Jian Li, Lon Xu, Jaswant Bisht, and Harman Marwaha are conducting the VSD Drive experiment using the Lucas Nülle training system.
It was a glimpse of the future for transport technology ākonga at a recent lecture and lab session held at Unitec as part of the government’s Advanced Energy Technology Research programme.
MIT, Unitec and Ara have been engaged in the programme to help develop new qualifications specifically designed for working with high-temperature superconductors and connecting ākonga with career opportunities.
Anita Davis is exploring the levitation of superconductors using liquid nitrogen in opposition to a magnetic field.
The Unitec session forms part of the DE6410 High Power Electric Motors for Transport course, which lecturer Alireza Gheitasi says focuses on training ākonga to set up and programme variable speed drives, as well as mastering various fault analysis techniques through practical laboratory work.
Graduates of this course can pursue career opportunities as electrical engineering technicians in diverse industries, including manufacturing, transportation, food processing, and aviation.
“During the lab session, we delved into two fascinating experiments, says Alireza. “Firstly, we explored superconductivity and cryogenics, employing liquid nitrogen to induce superconducting states. Through this, we examined levitation phenomena within magnetic fields, crucial for applications in high-power, high-density electrical motors, such as those utilized in electric planes and levitation trains.
“Additionally, we conducted experiments on variable speed drives, utilizing equipment from Lucas Nueler’s lab. The participants engaged with both MOSFETs and IGBTs, alongside hands-on experience with real industrial electrical motors and VSD drives. Their tasks included setup, programming, and operation of these motors under specified conditions, mirroring real-world scenarios encountered in industrial settings.”
Read more about the programme here
Fantastic to have this course delivered as part of New Zealand Diploma in Engineering (Electrical) at Unitec, and we look forward to including it to our Bachelor of Engineering Technology (Electrical) as well. Thank you, Alireza, for your brilliant work on this subject. MIT and Research office support for this project is very much appreciated. We are very glad to see our 108 Power Engineering laboratory reaching new high in modern technology.