Control Systems (research conducted by Dr. Muhammad Choudhry)