Electronics deals with the solid-state, semiconductor, devices and circuits for signal processing to meet the desired control objectives. Using electronics tools and techniques, power electronics deals with the conversion and control of electric power for various multidisciplinary applications such as DC- and AC-regulated power supplies, heating and lighting control, electrical welding, electrochemical processes, induction heating, active harmonic filtering and static reactive power generation, control of DC and AC machines, electric vehicles, adjustable-speed drives, control and operation of alternative energy sources such as photovoltaic systems, etc. For a more detailed list of other power electronics applications click here.

In view of its importance and the industry needs for college graduates proficient in power electronics tools and techniques, Professor H. Salehfar has established a new power electronics hardware and software laboratory at the electrical engineering department of UND. He fully utilizes this laboratory in his teaching and research activities. Undergraduate students, along with graduate students, are involved in various power electronics laboratory experiments and research activities. Commercial software programs such as LabView and others are used to integrate and interface the laboratory hardware with computers for data acquisition, control, and evaluation purposes. PSpice software is used to simulate and evaluate power electronics experiments before they are actually built and tested in the laboratory.