EPSRC invests £18m to establish National Centre of Excellence for power electronics

EPSRC's chief executive Professor David Delpy said: "This investment in a six year research initiative is part of EPSRC's response to the Government's Strategy for Power Electronics in the UK. We will invest an initial tranche of £12m, with a further £6m being released subject to a future review of progress. Power Electronics was also a priority area in our recent call for new Centres for Doctoral Training." Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts, said: "We have a leading power electronics industry in the UK, but we need to keep investing in research to ensure it remains globally competitive. This National Centre will bring together our excellent universities and businesses to ensure industry has access to the latest science and technology, as well as helping to maintain a supply of skilled people." The investment in the EPSRC Centre will be spread as a series of grants, each involving a number of universities. A central coordinating hub will be led by Professor Mark Johnson at the University of Nottingham, with involvement from the universities of Manchester, Newcastle, Greenwich, Bristol, Warwick, Nottingham and Imperial College London. There will also be four supporting programmes: devices, led by Prof Phil Mawby at the University of Warwick and involving the universities of Bristol, Cambridge, and Newcastle; components, led by Prof Philip Mellor at the University of Bristol and involving the universities of Greenwich, Nottingham, Manchester, Warwick and Imperial College London; converters, led by Prof Andrew Forsyth at the University of Manchester and involving the universities of Strathclyde, Nottingham, Bristol and Imperial College London; and drives, led by Prof Barrie Mecrow at the University of Newcastle and involving the universities of Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Bristol.