Kar Lab has significant traction e-motor and inverter benchmarking capabilities. Fast and accurate testing is essential to the iterative design optimization process of next-generation electric motors and drives. The research program develops new methods that can produce accurate and comprehensive test results. Automatic electric motor and drive testing is conducted in an EV environment.
The traction motor drive research includes design, modeling, control, thermal management and testing of high-performance electric traction drive systems utilizing wide-band gap power electronic devices in collaboration with multi-disciplinary teams of experts. Research in Kar Lab also includes inverter condition monitoring and fault diagnosis as well as reliability analysis and improvement.
In collaboration with multi-disciplinary subject experts, Kar Lab advances traction e-motor technology by pursuing multi-dimensional breakthroughs in new and innovative materials, structural optimization and thermal management. The high–performance e-motors are required to be lightweight, compact, low-cost, efficient, easily manufacturable and above all, reliable.
Brad Sato receives The Dr. Voiko Loukanov Engineering Scholarship established at the University of Windsor by D&V Electronics in honour of its founder
Mahwish Khan receives Outstanding Undergraduate Student Research Award in recognition for Excellence in Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity at the University of Windsor
Matthew Mustapic receives the Ontario Graduate Scholarship for Optimization of PMSM Speed Control in Vehicle Applications
Adam Hassan receives the Ontario Graduate Scholarship for Electrical Motor Design
Marco Veliz Castro receives the Ontario Graduate Scholarship for Development of single rotor UAV Swarm for the health monitoring of the Great Lakes
Mahwish Khan Wins 1st Place Sustainable Industry Award at the UWill Discover Undergraduate Conference for Motor Drive Control for Electric Vehicle Applications
Lucas Chauvin receives One Best Oral Presentation award at the International Conference on Materials and Intelligent Manufacturing at Incheon, South Korea, for his paper “Investigation of Aluminum and Copper Wound PMSM for Direct-drive Electric Vehicle Application”
Donovan O’Donnell wins 3rd Best Paper Award graduate student divisions under Sustainable Industry category at the UWill Discover Conference
Dr. Eshaan Ghosh receives “Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award” at the University of Windsor’s Celebration of Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Awards
Dr. Lakshmi Varaha Iyer get recognized as North America’s “30 under 30” by Society of Manufacturing Engineers
Dr. Lakshmi Varaha Iyer wins Governor General’s Gold Medal awarded by the Governor General of Canada
Dr. Chunyan Lai receives “Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award” University of Windsor’s Celebration of Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Awards
Dr. Aiswarya Balamurali recieves the Delta Kappa Gamma World Fellowship
Dr. Lakshmi Varaha Iyer wins Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship awarded by NSERC
Kar Lab has significant traction e-motor and inverter benchmarking capabilities. Fast and accurate testing is essential to the iterative design optimization process of next-generation electric motors and drives. The research program develops new methods that can produce accurate and comprehensive test results. Automatic electric motor and drive testing is conducted in an EV environment.
Windsor-Essex is the automotive capital of Canada and home to Canada’s largest auto cluster, with ~100 manufacturers, two automaker OEM R&D facilities: the Ford Powertrain (PERDC) Lab, ARDC (FCA), and a world class transformative research facility in electric vehicle technologies: the Centre for Hybrid Automotive Research and Green Energy (CHARGE) Lab, at the University of Windsor (UWindsor). The CHARGE Lab, under the leadership of its founder Professor Narayan C. Kar, who is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Electrified Vehicles, is an internationally recognized R&D, component and system design and test centre that fosters cross-disciplinary research collaboration among materials, mechanical, electrical and software engineers. It is competitive with other leading North American automotive labs in design, development and testing of electric powertrain components. This world class industry-scale research and test facility, funded by multiple CFI and industry grants, consists of three custom designed flexible EV motor and drive test systems capable of producing fast, accurate and comprehensive test results fundamental to the iterative design optimization process of next-generation electric vehicle motors and drives. These systems are continually utilized by OEMs and Tier-1 auto parts suppliers to benchmark their prototype electric traction motors and drives accurately and comprehensively in a realistic EV environment. Dr. Kar’s research excellence in electric vehicle field has led to a wide range of substantial industrial collaborations. In the last five years, the CHARGE Lab has hosted NSERC Alliance, multiple CRD, OCE and ORF projects with a combined cash and in-kind value of nearly $10M.
The research carried out in the Kar lab in collaboration with the industry partners is supported by UWindsor’s strategic research goal to bolster local industry. Through collaboration with industry and academia, and the institutional supports available to CHARGE Lab, the research program is a hub for the development of innovative new, next generation technologies that will lead the further development of electric vehicles.
